Freestyle Jazz (totally adlibbed)

Most popular financial aid questions:– What’s a Stanford loan?– Can I get a copy of my reward letter?– Do I have to do my FASFA every year?– I have to do paperwork to get my money?!– Can I get more financial aid to buy a car?• Or laptop?• Or to pay for my trip?

And I say HEY! What’s going on?

Have you ever told a student…– You need to go sign your EMPN?– Have you done your loan entrance?– Let’s see if we have your ISIR…– It looks like you have a CFLAG.– You’re ISIR is rejected.– It’s because you’ve exceeded your COA...– Do you have any means-tested benefits?

We are actually just as confusing as students.

We Don’t Need No Education

• Today we will learn– Definition of packaging– Funds we typically package– Estimated Financial Assistance & its affect– Steps to package awards– Packaging categories & sequence– Packaging models– Overawards– Hands-on example– Notifying students of their awards

Actually yes, you do and we have objectives!

So what IS packaging?

• Per the FSA Handbook*– Packaging is the process of awarding aid without

exceeding the student’s financial need– More simply: it’s how you decide what students

are awarded (in what combination)

*Source: 1011 FSA Handbook Volume 3, page 3-143

Funds we typically package

• Federal programs– Pell, SEOG, Perkins, Federal Workstudy, Direct

Loans, PLUS Loans, Graduate PLUS Loans, TEACH, Iraqi & Afghanistan Service Grant

• State programs– TPEG, TEXAS Grant, TEG, BOT, CAL, Texas

Workstudy, Set-Aside Funds

• Institutional programs

Estimated Financial Assistance

• Estimated Financial Assistance (EFA) is taken into consideration when packaging

• Examples include (but not limited to)– Pell (first source of aid)– Other federal, state, institutional grants– Subsidized & Perkins loans– Work study– Unsubsidized loans*– PLUS loans*– Private loans*

* Indicates funds that can replace all or part of the EFC as long as the COA is not exceeded.

Other Examples of EFA• ROTC living allowances• Scholarships (including athletic & ROTC)• Employer reimbursement of tuition & fees• Tuition and fee waivers • Fellowships and assistantships• Americorps Funds• Exceptions to EFA:– Iraq & Afghanistan Service Grant– Prepaid tuition plan– Federal veteran benefits

Source: 1011 FSA Handbook Volume 3, page 3-145

Steps to Packaging

• Determine the student’s Cost of Attendance (COA) budget & Expected Family Contribution (EFC)

• Award Federal Pell Grant• Calculate the student’s financial need• Package campus-based, state, federal, and

institutional funds• Package or refer students to other

supplemental sources of assistance

Packaging Steps: STEP 1

A typical COA consists of*– Tuition & Fees– Books & Supplies– Room & Board– Transportation– Personal Expenses

Determine the COA & EFC

* COA amounts are determined by the institution & could include PJ adjustments

EFC comes from…?

Packaging Steps: STEP 2

• Pell Grant awarded based on EFC – Pro-rated based on enrollment status and EFC

range

Award Pell Grant

Packaging Steps: STEP 3

Cost of Attendance-- Expected Family Contribution-- EFA__________________________

Initial Need-- PELL award (if any)

__________________________Remaining Need to package other funds

Calculating student’s remaining need

Packaging Steps: STEP 3Calculating students’ non-need eligibility

Cost of Attendance-- PELL-- EFA-- Need-based aid awarded________________________________

Room for non-need based aid

Packaging Steps: STEP 4

• Package other aid programs listed above according to your school’s packaging philosophy/policy– Keep in mind that each school is different!

Package Campus-based, Federal, State, Institutional

Packaging Guidelines

• Responsibility for paying for college rests with the student and their family

• Federal Pell Grant is the foundation of undergraduate student aid packages

• Families can borrow from some aid programs to replace all or a portion of their EFC

• Scholarships cannot be substituted for the EFC• Must take expected financial assistance (EFA)

into account

Goals of an Administrator

• Provide as many students as possible with resources to meet their financial need

• Distribute aid in an equitable manner• Provide assistance that will be the most

beneficial to the student• Manage financial aid funds• Recruit and retain students• Meet areas of national need

Sometimes these are competing goals!

Packaging Categories

• Schools can organize their packaging categories based – Enrollment status– Classification – Academic program or major field of study– Application date– Need Based vs. Non-Need Based– Residency Criteria

• Packaging philosophy must be detailed in the school’s policy and procedures

Packaging Sequence

• Schools designate the order in which it awards funds from various programs– Again, this can vary from school to school– It can depend on the categories designated– This should be noted in the policy and procedure

manual for your institution

What gets awarded 1st? 2nd?

