
 Financial resources intended to help pay for college expenses.
Scholarships
Grants
 Scholarships/Grants = Free
Money
 Work Study = Must work to earn funds
 Loans = Must pay back
Work Study
Loans


• Must be enrolled in (or accepted for enrollment in) an approved program of study
• Must be pursuing a degree or certificate
• Must be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen
• Must have a valid Social Security number
• Must be registered with Selective Service (if male and required)
• Must be making Satisfactory Academic Progress (as defined by the school)

1. File the Free Application for Federal Student Aid
 www.fafsa.gov

(FAFSA).
2. If required, file the CSS/PROFILE.
 www.collegeboard.org
3. If required, file an Institutional Financial Aid Application.
4. If required, submit tax documents and other forms requested by
FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid

 to determine eligibility for need-based financial aid and to prepare an award package.
Cost of Attendance
(minus)
EFC
(equals)
Financial Need


• Direct Costs
• Tuition and Fees
• Room and Board
• Indirect Costs
• Books and Supplies
• Transportation Costs
• Personal Expenses
• Loan Fees
• Computer Expense
Direct + Indirect Costs = Cost of Attendance


 Because Cost of Attendance varies by institution, so does financial need.
 Financial aid offices attempt to meet a student’s financial need with various types of financial aid available to them.


Cost of Attendance $26,000
EFC
Financial Need
$3,200
$22,800
Federal Pell Grant
Perkins Loan
University Grant
Federal Subsidized Loan
Federal Work Study
TOTAL AID PACKAGE
$2,495
$3,000
$11,805
$3,500
$2,000
$22,800

Financial Aid Award Letter

Federal Pell Grant
Perkins Loan
University Grant
Federal Subsidized Loan
Federal Work Study
TOTAL AID PACKAGE
$2,495
$3,000
$11,805
$3,500
$2,000
$22,800
*Note: This student’s school has met all of his demonstrated financial need. All schools are different in this way.


 Luke is applying to a school where the COA is $28,405.
 He completes his FAFSA and all other application requirements, and his EFC is determined to be $8,100.
 What is Luke’s demonstrated financial need?


 Luke’s need is the COA minus the EFC:
$28,405
- $8,100
$20,305
 Luke has $20,305 in demonstrated financial need.

 Need Based

 Aid given to a student based on the amount of demonstrated need, as determined by information within the application.
 Examples include the Pell Grant, Subsidized Loans and Federal
Work Study.
 Non-need Based
 Aid given to a student not based on need.
 Examples include credit-based loans or regional scholarships.
 Merit Based
 Aid given to a student based on scholastic or talent achievement.
 Examples include awards based on GPA, extracurricular activities, unique talents, and/or leadership potential.

 Federal Grants (need-based)

 Pell Grant
 SEOG (Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant)
 Federal Work Study (need-based)
 Part-time jobs for students through eligible employers, such as their school, or even federal, state or local public agencies
 Even though this is a federal program, schools set eligibility criteria
 Federal Direct Loans
 Subsidized Loans are need-based
 Unsubsidized Loans are non-need-based

 Subsidized Loans

 Available to undergraduate students with financial need
 Loan is in the student’s name, guaranteed by the Federal government through the Department of Education
 The government pays the interest while the student is in school
 Fixed interest rate for 2013-2014 is 6.8%
 Unsubsidized Loans
 Non-need based loan in the student’s name, guaranteed by the
Federal government through the DOE
 Federal Government does not pay the interest while the student is in school
 Fixed interest rate for 2012-2013 is 6.8%


 Perkins Loans (need based)
 Federal government pays the interest while the student is in school
 Fixed interest rate of 5.0%
 Direct Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS)
 Credit-based educational loan in the parent’s name guaranteed by the Federal government
 Fixed interest rate of 7.9%
 The government does not subsidize this loan
 Maximum amount a student can borrow is the cost of attendance minus all other financial aid



 Loan in the student’s name
 Credit check required, student may need a credit-worthy cosigner
 May borrow up to the Cost of Attendance minus other financial aid


 College Scholarship Assistance Program
 Public & private colleges, need-based
 Virginia Commonwealth Award
 Public colleges, need-based
 Virginia Guaranteed Assistance Program
 Public colleges, need-based
 Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant Program
 Private colleges, non-need-based, separate application required. Estimated :$3,100.


 scholarships, grants, and loans.
 Check out their individual school websites for deadlines and required applications.
 Outside Scholarships
 Know what kinds of scholarships students can apply for locally. Encourage them to pay close attention to deadlines, and to contact donors with any questions.


 Desiree will be attending a school with the following costs:
 Tuition: $24,800
 Fees: $3,200
 Dorm: $5,640
 Meal Plan: $4,400
 Books and Supplies: $1,250
 Other Expenses: $2,935
 She completes her FAFSA and all other application requirements, and her EFC is determined to be $44,615.
 What is Desiree’s demonstrated financial need?


 The school’s COA is $42,225.
 Desiree’s EFC ($44,615) is higher than the COA.
Therefore, Desiree has no demonstrated financial need.


