$$ COLLEGE FINANCIAL AID/SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION $$
Updated week of 3/12/07
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 1/1/07. 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.
Booklets to help
explain the financial aid process are available in the
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
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 2006 Colleges, College
Scholarships, and Financial Aid page is designed to offer college
bound students, parents, and counselors easy access to information on:
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free college
scholarship and financial aid searches. |
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SAT and ACT test
preparation tips, and more. |
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colleges and
universities throughout the |
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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
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