1. What You Need to Know About Financial Aid

2. Topics We Will Discuss Tonight
What is financial aid?
Cost of attendance (COA)
Expected family contribution (EFC)
Financial need
Categories, types, and sources of financial aid
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®)
Special circumstances

3. What is Financial Aid?
Financial aid consists of any funds provided to students and families to help pay for postsecondary educational expenses.
Scholarships, grants, loans, work-study.

4. What is Cost of Attendance (COA)?
Direct costs - Actual charges such as tuition, fees, on-campus housing, etc.
Indirect costs - Off-campus housing, transportation, miscellaneous expenses.
Direct and indirect costs combined into cost of attendance
Varies widely from college to college

5. What is Expected Family Contribution (EFC)?
Amount family can reasonably be expected to contribute
Stays the same regardless of college
Two components
Parent contribution
Student contribution
Calculated using data from a federal application form and a federal formula

6. What is Financial Need?

7. Categories of Financial Aid
Need-based aid - Grants, Subsidized Loans, some Scholarships, Federal and State Work- Study programs
Non-need-based aid - Unsubsidized Loans, Scholarships awarded based on merit, Some on- campus employment opportunities.

8. Gift Aid: Scholarships
Money that does not have to be paid back
Awarded on the basis of merit, skill, or unique characteristic
Some scholarships are awarded based on financial need and most are not.

9. Gift Aid: Grants Money that does not have to be paid back
Usually awarded on the basis of financial need

10. Self-Help Aid: Loans
Money students and parents borrow to help pay college expenses
Repayment usually begins after education is finished
Only borrow what is really needed
Look at loans as an investment in the future

11. Self-Help Aid: Work-Study Employment
Allows student to earn money to help pay educational costs
A paycheck; or
Nonmonetary compensation, such as room and board
Student may opt whether or not to work or number of hours to work

12. Sources of Financial Aid
Federal government
States
Colleges and universities
Private sources
Civic organizations and churches
Employers

13. Federal Government Largest source of financial aid
Aid awarded primarily on the basis of financial need
Must apply each year using the FAFSA

14. Federal Student Aid Programs
Federal Pell Grant
Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant (IASG)
Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
Federal Work-Study (FWS)
Federal Direct Student Loans (Direct Loans)
Subsidized
Unsubsidized
Federal PLUS Loans

15. Federal Aid Availability – Pell Grant
Pell Grant - Depends on EFC. For
EFC Range
Minimum award $606/year - Max award $5920/year
Award amounts vary based on enrollment status. You do not have to be a full-time student, but the award will be prorated.
Max Lifetime award is 12 Full-time semesters or 6 years

16. Federal Aid Availability – Loans
Student’s must be enrolled in a minimum of 6 credit hours.
Student’s loans are not credit based and are in the student’s name only.
Current Interest Rate – 4.45% fixed.

17. Federal Aid Availability – Parent PLUS
If these student loan amounts are not enough to cover, a parent can apply for a PLUS loan.
Parent PLUS loan amounts can be given up to the student’s cost of attendance minus any other financial aid received.
Parent PLUS loans are credit based, if denied the student can get the independent level loans for their grade level.
Current Interest Rate - 7% fixed.

18. More Information Available

19. States Residency requirements usually apply
Award aid on the basis of both merit and need
Use information from the FAFSA and/or state aid applications
Deadlines vary by state
Check PDF FAFSA or FAFSA on the Web website

20. www.kansasregents.org From this website you can:
Get information about different scholarship and grant programs offered through the State of Kansas
Apply for State of Kansas Scholarships online
There is an application fee of $12

21. Colleges and Universities
Award aid on the basis of both merit and need
Aid may be gift aid or self-help aid
Use information from the FAFSA and/or institutional applications
Deadlines and application requirements vary by institution
Check with each college or university

22. Private Sources Foundations, businesses, charitable organizations
Deadlines and application procedures vary widely
Begin researching private aid sources early

23. Civic Organizations and Churches
Research what is available in community
To what organizations and churches do student and family belong?
Application process usually occurs during spring of senior year
Small scholarships add up!

24. Employers
Companies may have scholarships available to the children of employees
Companies may have educational benefits for their employees

25. Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®)
A standard form that collects demographic and financial information about the student and family
The FAFSA application can be completed online at
For parents and students will need income information.

26. FAFSA
Information used to calculate the expected family contribution (EFC)
Amount of money a student and his or her family may reasonably be expected to contribute towards the cost of the student’s education for an academic year
Colleges use EFC to award financial aid

27. FAFSA
May be filed at any time during an academic year, but no earlier than October 1st prior to the academic year for which the student requests aid
For the 2018–19 academic year, the FAFSA may be filed beginning October 1, 2017
Most colleges set FAFSA filing deadlines

28. www.FAFSA.gov Make sure you are at the correct website – FAFSA.gov
The application is FREE – if you are being asked to pay, you are at the wrong website.

