Presented By: Erica Shafer, MBA Associate Director of Financial Aid Colorado College

What Is Financial Aid? The Financial Aid Equation –Cost of Attendance & EFC Applying for Financial Aid Types of Financial Aid Useful Online Tools Little Known Money Savers Q&A Little Known Financial Aid Facts

Financial aid is supplemental funding used to cover costs associated with earning a college degree. Merit-based aid is awarded by the Admissions Office and is based on a student’s admission application materials including GPA and test score information. Need-based aid is awarded by the Financial Aid Office and is based on a family’s EFC calculations and the school’s cost of attendance. Funding sources include the federal government, state government, and the college itself. Schools emphasize merit vs. need-based aid differently in their financial aid philosophies. For example, schools with lower admission rates (highly selective) may focus on funding need- based institutional awards instead of merit awards.

Cost of Attendance (COA) Expected Family Contribution (EFC) - Financial Need A student’s total financial aid cannot exceed their school’s COA and the total of their need-based aid cannot exceed the value of their financial need.

A school’s COA serves multiple purposes. It represents both the expenses a student will incur by attending a college or university AND a student’s budget for all financial aid. Tuition Fees Room Board Loan Fees Books & Supplies Personal Expenses Transportation Costs Direct Costs + Indirect Costs = COA Most components of a school’s COA is regulated by the federal government. Certain component values may be set by state government. COA has a tendency to increase each year – But some schools will lock in their tuition & fee prices for four years.

FAFSA = Free Application for Federal Financial Aid Proprietor – Federal Government *Available January 1 st for 1617 school year, will be available October 1 st for the 1718 school year* Fill out using federal income tax information Can be completed manually or IRS tax information can be directly imported into the application using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool FAFSA EFC is generally used in the Financial Aid Equation to award federal and state financial aid based on a student’s need level. Some schools may use it to award need-based institutional financial aid as well. Must reapply for federal financial aid every year using the FAFSA For dependent students, both student and a parent must digitally sign the FAFSA using username you create. One student per FAFSA Coming for the school year – Prior Prior Year!

Prior Prior Year (Important for current high school juniors and younger) Approved PPY legislation allows a family applying for financial aid to use tax forms filed two years before their student starts college. For Example - for the 1718 school year families can use their 2015 tax information (instead of 2016) to be awarded Federal Financial Aid. Eases rush of having to complete prior year taxes (2016 for example) before March for Financial Aid application Allows FAFSA to be made available earlier for students applying as early decision/early action applicants. FAFSA available January 1 st for 1617 school year, will be available October 1 st for the 1718 school year If PPY information is not reflective of family’s reality on the day they fill out the FAFSA (income, marital status, etc.), contact school Current High School Senior Students: During transitionary year 2015 tax information will be used to award federal financial aid for the 1617 and 1718 school year.

EFC calculated based off of: AGI Taxes Paid Number in Household Number in College Untaxed Income (tax deferred pensions, etc.) Investments (Do not include the family home) If student’s parents are divorced, only custodial parent’s financial information is relevant to the application. A student’s tax dependency status does not determine their dependency status for financial aid.

Data Collection Breakdown Be as accurate as possible with your application answers. You may be selected for an audit process called verification and required to submit supporting documentation for your answers.

CSS Profile = College Scholarship Service Profile Proprietor – College Board Not free for all applicants. Based on student’s need, can ask for a fee waiver from school’s financial aid office Currently available October 1 st of each year Not PPY compatible yet so fill out using current year federal income tax information Profile EFC is generally used in the Financial Aid Equation by private universities (and a few public) to award institutional financial aid based on a student’s need level. May have to reapply for institutional aid every year using the CSS Profile One student per Profile Certain schools only require a family to fill out the Profile once and then guarantee to award their student financial aid based on that one EFC calculation all four years.

Components of EFC Calculation are customizable for schools EFC calculation often based off of: AGI Taxes Paid Number in Household Number in College Untaxed Income (tax deferred pensions, etc.) Investment Information (non-retirement investment holdings) Business Income & Deductions Supplementary Investment information (home equity, other real estate holdings, business value, family cars, etc) If student’s parents are divorced, non-custodial parent]s information may be required for EFC calculation. Because school’s can customize not only the components that make up a family’s institutional EFC but also how they account for them in the calculation, a family’s institutional EFC can vary from school to school Garbage In Garbage Out Also on FAFSA

Grants Scholarships Work-Study Student & Parent Education Loans

Grants Federal State Institutional

Scholarships Private Institutional FastWeb.com Scholarships.com Gocollege.com

Student & Parent Education Loans AwardAmount (1516)Criteria Interest Rate (1516) GuaranteedApplication Direct Sub $3500 – Freshmen $4500 – Sophomore $5500 – Junior & Senior Financial Need 4.29% (Fixed) NoFAFSA Direct Unsub $2000 None 4.29% (Fixed) YesFAFSA Direct Parent Plus COA – Other Aid = amount Approved Credit 6.84% (Fixed) No FAFSA & Credit App at studentloans.gov Private AwardAmount (1516)Criteria Interest Rate GuaranteedApplication Private Loan COA – Other Aid = amount Approved Credit Varies (Variable) NoVaries Federal

Work-Study Federal & State Student must work at on-campus job or approved off-campus job to earn money Wages paid directly to student, not to their bill 1-40 hrs. a week Flexible Can be a very competitive award to receive Best spent on paying for indirect costs instead of covering direct costs Student must work at on-campus job or approved off-campus job to earn money Wages paid directly to student, not to their bill 1-40 hrs. a week Flexible Can be a very competitive award to receive Best spent on paying for indirect costs instead of covering direct costs

Financial need may affect your admission into certain colleges (Need Blind vs. Need Aware) The policy for packaging students with institutional aid and some federal/state aid is completely up to each university Do not be afraid of a school’s sticker price. Don’t use your retirement to pay for your child’s college Don’t necessarily use all of your 529 plan to cover your student’s first years of school Do let schools know about any special family financial circumstances

Do let schools know if you plan to utilize VA educational benefits Do plan for four years of attendance instead of just one Do research application requirements and deadlines Do submit forms by deadlines Financial aid offer is generally sent with the offer of admission Do review the offer and ask questions if needed (award letters will not look the same) Do accept or decline offer by deadline

Gap Year Transferring from community college One year masters programs Earning a degree abroad Researching schools that meet full need – Thinking about ROI – A student should not borrow more than their expected first year salary out of college

Net Price Calculators EFC Estimators – contribution-calculator contribution-calculator Financial Aid Awareness Calculators – 1s1 1s1 College Planners – Financial Aid Award Comparison Tool – calculator calculator Major ROI Research – – sort.html sort.html Grad School ROI – calculating-the-roi/ calculating-the-roi/ Business Mindset Resource –