The “FAFSA” Applying for Financial Aid $tand By Me is a partnership between the State of Delaware and United Way of Delaware College Funding Project is a partnership between $tand By Me and the DE Higher Education Office Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved A presentation by the College Funding Project (With information adapted, in part, from the U.S. Department of Education)

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 2. Financial aid provides … Access and opportunity to achieve educational goals regardless of student’s current financial circumstances Funding to meet financial need up to the school’s “ Cost of Attendance ”

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 3. Cost of Attendance (COA) “The Sticker Price” Calculated by school Can vary widely by school Includes BOTH fixed costs and discretionary costs for academic year Total financial aid cannot exceed COA Not prescriptive COA Elements Tuition Fees Books and Supplies Room and Board Transportation Clothing Misc. Personal Expenses

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 4. Current Federal Aid Programs Scholarships/Grants Grants  Federal Pell Grant  Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)  Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Federal grant funding could total more than $5,800/year depending on your situation Employment  Federal Work-Study STUDENTS:  Direct Subsidized Loan  Direct Unsubsidized Loan PARENTS:  Direct PLUS Loan Federal loan funding could cover up to COA minus all other financial aid, if needed Loans

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 5. How do you apply?

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 6. Applying for Financial Aid Suggested Steps 1. Get information about financial aid application deadlines and additional application requirements from each school you are considering attending. 2. Collect the financial documents (e.g., W-2’s, federal income tax returns, bank statements) you will need to apply for financial aid. 3. Create your FSA ID (username and password) at: fafsa.gov 4. Complete and submit your “Free Application for Federal Student Aid” (FAFSA) at: fafsa.gov.fafsa.gov

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide Review the “Student Aid Report” (SAR) you receive after your FAFSA is processed; submit corrections/updates as needed. 6. Provide any additional information requested by the school. 7. Review financial aid award notice you receive from the school; follow any additional steps needed to complete the process. 8. Apply for any loan funding you need to borrow; be sure to follow all directions provided by the school. 9. Apply for additional scholarships and grants from civic and other private organizations—check out the “Delaware Scholarship Compendium” at: DelawareGoestoCollege.org. Applying for Financial Aid Additional Steps

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 8. What is the FAFSA?

 Federal form used to collect demographic and financial information from students and their legal parents  Filed electronically at: fafsa.gov  Can use “FAFSA on the Web Worksheet” to assist in completing online application  2016–2017 FAFSA available: January 1, 2016  2017–2018 FAFSA will be available: October 1, 2016 Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 9. FAFSA “ Free Application for Federal Student Aid”

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 10. FAFSA … Does  Determine student’s eligibility for federal student aid  Gather household’s income and asset information needed to calculate federal “Expected Family Contribution” (EFC)  Need to be submitted every year financial aid is needed Does NOT  Collect information about household’s expenses or “special circumstances”  Determine what specific financial aid will be awarded  Determine how much financial aid will be awarded  Serve as loan application

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 11. When to Apply

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 12. Timing of the FAFSA  May be filed at any time during an academic year, but no earlier than January 1 st of the calendar year in which the academic year begins for which you are requesting financial aid  For the 2016–17 academic year, the FAFSA can be filed beginning January 1, 2016  Schools may set priority FAFSA filing deadlines  You should NOT wait until you have been admitted by a school to submit the FAFSA

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 13. What does the FAFSA look like?

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 16. FSA ID Your “Electronic” Signature  FSA ID is required to sign the FAFSA (replaces PIN)  Can create your FSA ID (username and password) at: FAFSA.gov  Everyone who needs to SIGN the FAFSA needs their own FSA ID  Student  Parent(s)

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 28. Will parental information be needed on the FAFSA? YES  If student is: DEPENDENT NO  If student is: INDEPENDENT

Student is INDEPENDENT in if …  Born before 1/1/1993  Married or separated  Grad/prof student  Serving on active duty  Veteran  Have dependent children  Have dependents other than children/spouse  Emancipated minor as determined by court  Since age 13, both parents deceased, in foster care, or dependent/ward of court  As of 7/1/2015, determined to be unaccompanied youth who is homeless  As of 7/1/2015, determined to be unaccompanied youth who is self supporting and at risk of being homeless Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 29.

