College Financial Aid Packages 12 th Grade FAFSA and Financial Aid #5.
What You Need to Know About Financial Aid · Jim Anderson . Director of Financial Aid . Montclair...
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What You Need to Know About Financial Aid
Transcript of What You Need to Know About Financial Aid · Jim Anderson . Director of Financial Aid . Montclair...
What You Need to Know
About Financial Aid
Topics We Will Discuss Tonight • What is financial aid? • How do you apply? Forms? Deadlines? • How is eligibility determined? • Expected Family Contribution and Establishing Need • Types and sources of financial aid • Financial aid packaging; Comparing offers • Special circumstances; Appeals • Consumer issues • Review of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid –
FAFSA
Prior, Prior Year – New This Year • Aid will be determined looking at tax year income for 2015 • Timetable for award process; some schools will act sooner
than in the past, others not • State of New Jersey deadlines have been moved up • Increased incidence of changes in circumstances;
Professional Judgment
What is Financial Aid?? Generally speaking, financial aid includes all funds
made available to students that are not provided by their family
Federal, state, institutional, private Grants, scholarships, loans, work
What Forms are Required and When? Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Institutional aid application College Board Profile Form Verification (Federal and State) Tax Documentation Business Supplement Non-Custodial Parent information KNOW YOUR SCHOOL’S REQUIREMENTS!
Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Amount that a family can be reasonably expected to
contribute Includes parent and student contribution Federal EFC Institutional EFC EFC Calculator: Available on College Board web site
Deadlines FAFSA can be filed any time on or after October 1st for
the academic year that begins the following September You MUST pay close attention to each school’s
preferred deadline DO NOT MISS DEADLINES
How Eligibility is Determined Cost of Attendance (COA) Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Federal EFC vs. Institutional EFC Differences in need assessment, public vs. private
colleges Special Circumstances
Need
Cost of Attendance - Expected Family Contribution = Financial Need
Types of Aid Scholarships Grants Loans Student Employment
Scholarships Money that does not have to be paid back Awarded on the basis of academic, artistic, athletic or
other merit
Grants Money that does not have to be repaid Usually awarded based on need
Loans
Must be repaid Federal Loans Private Loans Terms vary significantly Borrow only what is needed Education is a good investment
Student Employment Job on or off-campus Receive a paycheck Typically cannot be applied to the bill
Sources of Financial Aid Federal government State government Institutional Private sources
Federal Government Largest source of assistance Aid awarded primarily on the basis of need Must apply each academic year by filing the Free
Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
Federal Programs Federal Pell Grant Federal Stafford Loan Program PLUS Loan Program Campus-Based Programs
o Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
o Federal Work-Study
State of New Jersey Programs Tuition Aid Grant (TAG) Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) Grant NJSTARS I and II NJ CLASS Loan Program
Other Sources Foundations, businesses, charitable organizations,
employers Start research early; free internet search www.fastweb.com https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/scholarship-search http://www.scholarships.com/ High school guidance office
Financial Aid Packaging Entitlement/formula driven awards
o Pell Grants o Tuition Aid Grants (TAG)
Federal Stafford Loans Other Federal aid programs
o Campus-Based Federal aid programs Institutional Aid
Financial Aid Packaging Institutional grants and scholarships; Need-Based or
Merit-Based Schools meeting full need Differential/Preferential aid packaging Need gaps What is your bottom line? Difficult decisions
Additional Resources Federal Parent Loan (PLUS) New Jersey CLASS Loan Private lenders Payment plans
Appeals Need-based; make your case, remember who you are
speaking with Merit-based; be sure you have a case Disclosing offers from other schools Set the right tone; do not use the word “negotiate.”
