Professional Judgment Roundtable Champions of Financial Aid - 2017 ILASFAA Conference

Champions of Financial Aid - 2017 ILASFAA Conference Participants Bruce Foote Executive Director of Financial Aid Veterans Certifying Official University of St. Francis BFoote@stfrancis.edu Michelle Stipp ILASFAA President –Elect Director of Financial Aid Roosevelt University mstipp01@roosevelt.edu Champions of Financial Aid - 2017 ILASFAA Conference

Champions of Financial Aid - 2017 ILASFAA Conference Participants Yara Santana Director of Financial Aid John Marshall Law School 6santanay@jmls.edu Facilitator: Kathy Maxwell Associate Director of Student Financial Services Elmhurst College kathym@elmhurst.edu Champions of Financial Aid - 2017 ILASFAA Conference

Professional Judgment Basics Case by Case basis Used to address current circumstances not reflected on the student’s FAFSA Should try to reflect the most accurate information about the ability of the student and family to pay for college No right or wrong answer Not unusual for FAA’s to review same situation and arrive at different but equally valid solution Champions of Financial Aid - 2017 ILASFAA Conference

Professional Judgment Basics FAA authorized to request and use supplemental documents to make an informed and well-reasoned PJ decision FAA may change COA or data used to calculate EFC Reasons for the adjustment must be documented in student’s record Nothing in federal statute shall be construed as limiting the authority of FAA to make adjustments Thoughtful use of PJ may be critical to a student’s ability to begin or continue postsecondary education Champions of Financial Aid - 2017 ILASFAA Conference

Champions of Financial Aid - 2017 ILASFAA Conference Common Reasons for PJ Unemployment Loss of income or benefits Job change Illness Death Retirement Separation or Divorce Non recurring income Unusual out of pocket medical expense Champions of Financial Aid - 2017 ILASFAA Conference

Unreasonable uses of PJ Vacation expenses Wedding expenses Tithing expenses Standard living expenses- utilities, housing expenses, credit cards, children’s allowances Standard maintenance items such as lawn care and home repair Champions of Financial Aid - 2017 ILASFAA Conference

Other considerations for PJ Conflicting information must be resolved and verification (if applicable) must be completed before performing PJ When submitting PJ changes to CPS, must set PJ flag to 1(EFC Adjustment Processed) If not done, students could be selected for verification. FAA should keep in mind that Income Protection Allowance is included in EFC to account for modest living expenses. Most notably 11% of IPA for medical expense. Other items in IPA: 30% food, 22% housing, 9% transportation, 16% clothing and personal, 12% other family expense. Champions of Financial Aid - 2017 ILASFAA Conference

Roundtable discussion General comments from roundtable participant about PJ How is Prior-Prior Year income data affecting PJ in 2017-2018? More PJ requests for 2017-2018? Different time frame for handling PJ’s from new or continuing students? Champions of Financial Aid - 2017 ILASFAA Conference

Roundtable discussion Different time frame for PJ for different situations? (Permanent changes (death or divorce) processed earlier than job loss situations? Using 2016 income or projected 2017? Give examples of when to use each. For 2017-2018, how do you deal with PJ’s already done for 2016-2017 regarding income loss in 2015? Champions of Financial Aid - 2017 ILASFAA Conference

Roundtable discussion Other PJ situations due to 2015 income used for both 2016-17 and 2017-18 FAFSA? Other PJ scenarios to discuss? Questions from the audience Champions of Financial Aid - 2017 ILASFAA Conference

Champions of Financial Aid - 2017 ILASFAA Conference Resources FSA Handbook 2016-2017, Application and Verification Guide, Chapter 5, page 119 “Special Cases” Use of Professional Judgment when Prior-Prior Year Income is Used to Complete the FAFSA. GEN-16-03 February 11, 2016 Prior-Prior Year and Professional Judgment by PPY Implementation Task Force NASFAA News Item 12/21/16 Champions of Financial Aid - 2017 ILASFAA Conference