1. Finding Money for College
Basics of Financial Aid and the FAFSA
Lawrence Guttierrez 4/13/2017

2. Questions you may have:
What is financial aid?
Who can get it?
How much can I get?
How do I apply?
What happens next?
Where can I get more info? .

3. What is financial aid? Money to pay for college or career school
Grants
Work-study
Loans
Scholarships
Financial aid is money for education expenses for college or career school.
Grants do not have to be repaid (they are often called “gift aid”).
Work-study is money earned by the student at a job (often on campus) that helps the student pay his or her education expenses. This money does not have to be repaid and is not taken into account in assessing a student’s eligibility for financial aid the following year.
Loans have to be repaid with interest.
Scholarships are funds that do not have to be repaid. Scholarships are usually based on academic merit but can be based on a student’s interests, hobbies, religion, ethnicity, and/or financial need.

4. Who can get federal student aid?
U.S. citizen or permanent resident
High school graduate/GED holder
Eligible degree/certificate program
Valid Social Security number
Males registered for Selective Service
Satisfactory academic progress in college/career school
**This is not a comprehensive list of eligibility criteria for federal student aid. For complete details, visit ifap.ed.gov and go to the Student Eligibility chapter of the Federal Student Aid Handbook. (Students should visit StudentAid.gov/eligibility.)**
Basic eligibility criteria for federal student aid:
Demonstrate financial need (for most programs)
US citizen/permanent resident (there are some additional categories of eligible noncitizen, but they’re relatively rare)
High school graduate; GED (or other state certificate) holder; or homeschooler who has completed his/her home-school education as recognized by the state government; or enrolling in an eligible career pathway program and meeting one of the “ability-to-benefit” alternatives described at StudentAid.gov/eligibility/basic-criteria
Student enrolled as a regular student in a degree or certificate program that is eligible to be paid for by federal student aid funds; student also must be attending a college or career school that participates in the federal student aid programs
SSN: the exception here is students from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau
Males must register for Selective Service within 30 days of their 18th birthday (within 30 days before or 30 days after, for a total window of 60 days).
If you are working with a male student who did not meet the 60-day timeframe, direct him to register immediately at Late registrations are accepted until the age of 26.
If you are working with a male student aged 26 or older who did not register, you should direct him to the financial aid office at the college he plans to attend. Before he can receive federal student aid, he will have to prove that he did not “knowingly and willfully” fail to register. The financial aid administrator will tell him what documentation he needs in order to do so.
In broad terms, a student making satisfactory academic progress (SAP) is moving toward receiving his or her degree or certificate at a pace that is acceptable to his or her school. Each school sets its own SAP policy.

5. How much federal student aid can I get?
For early estimate, use FAFSA4caster:
Go to fafsa.gov and find link in “Thinking About College?” section (lower right of home page)
Enter some financial information
Get an estimate
A student of any age can use FAFSA4caster.
Purpose of the tool is to provide early estimate of aid eligibility so the family can plan ahead.
FAFSA4caster asks for information such as earnings and taxes and then provides estimate of how much the student might get from the federal student aid programs.
Students and parents should remember that
FAFSA4caster is not the official federal aid application
FAFSA4caster provides information only about federal aid; students also should apply for state and institutional aid as well as private scholarships

6. How much state, school, and private scholarship money can I get?
Depends on the program; do your research!
Ask college financial aid offices for info about aid available at their schools
Free scholarship search at StudentAid.gov/scholarships
It’s important to research early so you don’t miss out on any aid.

7. Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid www.fafsa.gov

8. FAFSA Home Page
FAFSA on the Web home page (

9. How do I apply for aid?
Federal student aid: fill out Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) at fafsa.gov
School aid: contact financial aid offices at schools you are considering
Scholarships: visit scholarship website or call contact number for information
Re the FAFSA, stress that it is a free application. If a student finds him or herself at a website that asks for payment, the student is not at the official U.S. Department of Education FAFSA site. There is no fee to file the FAFSA.

10. How do I apply for federal student aid?
Create a username and password called the FSA ID.
Learn about the FSA ID and find the link to create one at StudentAid.gov/fsaid.
You and your parent must each create your own FSA ID; you can’t share one.
If you provide an address when creating your FSA ID, it must be a unique address (can’t provide same address for more than one person’s FSA ID).
Don’t tell anyone your FSA ID!
Students and parents can create FSA IDs at any time. The student does not have to be ready to fill out a FAFSA.
One benefit of creating an FSA ID is that you will be able to use it to sign the FAFSA electronically, thus speeding up the process greatly.
Important to note here that student and parent need separate FSA IDs – one each. [Only one parent needs an FSA ID, even if both parents’ info will be provided on the FAFSA.]
(To find out whether a parent’s information will be needed on the FAFSA, a student can visit StudentAid.gov/dependency.)
It’s strongly encouraged that you provide an address when you create your FSA ID; this will help if you forget your username or password and need to reset it. It’s important to understand that your address can be used for only one FSA ID. So if a parent and child share an address, they’ll need to create a second one so that they’ll each have a unique address to use when creating an FSA ID.
An FSA ID is a signature as well as providing access to private information. To protect themselves from identity theft and other types of fraud, students and parents should not tell anyone their FSA IDs.

