Financing Your Education

1
Financing Your Education

• Chris Pesotski
• Director
• Office of Financial Aid

2
Agenda

• Introduction
• How Financial Aid Works
• Application Process

3
UArts Office of Financial Aid

• One Director, one Assistant Director
• Two Assistants
• Debi and Zena
• Three Financial Aid Counselors
• Jewel, Ben and Emily
• One Loan Counselor
• JoAnne
• Seven Peer Counselors
• Amanda, Lindsey, Kelli, Kathryn, Nick, Elizabeth
  and Kendra

4
Office of Financial Aid Goals

• Primary goal is to assist students in obtaining a
  UArts degree and is achieved by
• Evaluating familys ability to pay educational
  costs
• Distributing limited resources in an equitable
  manner
• Providing balance of gift aid and self-help aid

5
Cost of Attendance

• Tuition and fees
• Room and board
• Books and supplies
• Transportation
• Personal expenses, including documented costs for
  a personal computer
• Loan fees
• Study abroad costs
• Dependent care or disability expenses

6
Principles of Need Analysis

• To the extent they are able, parents have primary
  responsibility to pay for dependent childs
  education
• Students also have responsibility to contribute
  to educational costs
• Families should be evaluated in their present
  financial condition
• Familys estimated ability to pay educational
  costs must be evaluated in an equitable and
  consistent manner, recognizing that special
  circumstances may affect familys ability to pay

7
EFC Formula

• Set by Congress
• Includes
• Parent Income
• Parent Assets
• Student Income
• Student Assets
• Allowances for
• Living Expenses
• Taxes
• Family Size
• Expenses related to employment
• Must use parent information until student is 24

8
Types of Aid Available

• From the University
• Presidential Scholarships
• Promising Young Artist Awards
• Artist Grants
• Directors Scholarships
• Named Scholarships
• University Grants

9
Types of Aid Available

• From the Federal Government
• Pell Grants
• Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants
  (SEOG)
• Federal Work Study (FWS)
• Perkins Loans
• Stafford Loans
• Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students (PLUS)

10
Types of Aid Available

• From the State
• Pennsylvania State Grant PA residents only
• Varies from 4500 to 500 for eligible students
• Formula controlled by PHEAA
• Awards made by PHEAA no UArts control
• Other States
• Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland,
  Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island
  and Vermont

11
Types of Aid Available

• Outside Scholarships
• FinAid.org www.finaid.org
• The College Board www.collegeboard.com
• FastWeb www.fastweb.com
• Alternative Loans
• Sallie Mae Signature Loan
• www.salliemae.com
• College Board Connect Loan
• www.collegeboard.com

12
Application Procedure

• Apply for Admission
• Apply for a PIN at www.pin.ed.gov (parents AND
  students)
• Submit Free Application for Federal Student Aid
  (FAFSA) at www.fafsa.ed.gov
• Most aid on first-come, first-served basis
• Deadlines
• As early as possible after January 1
• No later than March 1

13
Corrections

• If necessary, corrections to FAFSA data may be
  made
• On paper SAR (bad idea)
• Using Corrections on the Web (www.fafsa.ed.gov/stu
  dentaccess.htm) if student has PIN or
• By UArts Office of Financial Aid
• SAR Information Acknowledgement cannot be used to
  make corrections

14
Caution

• Avoid being charged a fee to file the Free
  Application for Federal Student Aid
• Processes of completing processing FAFSA are
  FREE
• If filing via FAFSA on the Web, be sure to go
  directly to www.fafsa.ed.gov
• Contact financial aid office for help completing
  FAFSA

15
Frequent Errors

• Parent student Social Security Numbers
• Divorced/remarried parental information
• Income earned by parents/step-parents
• Untaxed income
• U.S. income taxes paid
• Household size
• Number of household members in college
• Real estate investment net worth
• Missed Deadlines

16
Role of the Office of Financial Aid

• Determines aid eligibility using federal formula
• Packages aid depending on availability of funds
• Sends award notification
• Provides alternative loan options
• Reviews appeals
• Assists students in finding on-campus jobs

17
Avoid Being Scammed

• To check legitimacy of scholarship search
  services or individuals, for information about
  financial aid scams and tips to avoid being
  scammed visit these sites
• Better Business Bureau www.bbb.com
• U.S. Department of Education http//studentaid.ed
  .gov/students/publications/lsa/index.html
• Federal Trade Commission www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/
  publs/alerts/ouchart.htm