CHOICES Applying for Financial Aid at James Madison University

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CHOICESApplying for Financial Aidat James
Madison University

• February 16, 2009

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Objectives

• We hope you have a better understanding of the
  following after viewing these slides
• The financial aid process at JMU
• Common myths when completing the 2009-10 Free
  Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
• Types of available aid
• Importance of the FAFSA priority filing date at
  JMU
• The scholarship application process at JMU

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Applying for Financial Aid

• The FAFSA is the only application students at
  JMU need to complete to apply for all of the
  federal and state financial aid offered through
  the Office of Financial Aid Scholarships
• Thats it! One form!

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Types of Financial Aid From FAFSA

• Federal Grants (Pell, SEOG, ACG, SMART)
• State Grants (VGAP, CA, CSAP)
• University Grants
• Federal Loans (Stafford, Perkins, Parent PLUS)
• Federal Work-Study
• Note There is also a non-financial aid related
  employment option for students called
  Institutional Employment

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Scholarship Information

• Review the website below for more detailed
  information about scholarships offered at JMU
• http//www.jmu.edu/finaid/scholarships/
• Click on the Prospective Student Scholarships link

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Scholarships and Financial Aid

• Important Note!
• Receipt of scholarship funds from any source may
  reduce your eligibility for need based federal
  and state financial aid
• Please inform the Office of Financial Aid
  Scholarships as soon as you are aware you will
  receive a scholarship

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Scholarships and Admissions

• Freshman applicants are invited to apply for
  merit-based awards through the Freshman
  Scholarship Programs, which are the
• Thomas and Karyn Dingledine Scholarship for
  Achievement in Academics and Service
• Madison Achievement Scholarships
• Second Century Scholarships (STEM Majors)

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Thomas and Karyn Dingledine Scholarship for
Achievement in Academics and Service

• Award amount is equivalent to full in-state
  tuition (currently 6,964) for four years at JMU
• Six awards annually
• Early Action freshman application to JMU is
  required
• Application and recommendations must have been
  postmarked no later than November 01, 2008 to be
  considered
• On January 15, 2009 top candidates were mailed an
  invitation for a February 15, 2009 campus
  interview
• The final scholarship recipients will be mailed
  an award letter on March 1, 2009
• Students who applied by the November 1 deadline
  will remain in the pool to be considered for the
  Madison Achievement Scholarships

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Madison Achievement Scholarships

• Award amounts vary from 2,000 for two years to
  500 for one year
• Approximately 50 awards annually
• No additional application is required for the
  Madison Achievement Scholarships. Students will
  be reviewed using their application for admission
  to JMU.
• Application deadline is January 15, 2009
• Recipients will be mailed an award notice on
  April 10, 2009

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Second Century Scholarships (STEM Majors)

• This program financially supports exemplary
  students entering any of the following STEM
  majors
• Biology
• Biotechnology
• Chemistry
• Computer Science
• Earth Science
• Engineering
• Geographic Science
• Geology
• Information Analysis
• Integrated Science and Technology
• Math
• Physics
• Statistics

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Second Century Scholarships (STEM Majors)

• The amount of the scholarship is set at 75
  percent of in-state tuition of the year
  recipients enter the university and continues at
  this amount for the four years
• Application deadline is February 13, 2009
• Recipients will be mailed an award notice on
  April 15, 2009
• Potential applicants must meet the following
  criteria to apply for the SCS scholarship
• SAT 1200 or higher (ACT equivalent is 27)
• GPA 3.5 or higher (performance in science,
  technology and mathematics courses will receive
  additional consideration)
• Demonstrated interest and commitment to study in
  a STEM area
• Declaration of major in a designated STEM area

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Scholarships from Departments

• Some departments offer scholarships to entering
  freshmen.
• You can review departmental scholarships at
  www.jmu.edu/finaid/scholarships.
• We have organized these awards by college or
  other university subdivision.
• Select the college or division of your choice,
  review selection criteria, and contact the
  designated department for information regarding
  application procedures.
• These academic units will not utilize your
  application for admission for scholarship
  selection purposes. Application requirements may
  differ among departments.

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Private Scholarships

• Private scholarships can originate from any non
  JMU source
• You can find some private scholarship searches at
  www.jmu.edu/finaid/scholarships
• If you receive a private scholarship, complete an
  online Supplemental Information Sheet to inform
  the financial aid office regarding your good
  fortune
• According to state and federal regulations, we
  must consider outside sources of financial
  assistance when awarding aid

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Applying for Financial Aid

• Students and/or parents may need to submit
  additional forms after the FAFSA is filed, but
  JMU will provide directions for this via
  notifications sent to the student
• Additional forms that may be needed later are tax
  forms, JMU Stafford or Parent PLUS Loan
  applications, master promissory notes, etc
• The key is to get the FAFSA on file and JMU will
  guide you through the rest of the process

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FAFSA Myths

• Before going into detail about completing the
  application, it is important to dispel a few
  myths about the FAFSA
• The following slides explain some of the common
  misconceptions about the FAFSA

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Myth 1

• My parents and I must have our taxes done before
  we can complete the FAFSA
• You can file the FAFSA with estimated income
  information if you do not have your taxes done
• You will see later that it is extremely important
  that you meet the priority filing date, so dont
  let not having your taxes done keep you from
  doing that

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Myth 2 3

• I can file my FAFSA as an independent student
  (without my parents information) if my parents do
  not claim me as a dependent on their taxes
• Im 18 years old, so I dont need my parents
  information when completing the FAFSA
• Who claims whom on their taxes is irrelevant for
  this
• The dependency questions on the FAFSA will tell
  you if you need your parents information

