FAFSA 2015-2016 Presented by: Gina Becerril Senior Assistant Director of Financial Aid Occidental College

Sources of Financial Aid Federal government State government Colleges and universities Private agencies, companies, foundations, and your parents’ employers

Types of Financial Aid Gift Aid - Grants or scholarships that do not need to be repaid Work - Money earned by the student as payment for a job on or off campus Loans - Borrowed money to be paid back, usually with interest

Cal Grants Cal Grant A Entitlement Awards – for students with a GPA of at least 3.0, family income and assets below the state ceilings, and who demonstrate financial need Cal Grant B Entitlement Awards – for students from disadvantaged or low income families with a GPA of at least 2.0, family income and assets below the state ceilings, and who demonstrate financial need Cal Grant C Awards - for students from low income families pursuing vocational programs of study Keep your eyes and ears open. Rules and Amounts governing Cal Grants might change!

Eligibility for Cal Grants To be eligible for a Cal Grant, the student must also: be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen be a California resident attend a California college or university in 2015-2016

Cal Grant Ceilings (2015-2016) Asset Ceilings - all parent and student assets excluding primary home, business equity, and retirement accounts

Cal Grant Application Requirements 2015-2016 By March 2, 2015 complete and submit: Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Cal Grant GPA Verification Form Check with your high school or college counselor for more details on how to complete the Cal Grant GPA Verification form

Types of Applications & Documents 15-16 FAFSA 15-16 Cal Grant GPA Verification Form Other applications or forms as required by the college such as: 15-16 CSS Financial Aid PROFILE Institutional Scholarship and/or Financial Aid Application 2014 federal tax returns (along with schedules and W-2s) or other income documentation Most Financial Aid Apps are now on-line R 07 (Copy of FAFSA) R 07 (GPA Verification Form) R 21 (CSS Profile Registration Form)

FAFSA Information & Tips File early, but no later than March 2, 2015 Use estimated 2014 income information if taxes are not complete at time of FAFSA submission Student and at least one parent must complete and sign the FAFSA Best to complete the form electronically.

Create a file for copies of all financial aid documents submitted Getting Ready Before starting the FAFSA, gather: Student driver’s license Student Alien Registration Card Student and Parent Social Security cards 2014 W-2 Forms and other records of money earned 2014 federal income tax form Records of untaxed income Current bank statements Business, farm and other real estate records Records of stocks, bonds and other investments Create a file for copies of all financial aid documents submitted

Customized “My FAFSA” www.fafsa.ed.gov Start Here for all options – Initial FAFSA Entry Renewal Application Entry FAFSA Corrections Providing Signatures Continuing a Saved FAFSA Viewing Transaction History www.fafsa.ed.gov 11

FAFSA on the Web Worksheet

Completing the Worksheet The FAFSA Worksheet allows you to pre-answer the most difficult questions before logging on to “FAFSA on the Web” (FOTW). We will not cover all questions that are asked, just the most difficult ones! This is a “smart form,” not all questions will be asked if they do not directly apply to you.

The FAFSA belongs to the student, Logging In The FAFSA belongs to the student, NOT the parent!

Year in School Be sure to pick 2015-2016! Be sure to have a PIN One for the student! One for the parent!

Federal PIN Apply for a PIN at: www.pin.ed.gov PIN serves as the electronic signature Both student and at least one custodial parent need a PIN to sign the FAFSA electronically May be used to: Check on FAFSA status Verify and correct FAFSA data Add additional schools to receive FAFSA data Change home and e-mail addresses If you select your “four number” PIN, it is automatically activated Apply for a PIN at: www.pin.ed.gov

Choose a Password A login and password allows you to save and return to your FAFSA later

Student Social Security Number Double check the student’s Social Security Number when entering it on the FOTW. Both student name and Social Security Number will be compared through a database match. 18 18

State of Legal Residency Remember, this is the student, not the parent’s status!

Student Marital Status The student, NOT the parent’s marital status! 20 20

Student Citizenship Status 21 21

Eligible Noncitizen 22 22

Selective Service Requirement Male students who are 18 years of age or older must be registered with the Selective Service The student may also register by going to: www.sss.gov If the student is female, this question will not appear. The FAFSA is a “smart” form.

High School Completion Status Select the appropriate high school completion status High school diploma GED certificate Home schooled. Students who have not earned (or will not earn) a high school equivalency status, should select, “None of the above.” 24 24

Grade Level in 2015-16 2015-2016 25 25

Degree or Certificate Objective 2015-2016

Work Study Always check that you are interested in work-study; you can decline later if you don’t need or want it.