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 32. Who is “legal parent” on FAFSA?  Biological or adoptive parents, or individual listed as a “parent” on student’s birth certificate  If married or not married but living together, information must be provided for both parents  If never married and not living together, information must be provided for parent with whom student lives with more of the year  If divorced or separated, information must be provided for parent with whom student lives with more of the year NOTE:  Information must also be provided for stepparent if legal parent has remarried  Grandparents, foster parents, legal guardians, aunts and uncles are NOT considered legal parents on FAFSA

For example …  Parents whereabouts is unknown  Parents not permitted to have contact with student Then …  “ Special Circumstances ” may exist  Contact Financial Aid Office (FAO); explain situation  FAO staff may be able to override dependency Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 33. What if “legal parents” are not available to student?

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 34. Special Circumstances: Unable to provide parental information

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 39. Dependent Student with Parental Data Provided

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 42. IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT)  Allows student/parents to transfer federal tax data from IRS directly into FAFSA application  Federal tax return must have been filed:  Electronically at least 10 business days prior to use of DRT  By paper at least 6 weeks prior to use of DRT  Available by February 7, 2016 for the 2016–17 processing cycle  Could reduce the additional documents that may be requested by financial aid office

These fields are pre-filled based on FAFSA responses

Automatic Zero-EFC  Families with lower incomes may not have to answer all the financial questions on the FAFSA.  No information about parents’ assets is required if student qualifies for an “Automatic Zero EFC.”  Option is provided, however, for parents to provide the asset information but it will not be used to determine eligibility for federal aid.

Multiple FAFSA Applications Option to transfer parents’ information  Parents must provide financial information on the FAFSA application for each dependent child submitting a FAFSA  Parents have ONE option to transfer their information to multiple FAFSA applications, if needed  Must be done at time initial FAFSA is submitted and confirmation is received 52 Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 52.

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 54. Independent Student

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 56. “My FAFSA” Page

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 57. “My FAFSA” Page  My FAFSA® page is a navigation tool that you can use when accessing fafsa.gov.  Provides following options based on status of your FAFSA:  Start a FAFSA  Complete and submit a FAFSA Renewal  Make FAFSA Corrections  View the Student Aid Report (SAR)  View Correction History  Provide Missing Signatures

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 58. RESULTS: “Student Aid Report (SAR)” Student will receive a “Student Aid Report” (SAR) once their FAFSA has been processed Student (and parents) should review the SAR: Check all information for accuracy Correct information if errors are found Update estimated information when actual figures are available—use IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) to update income/taxes paid information once return is filed Submit corrected/updated SAR, as needed

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 61. Final comments …

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 62. Remember:  Financial aid is available—but you must submit the FAFSA  FAFSA should be submitted by deadline date even if you initially have to use “estimated” information—you can always update/correct the information at FAFSA.gov at a later date (e.g., to use the DRT to transfer final tax information)  Submit other application materials required by the school, state or other funding sources  School will send financial aid award notification to student after he/she is admitted and all financial aid application materials have been reviewed  Contact the Financial Aid Office if “special circumstances” exist

 Changes in information from prior year’s tax return, e.g.,  Change in employment status  Change in parents’ marital stat us  Extraordinary household expenses, e.g.,  Medical expenses not covered by insurance  Higher than average dependent care expenses  Other situations that impact family’s ability to pay for school that warrant explanation Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 63. Other examples of special circumstances …

State of Delaware Application Requirements  Must complete the “Free Application for Federal Student Aid” (FAFSA) and submit it so that it is received by the federal processor by April 15, 2016 for all funding from Delaware  ALSO must complete:  “Common Merit Application” for merit-based scholarships funded by Delaware (available at:  SEED application to receive a “SEED Scholarship” at Del Tech  INSPIRE application to receive an “Inspire Scholarship” at Del State University 64 cc Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 64.

Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 65. For more information …  Financial Aid Office (or school website)  High school guidance counselor  Online resources:  StudentAid.gov StudentAid.gov  FAFSA.gov FAFSA.gov  gibill.va.gov gibill.va.gov  DelawareGoestoCollege.org  CollegeFundingProject.org CollegeFundingProject.org  StandByMeDE.org StandByMeDE.org  FastWeb.com FastWeb.com  nces.ed.gov/CollegeNavigator nces.ed.gov/CollegeNavigator

Money is available to pay for college; FAFSA is where it all starts! You can submit the FAFSA beginning January 1, 2016 Your 2015 federal tax return should be filed first, if possible Copyright Delaware Financial Empowerment Partnership. All Rights Reserved. Slide 66.