11. How do I apply for federal student aid?
Gather the documents you need to apply.
Find checklist of what’s needed on infographic called “The FAFSA Process” at StudentAid.gov/resources#fafsa-process-graphic
Optional: Preview some of the FAFSA questions on the FAFSA on the Web Worksheet. (Get worksheet at StudentAid.gov/resources#worksheet)
The FAFSA Process infographic provides a visual overview of the process of filling out and submitting a FAFSA, and what happens afterwards.
The FAFSA on the Web Worksheet provides an idea of the types of questions on the FAFSA. However, not every question on fafsa.gov appears on the worksheet.

12. How do I apply for federal student aid?
Fill out your FAFSA at fafsa.gov.
Apply on or after October 1 but as early as possible to meet all deadlines.
State deadlines are at fafsa.gov.
School deadlines are listed on schools’ websites.
Need help? Use the help functions within the FAFSA (including live chat) or call FED-AID.
Don’t forget: watch for the confirmation page that says your FAFSA has been submitted. THEN log out.
The FAFSA is available online (in English or Spanish) October 1 of each year for the next school year. A high school student will (ideally) fill out the FAFSA in October of his/her senior year, assuming he/she plans to go on to college in the fall following graduation.
Many state education agencies and schools also use information from the FAFSA in order to determine eligibility for their programs. Their deadlines can be quite early, so the student should check the FAFSA site for the state deadline as well as finding out each school’s deadline.
fafsa.gov provides help screens and live chat with a customer service representative (during business hours). Additionally, the FED-AID hotline can guide the student through the FAFSA. Operators speak English and Spanish.
Students need to understand that they have not finished with the FAFSA until they have submitted it and have a confirmation page on the screen.
Printed-out PDF FAFSAs can take as much as 2.5 weeks longer to process than the online FAFSA.

13. How do I apply for federal student aid?
Watch for response by or by mail, confirming that your FAFSA was processed.
Double-check that your info is correct by logging on at the FAFSA site and reviewing your data.
Correct any mistakes and submit the corrected info.
Don’t update info that was correct on the day you signed your FAFSA.
The online or paper Student Aid Report (SAR) will list the student’s EFC and will show the information the student reported on the FAFSA. The student can review the FAFSA information online by logging in at fafsa.gov.
Corrections can be made online at fafsa.gov or on the paper SAR. Online corrections can be processed immediately in some cases. The student will then receive a new SAR, and the school will receive updated information.

14. How do I apply for federal student aid?
Watch for s or letters from the schools you are considering.
Give the schools any additional paperwork they ask for.
Meet all deadlines or you could miss out on aid!
Any schools that are listed on the student’s FAFSA and that have accepted the student’s application for admission will contact the student to offer an aid “package” (a list of aid the student is eligible for at that school).
A school might ask for additional paperwork, either to verify information on the FAFSA, or to submit an application for financial aid from the school’s funds.
If you fill out the FAFSA in October, before applying for admission to a college, it might be a while before you hear back from the school with a financial aid offer. The school isn’t going to look at your FAFSA information until after you’ve applied to the school and they’re ready to accept you. But don’t wait to fill out the FAFSA until after you’ve applied to schools—you’ll miss deadlines for certain types of financial aid. It is OKAY to submit the FAFSA before you apply for admission.

15. What happens next?
Each school will tell you how much aid you can get at that school.
Once you decide which school to attend, keep in touch with the financial aid office to find out when and how you will get your aid.
You might wish to point out to students that affordability is not the most important factor in choosing a school. Ideally, a student should find the school that will best suit his or her educational and training needs, as well as fitting his or her personality. If two or more schools are “tied,” then cost can be a determining factor.
Obviously this is a best-case scenario. We understand that many students simply have no choice but to attend the most affordable school. However, we try to remind students that many relatively expensive schools have enough funds available to help out students with great financial need. Therefore, a school with a tuition of $30,000 might end up being more affordable (due to the amount of financial aid it provides the student) than a school of $12,000. In other words, students should go ahead and apply to any schools that they truly believe are a good match for them—then figure out the financial aspects later.

16. The Financial Aid Process
Student fills out FAFSA
US Dept. of ED (Determines EFC) Sends info to student and chosen school
School gets EFC information and determines Need/Eligibility
Financial Aid Office Creates Financial Aid Package
Student receives Student Aid Report (SAR)
Student communicates with Financial Aid Office
College Applies funding and disburses money
Student reviews package

17. Where can I get more info?
StudentAid.ed.gov
Info about aid programs
Links to free scholarship and college searches
FED-AID
Help with FAFSA

18. Avoid scams
While some companies may offer legitimate financial aid finding services, be aware that rip-offs are common.
Do not allow yourself to be pressured into a hasty decision.
Always research the company.
Ask a guidance counselor, or inquire at the school you are considering attending.
Better Business Bureau
(more..)

19. Avoid scams continued…
Remember that legitimate companies never guarantee or promise scholarships or grants.
You should never have to pay for financial aid services. Assistance is FREE through Financial Aid Offices, at all colleges and universities.

20. Questions?