Financial Aid for College: Exploring Your Options

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Financial Aid for CollegeExploring Your Options
Jerry Cebrzynski Lake Forest College
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• Behind the scenes What a College can help you
  with
• What exactly is financial aid
• The financial aid language
• Application process in a nutshell
• How eligibility is determined
• Other resources

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Current College Costs2006-2007

• Average Tuition, Fees, Room, Board
• 4 Year Public 13,000
• 4 Year Private 29,000
• Average personal expenses clothing, laundry,
  toiletries, recreation, entertainment 2,000
• Books 700 - 1,000 per year

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The Relationship Between Financial Aid,
Admissions, and the HS Counselor
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The Financial Aid Office

• Be committed to removing financial barriers
• Be an advocate for the student at all levels
• Educate students and families through quality
  consumer information
• Provide services that do not discriminate
• Maintain the highest level of professionalism

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A Partnership

• To the extent they are able, parents have primary
  responsibility to pay for their dependent
  childrens education
• Students also have a responsibility to contribute
  to their educational costs
• Families should be evaluated in their appropriate
  financial condition
• A familys ability to pay for educational costs
  must be evaluated in an equitable and consistent
  manner, recognizing that special circumstances
  can and do affect its ability to pay

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What is Financial Aid?

• Scholarships
• Grants
• Student Loans
• Work-Study

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Financial aid is available from three major
sources

• ? U.S. Department of Educationthe federal agency
  that provides college funding in the form of
  grants, scholarships and loans
• ? States
• most states have agencies that administer state
  scholarship and grant programs, college savings
  and prepaid tuition programs, and loans. (In IL
  it is ISAC, the Illinois Student Assistance
  Commission)
• ? Colleges and Universities
• schools offer their own scholarship, grant,
  work-study and loan programs, with each college
  setting its requirements

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Two Categories of Aid

• Merit-based
• Need-based

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Merit Scholarships

• Based on a students . . .
• Academic ability,
• Merit
• Talent

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Types of Need-Based Aid

• Gift aid
• Self-help aid

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Gift aid vs. Self-Help

• Scholarships gift aid
• Grants gift aid
• Work-Study self-help aid
• Loans self-help aid
• These funds may be merit-based,
• need-based,or non-need-based.

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Private Financial Aid Sources...

• Parents and/or Students Employer
• Private Foundations
• Civic Organizations

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Scholarship Search Services...

• Comprehensive databases
• Student Profile for customized search
• Federal, state, private, and institutional
  sources
• Student receives list of sources - must request
  applications
• www.fastweb.com
• www.brokescholar.com

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Who Receives Private Scholarships?

• 2.3 Million Recipients
• 3.3 Billion Awarded
• 2,000 Average Award
• 7 of undergraduates
• 3 of total aid

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Scholarship Scams

• Consultants
• Seminars
• 10 Scam Warning Signs

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So . . . how does the process begin?
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• To apply for all federal and state aid, families
  must complete the...

• Free Application for Federal Student Aid
  (FAFSA)
• The FAFSA collects financial data such as income
  and asset equity, and student and family
  demographic information. It is used to determine
  the students eligibility by calculating an
  index

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Why bother?

• Submit the FAFSA whether or not you think you
  qualify for aid.
• 63 of all students receive aid 83 at private
  colleges
• Sometimes being rejected for federal aid is a
  prerequisite for receiving private awards.

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Supplemental Financial Aid Applications

• The College Scholarship Service Financial Aid
  PROFILE
• A Colleges own application for financial aid

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Overview of the FAFSA

• 2007-2008 available in January
• 7 Steps
• Submit it soon after January 1

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FAFSA on the Web (FOTW)

• Available January 1
• English or Spanish
• Skip logic and online editing
• Electronic signature
• Electronic notification
• 15 million (89) FOTWs processed 06/07 so far

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Two ways to sign the FOTW

• Sign electronically using a PIN
• Print a signature page

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PIN

• www.pin.ed.gov
• PIN serves as electronic signature
• student
• parent
• used for
• FAFSA on the Web
• FAFSA Corrections
• Financial Aid history
• for 06/07
• 30 million PINS issued

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Timeline

• Complete FAFSA after January 1
• Receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) 72 hours 6
  weeks later
• Review SAR for correctness
• Check if other additional application required or
  beneficial
• Receive Financial Aid Award Letter before May 1

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• The College determines eligibility for financial
  aid by
• Cost of Attendance
• - Expected Family Contribution
• Financial Need

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The college prepares the award
package Scholarships Grants Work-Study Loans an
d then sends an Award Letter.
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• The Financial Aid award letter or package
• Will contain a combination of
• scholarship, grant, loan and work-study funds
• Why might packages be different?
• cost of attendance
• scholarship criteria and availability
• institutional philosophy and funding
• federal funding levels

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Where to Look for Help

• Right here at IMSA
• A Colleges Financial Aid Office
• The Internet
• www.collegezone.com
• www.finaid.org
• www.studentaid.ed.gov
• College Web Sites

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Questions to Ask a College
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Deadlines
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