Consumer Issues Renewability of awarded aid o Need? What happens if need increases after year one? o GPA requirements? Treatment of outside scholarships Scholarship scams Use of consultants Award Letters
Where to Start? https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search
Questions
Jim Anderson Director of Financial Aid
Montclair State University
What We Will Cover Who Must Complete the FAFSA How and When the FAFSA Should Be
Filed IRS Data Retrieval Tool Avoiding Common Errors NJ HESAA Supplemental Questions Review of the Form
Who Must Complete the FAFSA All students wishing to apply for
funding from Federal, State, and most often institutional financial aid programs
Often required even for students offered academic merit awards
Must be filed each year for each student in the family
When To File Forms can be filed at any time on or after October 1st for
the academic year that follows (after October 1, 2016 for the 2017-2018 academic year)
Review the filing deadlines for all schools File the form by the deadline of the school with the
earliest deadline Meet state program deadlines (April 15th for renewal
applications)
FAFSA Tips Establish a User Name and Password;
https://fsaid.ed.gov File FAFSA on-line; http.fafsa.ed.gov IRS Match – Data Retrieval Tool NJHESAA Supplemental Questions List a New Jersey school Student Aid Report (SAR)
IRS Data Retrieval Tool
Should utilize if available Benefits of using – Verification Cannot be used if:
• Married Filing Separately • Married, Filed Head of Household • If an amended return has been filed • If a Puerto Rican or foreign return was filed
FAFSA – Avoiding Common Errors Social Security Numbers Divorced/remarried parental information Untaxed income Household size Number of household members in college Real estate and investments net worth Misreporting retirement savings
Avoiding Common Errors Reporting parent information in the student section Listing parental marital status incorrectly Listing incorrect Social Security Number or driver’s
license number Reporting wrong date of birth Not using correct legal names First and last names in the wrong places Transposing digits or letters Using commas or decimal points, adding zeros
Avoiding Common Errors Entering the incorrect address (permanent, home
address should be listed) Incorrectly claiming head of household (if student or
parent filed tax returns with wrong filing status, they will have to file amended return before receiving federal aid)
Failing to sign the FAFSA Filing the wrong year’s FAFSA Forgetting to list colleges
NJ HESAA (Higher Education Student Assistance Authority) Supplemental Questions
Link is provided at the end of the FAFSA process, easy to miss
What if you miss it? Tuition Aid Grant (TAG) Program
• Available only if you attend a NJ school • List at least one NJ School on the FAFSA
2017-18 FAFSA Preview Dependent Student
September 2016
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2017-18 “Login” page with the applicant’s data entered.
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2017-18 “Get Started” page. This page was revised to provide clarification on which school year the applicant should apply for based on the school year they are planning to attend college. The applicant can view the status of his/her FSA ID in the FSA ID section of the My FAFSA page.
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The “Save Key” allows an applicant to save his/her FAFSA application and return at a later time to complete and submit the application. The application is saved for 45 days or until the student submits his/her application for processing. Additionally, the Save Key allows applicants a way to share their application with their parents.
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2017-18 “Introduction Page”.
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2017-18 “Student Demographic Information” page.
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2017-18 “Student Eligibility” page. The word “college” was added to the question “What will your college grade level be when you begin the 2017-18 school year?”
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2017-18 “Student Eligibility continued” page.
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“School Selection” page.
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2017-18 “School Selection Summary” page.
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2017-18 “Dependency Determination” page.
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2017-18 “Dependency Status Results” page. This page only displays if the applicant has been determined to be dependent.
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2017-18 “Parent Demographic Information” page.
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2017-18 “Parent Tax Information” page. New for 2017-18, the 2015 tax information will be requested instead of the 2016 tax information. To emphasize this change for students and parents, an alert message will display indicating “Attention! You must provide financial information from your parents’ 2015 tax return on the following pages.” Additionally, the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) section of the application has been revised to make the following changes: The “Did you, the parents, file taxes electronically in the last 3 weeks (or by mail in the last 11 weeks)?” question has been removed. Parents will not be requested to provide their FSA ID (if not already provided) on the “Parent Tax Information” page prior to clicking “Link to IRS” The Amended Tax Return and Foreign Tax Return questions have been revised to include 2015 as part of the question. The definition of the 1040 X amended tax return can be found by following the link that was added to the question.
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2017-18 “Leaving FAFSA on the Web” page. The “Leaving FAFSA on the Web” page has been revised to provide information on how to utilize the IRS DRT and what will occur if they opt to not use the IRS DRT. This page has been revised to request the parent’s FSA ID to access the IRS DRT.
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Warning text appears as the 2017-18 IRS DRT site is displayed.
These fields are pre-filled based on FAFSA responses
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2017-18 IRS Data Retrieval Tool, page 1, containing user demographic information. Even though the fields at the top are pre-filled based on FAFSA responses, the first name, last name, date of birth, and the filing status can be updated on this page. The Social Security Number cannot be updated.
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2017-18 IRS Data Retrieval Tool, page 1, containing user demographic information (continued, updated with user information). The user can click “Submit” to retrieve IRS data, or “Return to FAFSA” to discontinue use of the IRS DRT and return to FOTW.
