What You Need to Know About Financial Aid at Prince George HS Presented by: Jeanne Holmes - SunTrust Bank October 11, 2016 jeanne.holmes@suntrust.com

Most families are facing this as their student prepares for college:

So, will this be your household????

Or this? Let’s hope not, so it’s time to prepare . . . So, hopefully, after this presentation, you will feel a “little” better about the process. Let’s get started!

Why is the process starting earlier? Benefit #1: Alignment – with admissions application deadlines Benefit #2: Certainty – tax information is already on hand Benefit #3: Less Pressure – more time to process before state and school deadlines; and more time to compare schools before making a commitment

What is Financial Aid? Financial aid consists of funds provided to students and families to help pay for postsecondary educational expenses

Sources of Financial Aid Federal government States Colleges and universities Private sources Civic organizations and churches Employers

Types of Financial Aid Scholarships Grants Gift Aid Loans Employment Self-Help Aid

Categories of Financial Aid Need-based aid Non-need-based aid

What is Cost of Attendance (COA)? Direct costs Indirect costs Direct and indirect costs combined into cost of attendance Varies widely from college to college

What makes up Cost of Attendance Room & Board Books, supplies, transportation and miscellaneous personal expenses, including documented costs for a personal computer; Loan fees Study abroad costs Dependent care expenses Disability related expenses

What is Expected Family Contribution (EFC)? Amount family can reasonably be expected to contribute Stays the same regardless of college Two components Parent contribution Student contribution Calculated using data from a federal application form and a federal formula

What is Financial Need? - Expected Family Contribution Cost of Attendance - Expected Family Contribution -Any Scholarship or Financial Aid already awarded = Financial Need

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)- A “Needs Analysis” Document A standardized form that collects demographic and financial information about the student and family to calculate the family’s EFC Beginning with the 2017-18 academic year, you will use the “prior-prior” tax year – (2015) and processing began October 1, 2016. May be filed electronically or using paper form (not encouraged) Available in English and Spanish

FSA ID This is your electronic passport to to federal student aid online! This replaced the FSA PIN as of May 10, 2015 Why: because the use of a username and password is much more secure than the PIN 1-3 days to get because of needed confirmation with the Social Security Administration Only 1 email addressed can be used with the assigned FSA ID (parents and students cannot share the same email address when applying for the FSA ID)

FAFSA on the Web (FOTW) Reasons to file electronically: Website: www.fafsa.gov FAFSA on the Web Worksheet is a “pre-application: worksheet that follows the questions in order of the FOTW Built-in edits to prevent costly errors Skip-logic allows student and/or parent to skip unnecessary questions Option to use Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Data Retrieval Tool to import tax data

Starting your FOTW application

IRS Data Retrieval Tool While completing FOTW, applicant should submit real-time request to IRS for tax data IRS will authenticate taxpayer’s identity If match found, IRS sends real-time results to applicant in new browser window Applicant chooses whether or not to transfer data to FOTW

IRS Data Retrieval Tool Available NOW because of the use of 2015 tax data Participation is voluntary (but strongly recommended) Reduces documents requested by financial aid office

Signatures Required Format for submitting signatures Student One parent (dependent students) Format for submitting signatures Electronic using FSA ID Signature page Paper FAFSA

Frequent FAFSA Errors Social Security Numbers Divorced/remarried/co-habitating legal parental information Income earned by parents/stepparents Untaxed income U.S. income taxes paid Household size Number of household members in college Real estate and investment net worth

Student Aid Report Review data for accuracy and correct any errors Update estimated tax information when actual figures become available

Special Circumstances Cannot be documented using FAFSA Send written explanation and documentation to financial aid office at each college College will review and request additional information if necessary Decisions are final and cannot be appealed to U.S. Department of Education

Good Luck! Questions???? My contact info: Jeanne.holmes@suntrust.com