 Although Desiree has no financial need, there are nonneed-based resources available to her!
 What are they?


 Obtain and review admissions and financial aid information from each school.
 Submit all applications and requested documentation by the deadlines.
 Investigate other sources of aid every year.
 Talk to financial aid offices if you or the student has questions or special circumstances.





July 2014

 EFC

 Expected Family Contribution
 The number used to determine the student’s eligibility for financial aid; it results from information provided within the application.
 FOTW
 FAFSA on the Web
 Online version of the FAFSA, available at www.fafsa.gov, it’s faster and easier than the paper version.
 So what does FAFSA stand for?

 SAR

 Student Aid Report
 A summary of the information that the applicant submitted on his or her FAFSA, it’s available to the student a few days after the FAFSA has been processed.
 AGI
 Adjusted Gross Income
 Reported on a tax filer’s return (1040, 1040A and 1040EZ), the number represents gross income minus specific deductions and is asked on the FAFSA.

FAFSA ON THE WEB www.FAFSA.gov


LOGGING IN
To create an application, the student will enter his or her

 Name
 Social Security Number
 Date of birth
IMPORTANT: ALL of these must be correct since this data is matched with information on record with the Social Security Administration. If the application is submitted with an error in one of these fields, the student must start a new, correct application, per guidance from the US Dept. of Education.


LOGGING IN
Currently, applicants can apply for a
Federal PIN from this screen:


However, this spring the Department of
Education will be retiring the FAFSA
PIN and will transition to user IDs and passwords.


LOGGING IN

Department of Education’s student websites (FOTW, NSLDS, studentloans.gov & studentaid.gov)

User name and password will replace the PIN as the method of authentication used to access student aid information

Will not be in place until about April, so the FAFSA season will begin with the current authentication method in place.

More guidance will be available before the unveiling!

DEPENDENCY DETERMINATION

 questions to determine if they are dependent on their biological or adoptive parent(s), or independent for financial aid purposes.
 How the student responds here will determine the content of the rest of the application.
 It is very important that all students answer this section with 100% accuracy.

DEPENDENCY DETERMINATION




 Legal Guardianship: A legal guardianship is a relationship established by the court where one person acts for the benefit and protection of another person
 This student is an Independent
 Custody: is granted to one or both parents of the child. In contrast, a legal guardian is not the parent of the child, and is usually a close relative of the child or parent.
 This student is a dependent



Skip logic is a sophisticated tool that allows respondents to be directed to a future question or page based on the answer or answers they select for an earlier item. Skip logic is a feature in both FOTW and the CSS PROFILE (but not the paper FAFSA!).

PARENT DEMOGRAPHICS
 From the FAFSA help screen:


PARENT DEMOGRAPHICS

2014-2015

2015-2016
both legal (biological or adoptive) parents,

DOMA: THE DEFENSE OF
MARRIAGE ACT

2014-2015

2015-2016
The Supreme Court holds that Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional because it violates due process and equal protection.
What does this mean for financial aid?
A couple whose marriage is recognized as valid in any domestic or foreign jurisdiction is considered married for all
FAFSA and EFC calculation purposes. This applies to oppositesex and same-sex couples, regardless of where the couple resides.

DOMA: THE DEFENSE OF
MARRIAGE ACT

2014-2015

2015-2016
 Applies to both parents and students
 A student who does not meet any of the other independent criteria will be considered independent for financial aid purposes if he or she is legally married, without regard to whether the student is in a same-sex or opposite-sex marriage.

VERIFICATION

Verification is the process that schools use to confirm that the data reported on an applicant’s FAFSA is accurate. It may involve requesting additional documentation to corroborate the information reported and authenticated by the applicant (and, if dependent, the applicant’s parents).
Students can be selected by the school, or by the US
Department of Education.

VERIFICATION

When the student submits the FAFSA, the application is processed by CPS (the Central Processing System), who analyzes the data and may or may not select the application for verification.
Contrary to what many believe, selection is not random. CPS uses a complex algorithm to identify applications that may be more prone to errors than others. The Department of Education does not discuss the selection algorithm.

VERIFICATION

The list of possibilities is quite long! Verification is organized into certain “tracking groups” (V-1, V-3, V-4, V-5 and V-6) and the information to be verified is specific to the group. In most cases, it’s a piece or pieces of data reported directly on the FAFSA.
It can be anything from only one field like child support paid
(V-3) to a lengthier range of tax return data (either V-1, V-5 and V-6). It could also be the student’s identity and educational purpose (V-4).

VERIFICATION

A student can only be selected for one tracking group. He or she may or may not be selected in subsequent years, and if selected, the tracking group may differ from year to year.
The school has the right to ask for any documentation that it feels would be necessary to complete verification. If the family does not supply the required documentation, the school is prohibited from disbursing federal aid to the student.

