Student Eligibility and The Application Process

BILL MACK

Objective  Understand how to complete the FAFSA  Know the required elements of student eligibility for federal student financial aid

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)  Required for federal student aid programs  Schools may not require an additional application for federal aid programs  Computes Expected Family Contribution  Database matches confirm eligibility as an eligible student

FAFSA  Multiple ways to complete the FAFSA  On the Web  Paper FAFSA  FAA Access  FAFSA on the Phone

FAFSA  FAFSA on the Web  English or Spanish  Real time submission  Electronic signatures  Pop up help  Pop up chat help

FAFSA  Skip logic  Edit Checks  On-line status update

FAFSA  Special Circumstances  Students may skip the parent questions if they feel they have a special circumstance

FAFSA  IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT)  Pulls IRS tax return data into the FAFSA  Can be used for the correction process  Relieves the student/parent from submitting a tax return transcript for verification  Not available for everyone (i.e. amended return)

FAFSA  Common Mistakes  Form is not signed  Wrong SSN  Wrong Name  Wrong Date of Birth  Putting parent income information in student section

FAFSA  How to sign the application  Password  Printed Signature Page  Sign rejected paper Student Aid Report (SAR)  School submits the signature through FAA Access (and keeps the documentation in the student’s file)

FAFSA  Signing the application:  Certifies the information is correct  Gives ED authority to verify the information with other agencies  Agrees to provide the school with requested documents  Certifies the student’s identity  Acknowledges consequences of false information  Agrees to certain application certification statements

Expected Family Contribution (EFC)  The amount a family can be reasonably be expected to contribute to a student’s annual cost of attendance.  The same at all schools  Calculated using a congressionally mandated formula

Student Eligibility  US Citizen or Eligible Non-Citizen  If required, be registered for Selective Service  Not be default on a federal debt  Not have exceeded aggregate borrowing limits  Not owe Title IV Refund  High School Graduate or equivalent

Student Eligibility  Not have been convicted of selling or possessing drugs while receiving federal student aid  Self reported on the FAFSA  Database match with the Department of Justice

Student Eligibility  Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)  Established by the individual schools  2.0 by the beginning of the junior year  No more than 150 percent of the program length.

Institutional Eligibility  May not admit as a regular student those who do not have a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent and  Who are below the age of compulsory secondary school attendance in the student in which the school is located

CPS Database Matches  SSN (for the student and the parents)  Department of Homeland Security  When the answer to the citizenship question is “eligible non-citizen”  Selective Service  For males over the age of 18  National Student Loan Data Service  Defaults  Overpayments  Aggregate borrowing limits

CPS Database Matches  Department of Defense  To identify students eligible for the Iraq/Afghanistan Grant  Department of Veteran Affairs  When the student claims on the FAFSA to be a veteran

Output  Student receives a Student Aid Report (SAR)   Paper  EFC  Comments (verification, database match failures)  Eligibility for Pell/Stafford Loan

Output  School receives a Institutional Student Information Report (ISIR)  EFC  Verification Code  “C” Code  Comment codes

Changes to the FAFSA  Corrections : Applicants may correct items entered incorrectly or originally estimated (Income, assets)  Updates : Year in school, Dependency Status (except for the student’s marital status)  Adjustments : Changes made by the school as the result of professional judgment (dependency, income, etc.)

Questions?