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Myth 4

• The FAFSA, and financial aid in general, is
  processed the same way at every school
• It is true that the FAFSA is used at every school
  who participates in the federal student aid
  programs
• The aid process, available funds, need for
  supplemental forms, and deadlines can vary
  between schools

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Myth 5 6

• My financial aid eligibility will be the same
  regardless of when I submit my FAFSA
• The on-time (priority) filing date for the FAFSA
  is the same at every school
• You will see later in the presentation how
  meeting the priority filing date can impact your
  eligibility
• In Virginia, each school sets their own filing
  date

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Myth 7

• My parents house, life insurance, and
  retirement accounts will count against my
  financial aid eligibility
• These do not count as assets on the FAFSA
• Money contributed to a retirement account during
  the year counts on the FAFSA Worksheets, but the
  value of a retirement account does not count

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Myth 8

• The paper FAFSA is processed just as quickly as
  a FAFSA submitted via FAFSA on the Web
• It can take weeks longer for a paper FAFSA to be
  processed
• You will see in later slides the advantages of
  FAFSA on the Web

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Myth 9

• I can rely on my parents to handle the
  completion and submission of my FAFSA, in
  addition to the rest of my financial aid
  paperwork
• In cases where a student is defined by the FAFSA
  as dependent, both student and parental
  information is needed to complete the application
• Students who are involved in the FAFSA process
  from the beginning experience fewer problems as
  they progress through the system

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Myth 10

• The FAFSA is the only form needed to complete
  the entire application process for receiving aid
  from all federal, state, and institutional
  sources
• The key words are underlined above
• The FAFSA is the only application needed to make
  an initial application for federal and state aid
  at JMU
• Additional forms may be needed later to verify
  FAFSA elements or accept certain types of offered
  aid
• The Office of Financial Aid Scholarships will
  notify the student of any additional documents
  needed

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2009-10 FAFSA Priority Filing Date

• March 1st, 2009
• This means your FAFSA should be logged in at the
  federal processor by March 1st
• If you are using a paper FAFSA, you should mail
  it by early to mid-February
• If you are using FAFSA on the Web, you should
  submit it few days before March 1st

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Importance of Priority Filing Date

• In some cases, meeting the priority filing date
  can increase your eligibility for specific types
  of financial aid
• Allows appropriate amount of time for processing
  before the 2009-10 school year begins

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Priority Filing Date Guarantees

• Meeting the March 1st priority filing date does
  not guarantee a higher aid package than if your
  FAFSA reaches the federal processor after this
• Depending on how many students meet the March 1st
  date, it is possible there will not be enough
  money in some of the accounts to pay an award to
  all on-time eligible filers

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Priority Filing Date Guarantees

• Meeting the March 1st date simply increases your
  chances for certain types of aid that may not be
  available to those who apply later

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Missing the Priority Filing Date

• You can still complete a FAFSA after March 1,
  2009, but the funds available for awarding at
  that time could be limited

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Two Types of FAFSAs

• Paper
• Electronic
• (web-based)

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FAFSA on the Web
must be signed

• www.fafsa.ed.gov (NOT www.fafsa.com)
• This is the fastest and most accurate method of
  completing the FAFSA
• Signatures are submitted to the federal processor
  by either
• Printing, signing, and mailing signature page or
• Signing it electronically with a PIN

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Paper FAFSA

• A paper FAFSA can be filed instead of using
  FAFSA on the Web however, you should be aware of
  two factors if you choose the paper FAFSA
• More errors occur on the paper FAFSA than FAFSA
  on the Web
• A paper FAFSA takes weeks longer to process than
  a FAFSA submitted via FAFSA on the Web

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FAFSA on the Webs Homepage
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Getting Ready for FAFSA on the Web

• It might be beneficial to complete the FAFSA on
  the Web Worksheet to help you work through FAFSA
  on the Web
• The worksheet can be found at the FAFSA site,
  www.fafsa.ed.gov.

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Submit

• Once you have completed the FAFSA, submit it (if
  using FAFSA on the Web) or mail it (if using a
  paper FAFSA) to the federal processor
• Make sure it gets there by March 1st

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On-line Aid Estimator

• Get your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) by
  completing the FAFSA
• Go to www.jmu.edu/finaid
• Select Prospective Students on the left
• Select JMU Aid Estimator under the Applying
  for Financial Aid section
• Answer the applicable questions
• Receive an estimated award immediately

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Award Letters

• We will begin mailing Preliminary Financial Aid
  Award Notices to students around the first of
  April
• Official Financial Aid Award Notices (Student and
  Parent PLUS) will be sent after May 1st
• Once the fall term begins, all student award
  notices will be sent to the students JMU e-mail
  account
• Note There a possibility we may electronically
  notify students of their preliminary and official
  awards in 2009-10 instead of mailing these letters

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Award Letters(continued)

• Verification may need to occur before an Official
  Financial Aid Award Notice can be generated
• Scholarship awards will NOT appear on the
  Financial Aid Award Notice
• Scholarship notifications are provided by the
  department making the award

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Communication

• The majority of communications (e.g. letters,
  e-mails, etc.) sent from our office are sent
  directly to students, not parents
• The primary means of communicating with students
  are through their JMU e-mail and e-campus accounts

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Questions

• You can download a copy of this presentation at
  www.jmu.edu/finaid
• If you have any questions, please do not hesitate
  to contact our office via one of the following
  methods
• In person at our 3rd floor counter in Warren Hall
• By phone at [phone]
• By e-mail at fin_aid_at_jmu.edu
• On the web at www.jmu.edu/finaid