Be sure to answer for the student. First Bachelor Degree? Be sure to answer for the student. NOT the parent!

Foster Youth Answering “yes” to this question will bypass all parental questions, but the student will probably be required to submit proof of this status with official documents from the State directly to the school applying/attending.

Parent Educational Level Highest level of education your parent(s)has completed This is used to determine first-generation to college status Father/Mother no longer used on form. Use of Parent 1 and Parent 2 allows for students with same-sex parents. Big Change

Drug Abuse & Federal Aid This question is answered “no” by high school seniors. If you answer yes, the “smart form” will ask questions regarding drug-related conviction while receiving federal financial aid. You may lose eligibility for federal financial aid if you are convicted of any drug-related crime while receiving aid.

High School Student enters the name, city and state of the high school they attended Student selects Confirm to retrieve the results If no match is found you can hit “next”. 32

Where are you going? It’s important that you get your FAFSA information to the right schools. You can select up to 10 schools & after this submission, can substitute the original schools for additional schools. Be sure to scroll down to check the schools you selected.

Strategies for Listing Colleges List a California college or university first (for Cal Grant consideration) Then list those schools with the earliest financial aid deadlines, regardless of whether they are in-state or out-of-state If the student is applying to more than ten schools, wait for the processed Student Aid Report (SAR) and add additional schools via the Web or by phone using the student PIN NOTE: Each UC, CSU campus must be listed separately 34

Strategies for Listing Colleges School order matters for Cal Grants! 2015-2016 “School Selection Summary” page. The following information has been added to the School Selection Summary page: “You may change the positioning of any school in this list. To do so, click on the school name and then use the buttons on the right to change the position of the selected school. The FIRST and LAST buttons will move the school to either the top or bottom of your list, respectively, and the UP and DOWN buttons will move the school one position up, or one position down, respectively. For federal student aid purposes, it does not matter in what order you list your selected schools. However, placing a school that participates in your state’s student grant programs first may help you obtain state grant aid. Check with your state grant agency for more information.” This new text will only display when an applicant has selected more than one school.

School Code Features You can page through the search results Can also view detailed information for a school before & after adding the school to their FAFSA 36

Housing Plans Your housing plans help determine your cost of attendance

Determination of Student Dependency Status 1992 38 38

You will be asked to provide proof of this status Dependency Status If the student answered “Yes” to ANY of the previous questions, they do not need to provide parental information. They are considered INDEPENDENT for financial aid purposes. You will be asked to provide proof of this status

Dependency Status Results If you have a special circumstance and are unable to provide parental information, under very limited circumstances, you may be able to submit your FAFSA without parental information. This will be verified by the school attending/applying.

Parent Information Provide Information on: Biological or adoptive parent(s) Including same-sex and unmarried parents living together Stepparent (regardless of any prenuptial agreements) Do not provide information on: Foster parent(s), student is automatically considered an independent student Legal guardian(s) or grandparent(s) or other relative(s) unless they have legally adopted you. Student may request a dependency override in certain circumstances, contact a Financial Aid Office for more information Big Change

Parent’s Marital Status What is your parent’s marital status as of today? When did your parents get married or remarried? If your parent’s marital status changes after you submit the FAFSA, contact your financial aid office. If your custodial parent is not married, this “smart form” will ask for which parent you are completing the form.

Parent 1 Information Mother/Step-Mother or Father/Step-Father What is Parent 1 SSN? What is Parent 1 last name? What is Parent 1 date of birth?

Parent 2 Information Mother/Step-Mother or Father/Step-Father What is Parent 2 SSN? What is Parent 2 last name? What is Parent 2 date of birth?

Parent Information What is your parent’s e-mail address? If a parental e-mail address is provided, the parent will be notified that the FAFSA has been processed.

Parent State of Legal Residency Remember, this is the parent, not the parent’s status!

Family Household Include in parents’ household: the student applying for financial aid the custodial parent(s) parents’ other dependent children, if parents provide more than half their support or the children could answer “no” to every dependency status question, regardless of where they live other people, if they now live with the parents, and if the parents provide more than half their support, and will continue to provide that level of support from 7/1/15 through 6/30/16

Parents cannot be considered “in college” Dependents in College How many people in the household will be an undergraduate in college? Always include the student Include other household members only if they will attend at least half-time in 2015-2016 in a program that leads to a college degree or certificate Parents cannot be considered “in college”

Income Tax Forms Have your parent’s completed their 2014 taxes? At this time, most parents will indicate “will file.”

as most families do not change status Filing Status 2014 2013 Filing Status is a good guide as most families do not change status from year to year.