VERIFICATION

Example: A dependent student who filed a tax return, and whose parents also filed a tax return, is selected for V-1 verification. The school must verify:
 Adjusted Gross Income
 US Income Tax Paid
 Untaxed Portions of IRA Distributions and Pensions
 IRA Deductions and Payments
 Tax Exempt Interest Income
 Education Credits
 Number of Household Members
 Number in College
 SNAP, if reported on the FAFSA

VERIFICATION

 A tax return transcript, or successful usage of the IRS Data Retrieval
Tool (DRT) in FOTW
 Not available until February
 A signed statement to confirm the number in the student’s family and where any other dependents may be attending college
 All W-2’s received by the student and parent(s)
 A signed statement to certify that any Federal student financial assistance received will only be used for educational purposes and to pay the cost of attending the school

VERIFICATION

As College Advisers, you may be called upon to help the student navigate the documentation that is being requested. Though all schools listed on the student’s FAFSA can see that the applicant was selected, the documentation that each school requires may be slightly different from one to the next. Therefore, completing verification for students entering college can be complex, confusing, and sometimes intimidating.

VERIFICATION BY THE NUMBERS

18,827,577
The number of applicants who filed the FAFSA between January 1 and November 1, 2013
5,722,505
The number of those that were selected for verification (about 30.39%)

1040 vs. 1040A vs. 1040EZ

Three tax forms, all different lengths. What difference does it make, and why is it asked on the FAFSA?

1040 vs. 1040A vs. 1040EZ
 all of the asset questions? Maybe even the entire student portion, too?
The response to the tax return questions may be used in part to determine which EFC calculation formula through which a student’s data feeds.
In other words, based on the response, the applicant may qualify for a formula that doesn’t use asset data…
…or student data!

1040 vs. 1040A vs. 1040EZ

Financial aid regulation provides a “simplified EFC” calculation, as well as an “automatic-zero EFC” calculation, for a student who meets certain income and tax filing requirements.
If the applicant is eligible, the Central Processing
System (CPS) will exclude assets from the calculation, and the applicant may not be asked asset or student questions.

1040 vs. 1040A vs. 1040EZ

Note: For the purposes of determining the EFC calculation,
being eligible to file a 1040A/EZ instead of a 1040 is the same as filing one.
That’s why the FAFSA asks if the parent was eligible to file a 1040A/EZ!
So if the parents filed a 1040, but were eligible to file a
1040A, they may qualify for one of the alternative formulas!

1040 vs. 1040A vs. 1040EZ
 What tax form did your parent file in 2014?
1040EZ
 What was their AGI in 2014?
$19,849
Possible Outcome:
ASSETS STUDENT INFORMATION
EFC = 0

1040 vs. 1040A vs. 1040EZ
 Make less than $100,000 per year
 Do not itemize deductions
 Do not receive income from your own business or farm
 Do not receive self-employment income or alimony
 Are not required to file Schedule D for capital gains
If you filed a 1040 and were not required to file a tax return, you should answer "Yes" to this question.

CSS PROFILE REIMAGINATION

The 2015-2016 CSS PROFILE is now available at www.collegeboard.org!
It hasn’t changed much from last year, but a reimagination is currently taking place that will enhance the look and functionality of the application for
2016-2017.

CSS PROFILE: LOGISTICS


 Same username and password as SAT
 2016-2017 reimagination will involve the ability to upload a tax document and through Optical
Character Recognition (OCR), prefill certain fields

VIRGINIA PROFILE SCHOOLS
 schools in Virginia currently require the CSS PROFILE:






FEE WAIVERS

 know if he or she has received a waiver because there will be no charge at the end.
 Allows the student to submit the application to a maximum of six schools free of charge.
 Fee Payment Codes, provided by the school, allow a student to submit their application free of charge to that particular school.
 UVa generally does not offer these.

HOW IT WORKS
 Registration

 21-item Registration section
 Applicants must submit the Registration before proceeding to the application.
 The application builds around the responses to the
Registration. Therefore, if the student alters
Registration questions, the application part may alter in accordance with the changed Registration questions.

 Application
HOW IT WORKS

 The application section may consist of about 50 to 130 questions.
 Help codes are available throughout by selecting the question mark icons or the blue links near the questions.
 Students should use whole numbers and enter a zero for questions that will not have an amount.

FAFSA VS. PROFILE

 and may be longer in number of questions asked.
 The PROFILE does not have “simplified EFC” or
“automatic-zero” EFC calculations.
 The PROFILE provides an opportunity for students and families to provide additional written information in the
Special Circumstances section.

FAFSA VS. PROFILE
 When the CSS PROFILE asks for the current marital status of the following:
 student’s biological or adoptive parents, the options are the
 Married
 Separated
 Divorced
 Never married, living separately
 Never married, living together
 Widowed
 Single adoptive parent (at time of adoption)
 Single parent of donor conceived child (at time of conception)

FAFSA VS. PROFILE
 The FAFSA and the PROFILE define parents in the
SAME way. They also define the custodial parent in the
SAME way.
 But unlike the FAFSA, if a student has a legal guardian, then all of the parent questions on the PROFILE apply to the student’s legal guardian.


 http://fafsademo.test.ed.gov/
 Username: eddemo
 Password:fafsatest