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2017-18 IRS Data Retrieval Tool, page 2, containing user-specific IRS data. The user can check the “Transfer My Tax Information…” box and click “Transfer Now” to carry this data back into FOTW. The user can check the “Do Not Transfer…” box and click “Do Not Transfer” to discontinue use of the IRS DRT and return to FOTW. The user can click the “Print this page” icon in order to print the data that is displayed on this page.
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2017-18 “Parent Financial Information” page. “Medicaid” has been added as an option under the Federal Means Tested Benefits. On all output documents, this will be listed as part of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) response. “School” has been added as part of the “Free or Reduced Price School Lunch” question.
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This is the top half of the 2017-18 “Parent Financial Information continued” page. The bottom half of the page is continued on the next slide. The “Additional Financial Information” section was updated to include “2015” for clarity.
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This is the bottom half of the 2017-18 “Parent Financial Information continued” page. The “Untaxed Income” section was updated to include “2015” for clarity.
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This is the bottom half of the 2017-18 “Parent Financial Information continued” page.
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2017-18 “Student Tax information” page. New for 2017-18, the 2015 tax information will be requested instead of the 2016 tax information. To emphasize this change for students and parents, an alert message will display indicating “Attention! You must provide financial information from your 2015 tax return on the following pages.” Additionally, the IRS DRT section of the application has been revised to make the following changes: The “Did you file taxes electronically in the last 3 weeks (or by mail in the last 11 weeks)?” question has been removed. Students will not be requested to provide their FSA ID (if not already provided) on the Student Tax Information page prior to clicking “Link to IRS” The student should click “Link to IRS” rather than “Next” on this page. The Amended Tax Return and Foreign Tax Return questions have been revised to include 2015 as part of the question. The definition of the 1040 X amended tax return can be found by following the link that was added to the question.
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2017-18 “Leaving FAFSA on the Web” page, displayed when the student is going to the IRS Web site. The “Leaving FAFSA on the Web” page has been revised to provide information on how to utilize the IRS DRT and what will occur if they opt to not use the IRS DRT. In this case, the FSA ID for the student was entered when logging into their FAFSA, so it is not requested on this page.
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Warning text appears as the 2017-18 IRS DRT site is displayed.
These fields are pre-filled based on FAFSA responses
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2017-18 IRS Data Retrieval Tool, page 1, containing user demographic information. Even though the fields at the top are pre-filled based on FAFSA responses, the first name, last name, date of birth and the filing status can be updated on this page. The Social Security Number cannot be updated.
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2017-18 IRS Data Retrieval Tool, page 1, containing user demographic information (continued, updated with user information). The user can click “Submit” to retrieve IRS data, or “Return to FAFSA” to discontinue use of the IRS DRT and return to FOTW.
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2017-18 IRS Data Retrieval Tool, page 2, containing user-specific IRS data. The user can check the “Transfer My Tax Information…” box and click “Transfer Now” to carry this data back into FOTW. The user can check the “Do Not Transfer…” box and click “Do Not Transfer” to discontinue use of the IRS DRT and return to FOTW. The user can click the “Print this page” icon in order to print the data that is displayed on this page.
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2017-18 “Student Financial Information” page.
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Top half of the 2017-18 “Student Financial Information continued” page. Bottom half of the page is continued on the next slide. The “Additional Financial Information” section was updated to include “2015” for clarity.
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This is the bottom half of the 2017-18 “Student Financial Information continued” page.
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This is the top half of the 2017-18 “Sign & Submit” page, where the student signs and actively acknowledges the Certification Statement. Applicants must still actively agree with the certification statement. Since the student entered his/her FSA ID to go to the IRS to transfers data, he/she is not requested to provide his/her FSA ID Username and Password again to sign the application.
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This is the bottom half of the 2017-18 “Sign & Submit” page for the dependent student, with the parent signature options and the active confirmation for the parent Certification Statement. Since the student entered his/her FSA ID to go to the IRS to transfer data, he/she is not requested to provide his/her FSA ID Username and Password again to sign the application.
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2017-18 “Confirmation Page” Parents of dependent students are offered the option to transfer the parents’ data into another student’s new FAFSA. The link is found on the “Confirmation Page.” If the applicant leaves the confirmation page before they click this link they will not be able to return to transfer data to the application of a sibling.