Parent’s AGI 2014 If the student’s parents have not yet filed their 2014 federal tax return, use estimated 2014 information for this question The “Income Estimator” on the FOTW may help you calculate this amount If the student’s parents have completed their 2014 federal tax return, use actual 2014 tax return information to complete this item if they are not eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval process

IRS Data Retrieval If parent(s) answer “Already completed,” they will be given the option to transfer their 2014 income tax information directly from IRS records to the FOTW If parents indicate that they have recently filed their 2014 taxes, they may not be able to access their IRS data if they have filed taxes electronically within the last two weeks or by mail within the last eight weeks Instead, they should use their actual 2014 IRS tax return to complete the FOTW so the student does not miss any important financial aid deadlines 52 52

Partnerships & S-Corporations If your parent filed a 1040 tax return and uses the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, tax information from IRS Schedule K-1 is not transferred from the IRS. You are required to enter the amount that your parent reported in Box 14 IRS Schedule K-1 if applicable.

Parent’s Income Earned from Work What is your parent’s income earned from work. This is used to calculate social security taxes, so it is different from the AGI. Be sure to add business income!

Dislocated Worker/ Displaced Homemaker In general, a person may be considered a dislocated worker if they are receiving unemployment benefits due to being laid off and are unlikely to return to the previous occupation.

Means Tested Benefits Received 56 56

1040A or EZ Tax Return This question asks whether the parents, who indicated they will file an IRS 1040, are eligible to file a 1040A or 1040EZ instead If you do not know the answer to this question, it is fine to select “Don’t know”

2014 Income Tax Paid How much did your parents pay in income tax? Taxes paid is not the amount withheld on the W-2 Form!!! It is: amount withheld plus any check sent with the tax return OR the amount withheld minus any refund.

Tax Exemptions Enter the number of tax exemptions your parents will claim for 2014. This does not need to match the household size (but it often does). The student does not need to be claimed on the tax return of the custodial parent!

Additional Financial Information Often part of FAFSA in the following year!

Untaxed Income Voluntary contributions to retirement plans must be included! Child support received is required to be reported!   

Assets: Net Worth 62

Net Worth means current value minus debt Parent Assets DO nclude: real estate (other than your parents’ home) trust funds money market and mutual funds certificates of deposit stocks and stock options bonds & other securities Coverdell IRAs 529 plans owned by the parents installment and land sale contracts DO NOT include: the home you live in, the value of life insurance and your parents’ retirement plans (pension funds, annuities, non-education IRAs, Keogh plans, etc) UGMA and UTMA accounts in the student’s name Net Worth means current value minus debt

Independent Students must answer a few additional questions. Student Finances The directions to complete the student section are the same as those outlined for the parents. Independent Students must answer a few additional questions.

Student Assets Do not report a 529 account as a student asset. Report as a parent asset! Any other asset in the student’s name MUST be reported.

Special Note on 529s While assets from 529 accounts owned by grandparents or other relatives are not reported this FAFSA as assets, if dispersed in the next tax year to a student, they will be considered untaxed income and reported on next year’s FAFSA. This could greatly change eligibility for need-based financial aid in the following years.

Student Signature Process

Parent Signature Process

Confirmation Page

Net Price Calculator The Net Price Calculator (NPC) is a quick and useful tool which can help you to understand how to finance an education. New requirement from the federal government All colleges required to have one Based on the information you enter, you will be provided with an Estimated Financial Aid Award.

Special Circumstances Contact the Financial Aid Office if there is: Loss or reduction in parent or student income or assets Death or serious illness Unusual medical or dental expenses not covered by insurance Reduction in child support, social security benefits or other untaxed benefit Financial responsibility for elderly grandparents Any other unusual circumstances that affect a family’s ability to contribute to higher education R 22 (Special Circumstances)

Summary of the FA Process Submit all required forms, including FAFSA, by each college’s published deadlines (but no later than March 2) By March 2 submit a Cal Grant GPA Verification Form Keep a copy of all forms submitted Review the electronic Student Aid Report (SAR) Acknowledgement or the paper SAR sent to the student Review the California Aid Report (CAR) Watch for financial aid award notifications from colleges to which the student has been admitted Be sure to apply for financial aid this year and every year as soon as possible after January 1 to receive the best financial aid award possible ASK QUESTIONS!

If You Need Help at Any Time FAFSA on the Web – Live Help Phone 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243) E-mail the U.S. Department of Education at: FederalStudentAidCustomerService@ed.gov 73 73

Questions?