Six Basic Packaging Models

• First-Come, First-Served• Gift Aid First• Self-Help Concept• Special Targeted Groups• Equity Concept– Absolute Dollar Equity– Fixed Percentage Equity

• Individualized Packaging Don’t worry, you’ll get it!

Kinda like the Beatles for rock music… the foundation

First Come, First Served

• Financial aid awards based on the order in which completed applications are received by the aid office until funds are exhausted

• Benefits:– Rewards students who get their stuff done early

• Drawbacks:– May not have funds available for students that

need it most

We are the champions my friends…

Gift Aid

• Gift aid is awarded first and self help aid is awarded to meet any remaining need

• Benefits:– Decreases likelihood of loan debt

• Drawbacks:– Limited gift aid funding

HELP! I need somebody. HELP!

Self Help

• Self-help assistance is awarded after the family contribution and before any consideration for gift aid

• Benefits:– Places same burden on all students– Allows gift aid to those who do not have same

access to self-help

• Drawbacks:– Increases likelihood of higher loan debt

HELP! I need somebody. HELP!

Targeted Groups

• Separate packaging criteria for specific groups of students in addition to specific criteria required by law or regulation

• Benefits:– Easier to tie packaging philosophy to institutional

goals

• Drawbacks:– Tougher to defend – watch the “bait and switch”

Equity Concept

• Absolute Equity– All students are funded up to an institutional

maximum fixed dollar amount with gift aid before their remaining need is met with self-help.

• Fixed Percentage Equity– An institutional maximum percentage level of NEED

or COST for all gift aid is used rather than a fixed dollar amount.

• Benefits:– Provides for an equitable distribution

• Drawbacks:– Difficulty in managing overawards and maintaining

that equitable distribution

Everybody get together try and love one another…

Individualized

• Packaging based on the FAA’s evaluation of a student’s individual costs, resources and needs

• Benefits:– Each financial aid packaged is customized– Personal touch with each student

• Drawback:– Time consuming– High subjectivity

Which Should You Use?

• This depends on your institution• Most institutions do not use one specific

model…– A variation of one or more of these models is used

by institutions to fit in with that school’s objectives

Like your music preference…

Things to Consider

• Should we package PLUS loans?• Should we package private loans?• Should we package loans at all?• Which comes first, the loan or work study?• Which comes first, the grant or the loan?

There is no one answer!

Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm…

Overawards

• Overawards occur when:– Aid exceeds a student’s need or COA

• How does this happen?– EFC changes (due to verification or updates)– COA changes (possibly due to enrollment)– Additional EFA comes in (late scholarship,

exemption payment)• This is the student’s responsibility to report to us

• When overawards happen, we make adjustments

Packaging Example: Self Help

Sally is attending Rock Star College (RSC). She is a dependent senior. RSC employs a self-help packaging model and awards work study prior to loans.

ROCK STAR COLLEGECOA $20,000EFC $500Scholarship $2,500Pell Grant $4,800

AWARD MAXIMUMSPerkins $1,500Work Study $3,000Institutional Grant $3,000Stafford $5,500

Packaging Example: Self Help• Cost of Attendance• EFC• Need• Scholarship (EFA)• Pell • Remaining Need• Work study• Perkins• Stafford Loan• Remaining need before grants• Institutional Grant• Unmet Need• Anything Else????

20,000(500)19,500(2,500)(4,800)12,200(3,000)(1,500)(5,500)2,200(2,200)0Remaining unsub eligibility?

• What if after you have packaged, you are informed that the student is receiving another $500 scholarship?– Does this fit in the COA as is?– Does it fit within the need? • If not what would you reduce?

Packaging Example: Self Help

Notifying Students of Awards

• Institutions are required to inform students:– Amount of award(s)– Terms and conditions of award– Manner and timing of payments

• Institutions have the option of confirmation or notification– Confirmation – Student formally accepts awards– Notification – Student not required to accept

award, but must notify school if they do not want aid

Notifying Students of Awards

• What if there aren’t enough funds?– Caveat may be included on award notification

stating that the award is subject to the availability of funds and may be revised if funds not available or eligibility changes

Repeating the Chorus

• Today we learned– Definition of packaging– Funds we typically package– Estimated Financial Assistance & its affect– Steps to package awards– Packaging categories and sequence– Packaging models– Overawards– Hands-on example– Notifying students of their awards

Nah-nah-nah-nanananah! HEY JUDE!

??????????????????????Erika CoxUniversity of Texas at San Antonio210-458-7295erika.cox@utsa.edu

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