NCASFAA 2015 Fall Pre-Conference New Aid Officers Training Workshop 1

Overview of The Application Process Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) 2

The Application Process FAFSA Objectives Present overview of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid Review of the College Board PROFILE and differences between the PROFILE and FAFSA Discuss advantages of having Institutional methodology (IM) data from the PROFILE or similar form when awarding aid other than federal and/or state aid 3

4 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Collects demographic and financial information about the student and family Must be completed for each year for which aid is desired May be filed electronically or using paper form -- Available in English or Spanish Used to calculate the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Colleges use EFC to award need-based financial aid

FAFSA on the Web Good reasons to file electronically: Built-in edits to help prevent errors Skip-logic allows student and/or parent to skip unnecessary questions Immediate submission of original application and any necessary corrections More detailed instructions than space allows on the paper FAFSA Ability to check application status on-line Simplified application “renewal” process in subsequent years 5

FAFSA on the Web Homepage 6

Begin Here 7

Getting Started 8

Student Demographics

Student Eligibility 10

Student Eligibility

School Selection 12

School Selection (continued) 13

Dependency 14

Parent Demographics Current marital status Parents’ Social Security Number Name, Date of Birth Parents’ Parents’ State of Residency 15

Parent Tax Information 16

DRT IRS Database 17

DRT IRS Database (continued) 18

Message for Applicants Who Indicate They “Will File” Their Taxes 19

Sign and Submit Create FSA ID – – Username – Password – Verify age Sign with FSA ID – Serves as legal signature 20

Signing the FAFSA 21

Other Options to Sign and Submit Users are able to view other options for signing by clicking the “Other options to sign and submit” link on the signature page.  After clicking the other options link, the system displays options to “Print a Signature Page” or “Submit Without Signatures”, along with text explaining the benefits of electronic signatures. 22

FAFSA Confirmation Page Next steps EFC estimate Pell Grant & Direct Loan estimates 23

College Board PROFILE Administered by College Scholarship Service (CSS) Required by many independent, non-profit colleges and universities to determine student’s eligibility for non-government financial aid Service includes: – Student registration, either online or by a toll-free telephone call – Student completion of a customized application – Processing and reporting to the applicant and the institutions and programs designated by the applicant to receive PROFILE information 24

PROFILE and FAFSA Differences Submission dates –PROFILE can be submitted in fall of senior year –FAFSA cannot be submitted until after January 1 Specific questions –PROFILE contains questions specific to school or program student applying to and uses Institutional Methodology (IM) –FAFSA contains same questions for everyone and uses Federal Methodology (FM) Different methodology (Discussed in section on Methodology) – In general, PROFILE asks for more detailed information for IM than FAFSA’s FM Minimum student contribution – Institutional Methodology requires – Federal Methodology does not 25

PROFILE and FAFSA Differences (continued) PROFILE provides more information for financial aid administrators to make professional judgment decisions than the FAFSA PROFILE data gives financial aid counselors greater ability to determine institutional aid eligibility based on student’s individual circumstances using Institutional Methodology (IM) Cost FAFSA free to the filer PROFILE costs $25 for initial application and first school report with $16 for each school or scholarship program selected 26

Institutional Applications Many institutions have their own applications – Gather information not available on FAFSA such as programs of study, special programs, unique circumstances to student or campus – May use supplemental information in awarding institutional scholarships, grants, loans, and work 27

Miscellaneous Information 28

Who Are Considered Parents on the FAFSA? Biological or adoptive parents (regardless of gender): Parents married and living with each other Parents unmarried and living with each other Parent widowed or single Parents divorced or separated – Answer questions for parent with whom student lived more during past 12 months – If equal time between each parent, answer for the parent who provided more financial support during the past 12 months If custodial parent has remarried, answer about that parent and the person whom parent married (stepparent) 29

Who Are Not Considered Parents on the FAFSA? Foster parents Legal guardians who have not adopted the student Relatives, such as grandparents, who have not adopted the student Stepparents who have not adopted the student and the natural parent in the household is deceased. Must use remaining biological/adoptive parent, if any. 30

Citizenship – Parent If student is a citizen or eligible non-citizen, but parent/legal guardian is not: – Student can still apply and receive federal and state financial aid – When completing the FAFSA, the parent/legal guardian enters nine zeros ( ) as his/her Social Security number – The parent/legal guardian DOES include his/her income and assets on the financial aid form 31

Parent’s Household Size Who is included in the household? – Student – Student’s parent(s) – Parent(s)’ other children if they receive more than half of their support from the parent(s) July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016 or would be considered “dependent” if they filed a FAFSA – Other people who live with the parent(s) and who receive more than half of their support from the parent(s) and will continue to receive that support between July 1, 2015 and June 30,

Dependent Applicant Who Cannot Answer “Yes” to Any of the Dependency Questions Three paths are offered for otherwise dependent students to complete and submit the FAFSA online without parental data. – Dependent applicant who cannot answer “yes” to any of the dependency status questions but who believe he/she is candidate for a dependency override – Unaccompanied homeless individual or at risk of homelessness but cannot answer “Yes” to any of the homeless youth questions – Student whose parents are unwilling to provide financial information (and do not provide financial support to the student) and who is completing the FAFSA with sole intention of receiving an unsubsidized loan under DL Program 33

Web Demonstration Site FAFSA on the Web and FAA Access to CPS  Address: fafsademo.test.ed.gov  User Name: eddemo Password: fafsatest 34

Frequent FAFSA Errors Parent and student Social Security Numbers Divorced/remarried parental information Income earned by parents/stepparents U.S. income taxes paid Household size Number of household members in college Real estate and investment net worth Untaxed income SSI Benefits Dislocated Worker Status Prior Bachelor’s Degree by July 1 35

Comments and questions 36