$$ COLLEGE FINANCIAL AID/SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION $$
Updated week of 11/19/07
8 EASY STEPS IN THE
STUDENT FINANCIAL AID PROCESS (Thank you Sallie Mae)
What to
Do Before January 1
- Get
a Social Security Number (SSN). If
you submit the FAFSA without a SSN, your application will not be
processed. To apply for a SSN, go to www.ssa.gov.
- Request a
PIN. You can apply for a “sign” the
FAFSA online, check the status and make corrections. To get a PIN, go to www.pin.ed.gov .
- Make note of
state and college deadlines and requirements.
- Obtain the
FAFSA on the Web worksheet. Use
this tool to help gather information needed to complete the official
FAFSA. To get a worksheet, come to
the
What to
Do After January 1
- Complete the
FAFSA on the Internet www.FAFSA.ed.gov .Apply as soon
as you can after January 1 as funding is awarded on a first-come,
first-served basis. Use the previous year’s tax information; do not wait
until you’ve done your taxes for the current year. You can make corrections on the Student
Aid Report (SAR).
- Review your
Student Aid Report (SAR). This summarizes the data you reported on the
FAFSA. Make corrections and changes
as necessary. You can add more
colleges. The Expected Family
Contribution (EFC) will be in the upper right-hand corner. Colleges will receive electronic copies
of your SAR.
- Determine if
you need to verify your FAFSA information.
At least 30% of submitted FAFSAs are selected for
verification. An * will appear
after the EFC number.
- Compare award
letters. If you’re eligible for
aid, colleges at which you are accepted will send you an award
letter. Carefully compare amounts
and types of aid awarded.
IN THE NEWS
The
move by Harvard and
Special
Circumstances Is it
possible to negotiate need-based financial aid? The answer provided by three college financial
aid directors who spoke at the College Board Forum in
According to the financial aid directors, there are three main
“special circumstances” where adjustments may be considered based on the
professional judgment of the financial aid office.
- Cost of
Attendance – Some students may have extra costs that most students don’t,
such as extra travel expenses, child care costs, or expensive supplies or
books required by a certain major.
- Dependency
Status – If the student can prove that he/she is legally no longer a
dependent, sometimes colleges will treat the student as an independent for
financial aid purposes. These are
pretty rare, almost always requiring third party documentation to severe
estrangement from the parents. Dependency overrides don’t include things
such as the parents being unwilling to contribute, or the student just
claiming they are totally self-sufficient.
- Family
financial circumstances – The family has to be able to prove that there
has been a change in the actual value of the financial data not reflected
by questions asked by the FAFSA or CSS Profile: sibling tuition for private
K-12 education, medical and dental expenses, death or divorce of parents,
loss of income due to change of employment or disaster.
It really varies from institution to institution depending on the
resources and philosophy of the college. This does not mean a negotiation. Every institution still has to be able to
justify, document, and apply professional judgment consistently. Public
institutions tend to be stricter; private ones use professional judgment more
often.
If you think your family has special circumstances that may
justify appealing your financial aid package:
document your case. Send tax
returns, non-custodial information, trust agreements, medical bills, etc. Contact the financial aid office
directly. However, at some point,
there’s no money left and no resources left to make adjustments.
In most cases, merit-only scholarships are
handled through the admissions office.
Sometimes a competing offer will be considered.
It never hurts to ask, but your chances of appeal are best if you
can prove the extra money is necessary to attend.
AdmissionAdvice.com
(Helping Students and
FAFSA
INFORMATION is now available online at www.fafsa.ed.gov . Get
your PIN and use the FAFSA worksheet to help prepare you to apply for federal
and college financial aid starting 1/1/08.
Use 2005 taxes to estimate if you’re going to file before you have
done 2006 taxes. The Student Aid Report
(SAR) will allow you to update the information to reflect 2006.
DEADLINES
It is extremely
important for students and their families to be aware of the deadlines that
colleges set for specific scholarships.
Although many scholarship opportunities are offered through the basic
admissions process, there are those colleges that set earlier deadlines for
admissions and tie them to scholarships.
For example, the
Free Application
for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) www.fafsa.ed.gov
On-line
registration for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid along with
answers to frequently asked questions about the financial aid process. The FAFSA has a number of “ghost” sites
that will offer to complete it for you for a fee! Beware – this is a free site.
It’s Not As Bad As
It Sounds
A
surprisingly large number of students are eligible for need-based financial
aid, and many others qualify for merit-based scholarships for academic or
athletic prowess. Some students defray
some of the expenses with part-time jobs and summer earnings, and college-bound
students can borrow money which can be paid back starting six-months after they
graduate.
FINANCIAL
AID RESOURCES
Fairfax County Public Schools Family Connection (available through Blackboard) – Financial Aid links to help explain the process.
College Board www.collegeboard.com - Register for the College Scholarship Service Financial Aid Profile (CSS Profile). The Profile is used to apply for nonfederal financial aid.
College Savings
Plan Network http://www.collegesavings.org/
State
sponsored clearinghouse for information about college savings programs
College Scholarships www.college-scholarships.com – This 2007 Colleges, College
Scholarships, and Financial Aid page is designed to
offer college bound students, parents, and counselors easy access to
information on:
|
|
free
college scholarship and financial aid searches. |
|
|
SAT and
ACT test preparation tips, and more. |
|
|
colleges
and universities throughout the |
|
|
career
schools, vocational schools, technical schools, career colleges, vocational colleges, and
technical colleges |
FAFSA Step By Step http://www.fastweb.com
FastWeb http://www.fastweb.com - Scholarship search;
information on local and federal aid; a “Q and A” section; financial aid
timeline, glossary
The Federal
Finance Your
Education http://adventuresineducation.org/HighSchool/hs_finance.cfm Includes needs analysis, methods of
financing a college education, money management
Guaranteed
Scholarships - www.guaranteed-scholarships.com
Scholarships
offered by specific colleges to students with a good combination of ACT/SAT
scores and GPAs. The amount of the
scholarships and the level of scores and grades needed to qualify vary widely. Check out some of these colleges and see what
kinds of merit scholarships are available.
Kiplinger http://www.kiplinger.com/personalfinance/money/college/ Magazine with information about managing
money and college financing.
Knowledge for College – www.CollegeAnswer.com –
site for students which features a free scholarship search, e-newsletters which
highlight monthly events, planning and paying for college advice from students,
enter to win a monthly $1000 scholarship.
Nellie Mae http://www.nelliemae.org/index.html Provides a broad range of loans under the
Federal Family Educational Loan Program (FFELP) and privately funded loan
programs.
Petersons Financial
Aid http://iiswinprd03.petersons.com/finaid/file.asp?id=780&path=ug.pfs.financial
Information
on financial aid and the process
Sallie Mae www.salliemae.com Financial aid
guidance including interactive calculators to help forecast college costs,
estimated eligibility, education loan payments, etc.
Scams http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/scholarship/
Federal
Trade Commission helps to identify which scholarships are the real deal and
which are scams.
Scholarships.com www.scholarships.com Provides a free search of an entire database
of scholarships.
Student Scholarship
Search http://StudentScholarshipSearch.com No need to give up personal information;
just find the relevant awards.
Understanding Your
Financial Aid Award Letter
http://www.fastweb.com/fastweb/educators/faa/download/newsletters/finaidawardltrs2006hs.pdf
|
|
|