October 14 th, 2014 APPLYING FOR FINANCIAL AID

 The FAFSA is set up and operated by the U.S. Department of Education.  It determines how much of your income (based on last year’s income tax return) can be applied to educational expenses.  Figures are based off of your Federal Income Tax Returns, so file those as soon as possible. ONLY USE THE FOLLOWING URL TO FILE YOUR APPLICATION: FREE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID (FAFSA)

 Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) – This is the number that the FAFSA generates.  Cost of Attendance (COA) – The Cost of Attendance is a holistic picture of all of the costs associated with attending a school for an academic year. It includes DIRECT and INDIRECT costs.  Need – This is the difference between your EFC and the COA. FEDERAL FINANCIAL AID CONCEPTS

 The College Board offers a separate private application for financial aid called the CSS / Financial Aid PROFILE.  It is based off of the prior year’s income information, like the FAFSA, but also will ask questions about the current year.  It is predominantly used by private universities.  North Carolina Universities that use CSS Profile: Davidson, Duke, Elon, UNC Chapel Hill and Wake Forest. CSS PROFILE

 Students must give permission to a University in order to for them to be able to release any non-directory information about the student. This includes Financial Aid awards, Student Account balances, Academic History, and any other information.  Even if you are paying for your child’s education, that does not mean you have a right to know – they have waive their privacy rights once they have become a student. Universities can define when someone becomes a student at different times, for example: it could be after they have formally admitted, it could be after they committed to attend (paid a deposit) or it could be only after they have begun attending classes. FAMILY EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS AND PRIVACY ACT (FERPA)

 The Department of Education automatically selects a percentage of submitted FAFSAs for verification. This means it has to be double checked by a Financial Aid officer.  School will request documentation to verify certain elements of your FAFSA, they will begin contacting you very quickly to tell you what you have to give them.  Many schools do not award students selected for verification until the process is complete. Some do not even provide estimates, so you will want to make sure that you submit all requested documentation as quickly as possible. FAFSA VERIFICATION Don’t Worry!

Federal Aid  Federal Pell Grant  Federal Direct Loans  Federal Parent PLUS Loans Federal Campus-Based  Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant  Federal Work Study  Federal Perkins Loans State Aid  UNC Need Based Grant  NC Educational Lottery Scholarship TYPES OF FINANCIAL AID

Institutional Aid  Institutional scholarships  Departmental scholarships  Institutional Need- Based Grants Other Types of Aid  Outside Scholarships  Private Education Loans TYPES OF FINANCIAL AID

 Many schools will not be able to provide you detailed award information until after you have applied and been accepted, so keep that in mind when attempting to decide between schools.  Many schools will set up an address for you once you have been admitted, and most Offices of Financial Aid will attempt to contact you at those addresses!  ABOVE ALL: CHECK YOUR !!! NEXT STEPS

UNCA Asheville Financial Aid Office 2 nd Floor Brown Hall CPO 1330 Asheville, NC FINANCIAL AID CONTACT INFORMATION

Questions? FINANCIAL AID INFORMATION