Everything You Need to Know About FAFSA

Free Application for Federal Student Aid What is the FAFSA? What does it stand for? Free Application for Federal Student Aid Free federal financial aid application is required for ALL colleges Completed electronically Opens October 1st Should be completed as early as possible Is composed of 5 major sections Allow students to share their answers to this question. Ask what it stands for. 1 2 3 4 5

To be Eligible for FAFSA Students must Be a US Citizen Must have SSN Have no drug related convictions

Common mistakes made by students is not adding all the schools on their list to this section. The max permitted is 10, if the student has more then 10 schools on their list, they must first submit the form with the top 10, then allow it time to be processed and resubmit listing only the schools that were not listed Information listed on the application is shared with the colleges you list on the application Financial Aid Offices at the schools uses your information to determine how much financial aid you receive at that school 10 is the max schools that can be listed at a time, but additional ones can be added once the application has been submitted and processed successfully

If student answers no to theses questions then they are classified as dependent and must provide parent info If student answers yes to these questions then they are classified as Independent and do not need their parent info

Required Parent Information Marital Status Unmarried and both parents living together Married or remarried Divorced or Separated Widowed Social Security Numbers CAN’T put ITIN # If parents don’t have one student simply enters 000-00- 0000 Parents who have ITIN #s will have to physically sign and mail a signature page to confirm the info input on application Dates of Birth House Hold Size Number of people that live in your house Number of people your parents maintain Number in college Number of siblings in college

Parent and student Income Taxes - will use 2017 taxes for your senior year Parent and student W2 forms, latest pay stub. Current checking/savings info for both student and parent Record of other money coming into or out of the home: child support, spousal support, workman’s comp Knowledge of other benefits received: TANF, SSI, WIC

What Happens After Submitting?

Request Tax Transcript Request this document as soon as your FAFSA is submitted Needed to confirm the information listed on the Tax Return during the verification process Are free to request Can be request through the IRS by Phone Mail Fax Takes 5-10 days to arrive in the mail, but during busy period can take up to a month

Review Student Aid Report (SAR) and Update FAFSA Gives EFC and tell if has been selected for Verification SAR is the summary of all info reported on the FAFSA Emailed through a link to the student The SAR indicates if a student has been selected for verification Provides the official EFC (Estimated Family Contribution) Next steps or errors summary of all info reported on the FAFSA

How is EFC calculated?

Grants Grants Loans Pell FSEOG Need Based Aid TEXAS Grant TEOG Direct Subsidized loan Direct Unsubsidized loan Parent Plus Loan Grants TEXAS Grant TEOG Need Based Aid Merit Based Aid

Complete the Verification Process Process through which colleges request copies of specific documents from students to verify information put on FAFSA Documents can include: Tax Return Transcript,W2s, and school specific verification documents. Two Types of Verification: Federal Verification Institutional Verification Must be completed in timely manner in order to receive aid

FAFSA Timeline

FAFSA4caster Free tool located on the FSA website Allows student to see their estimated financial aid Pell Grant Estimate Work Study Estimate Student Loan Estimate Helps families plan ahead

FAFSA4Caster Activity

Determine Senior A’s Federal Financial Aid Using the information below Student A Information: US Citizen DOB 12/03/99 19 years old Single Will be a first time college student Has no dependents Parents are married Mother 37 Father 39 3 live in the household only he she will be in college Family made 34,000 AGI Live in TX Student did not work or file taxes himself What is student A’s estimated Federal Pell Grant? 4,970 How much did student A get in work-study ? 1,465 How much can student A take out in loans? 5,500

Determine Senior B’s Federal Financial Aid Using the Information Below Student B Information Is a 19 year old senior who was born and raised in Ennis Texas. He lives with his mother (38 yrs. old) and stepfather (40yrs. old) who have been married for 5 years. He has 3 younger sibling in middle school and will be the first member in his family to attend college . His parents made 29,000 in 2017 and declared taxes. Student B has never had a job. What is student A’s estimated Federal Pell Grant? 5,920 How much did student A get in work-study ? 1,465 How much can student A take out in loans? 5,500

Input your Information to see your estimated federal financial aid What is YOUR estimated Federal Pell Grant? How much did YOU get in work-study ? How much can YOU take out in loans?

What can you do to prepare for the FAFSA process? Start collecting the documents needed to complete the application Parent and student Income Taxes - will use 2017 taxes for your senior year Parent and student W2 forms, latest pay stub. 2. Check your estimated financial aid using the FAFSA4casting tool Fafsa.ed.gov Use your parents 2017 tax information