29.
Click on the Link “Create an FSA ID”

30. FSA ID Sign FAFSA electronically
Not required, but speeds up processing
May be used by students and parents throughout aid process, including subsequent school year
Only the owner should create a FSA ID

31. Signatures Required Format for submitting signatures Student
One parent (dependent students)
Format for submitting signatures
Electronic using FSA ID
Signature page
Paper FAFSA

32. www.FAFSA.gov Good reasons to file electronically:
Built-in edits to prevent costly errors
Skip-logic allows student and/or parent to skip unnecessary questions
Option to use Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Data Retrieval Tool to import tax data

33. www.FAFSA.gov Good reasons to file electronically:
More timely submission of original application and any necessary corrections
More detailed instructions and “help” for common questions
Ability to check application status online
Simplified application process in the future

34. Information needed to complete the FAFSA

35. General Student Information
Student’s legal name and Social Security Number
Citizenship status
Marital status
Student address
Student’s legal state of residence
Student tax, income, and other financial information

36. Student Dependency Status
A dependent student provides income information for themselves and their parents on the FAFSA.
An independent student provides income information for themselves on the FAFSA.
Most students under age 24 will be considered dependent for FAFSA purposes.

37. Reporting Parent Information

38. Parent information needed
Parent legal name, social security number, date of birth, marital status. If parent doesn’t have an SSN it is okay to put all zeros.
Tax, income, and other financial information from 2016.
Household size and Number in College – including the student
Receipt of means-tested federal benefits such as Medicaid, WIC, Free/Reduced Lunches, TANF, SNAP, and SSI
Assets
Untaxed income

39. IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT)
While completing FAFSA, applicant may submit real-time request to IRS for tax data
IRS will authenticate taxpayer’s identity
If match found, IRS sends real-time results to applicant in new browser window
Applicant chooses whether or not to transfer data to FAFSA

40. IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT)
Changes for
To enhance the security and privacy of the sensitive personal data transferred into the FAFSA form from the IRS, the student and parent information will not be displayed on the IRS DRT website or on the FAFSA web pages.
Instead of the transferred information, students and parents will see the words “Transferred from the IRS” in the data entry fields throughout the online FAFSA form and on the Student Aid Report (SAR).
Because the transferred information is not displayed, students and parents will be unable to make any changes to the transferred income items on the FAFSA form.

41. IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT)
Everyone who is eligible is encouraged to use the DRT
Some will be unable to use IRS DRT and will need to manually enter income information from federal tax returns and W-2 forms.
Examples include:
No Social Security Number (SSN) was entered
Student or parent marital status on tax return is different from the FAFSA.
Student or parent marital status is married, but filed taxes separately
Parents are unmarried, but living together.

42.
If you are unable to use the DRT go to and click on “Get My Tax Record” to have your 2016 IRS Tax Return Transcript mailed to you or download it in real-time.
Retain the copy of your 2016 Tax Return Transcript in case the school requests it.
Non-Tax Filers (Parents and Independent Students) – Request a letter of non-tax filing from the IRS in case the school requests it.

43. Additional Information
College and housing information
Degree Information
High School Completion

44. Frequent FAFSA Errors Social Security Numbers
Divorced/widowed/remarried parental information
Income earned by parents/stepparents
Untaxed income
U.S. income taxes paid
Household size
Number of household members in college
Assets

45. FAFSA Processing Results
Students will receive a confirmation page as soon as they submit the FAFSA online. This page will show:
EFC
Estimated Award Information – Actual award information will come from the school
School information

46. FAFSA Processing Results
Student’s will receive an from Department of Education with processing information and instructions on how to view the Student Aid Report (SAR)
Student with FSA ID may view the status of their FAFSA processing and their SAR online at

47. FAFSA Processing Results
Application data is sent to colleges listed on FAFSA approximately 10 to 14 days after FAFSA is submitted. Some schools refer to this data as an ISIR.
College reviews FAFSA data
Requests additional documentation as needed
Send award notification information to the student
If you haven’t heard from the Financial Aid office within 2-3 weeks of submitting your FAFSA, you should follow-up.

48. Making Corrections
If necessary, corrections to FAFSA data may be made by:
Using FAFSA on the Web ( if student has a FSA ID;
Submitting documentation to college’s financial aid office
Paper correction on the SAR – may delay processing
Parent and student income information transferred from IRS DRT cannot be changed.

49. Special Circumstances
Cannot be documented using FAFSA
Send written explanation and documentation to financial aid office at each college
College will review and request additional information if necessary
Decisions are final and cannot be appealed to U.S. Department of Education

50. Special Circumstances
Change in income
Change in employment status
Unusual medical expenses not covered by insurance
Change in parent marital status
Unusual dependent care expenses
Student cannot obtain parental information

51. Student’s Graduating in December
Need to complete the FAFSA application using 2015 income data right away. Processing can take several weeks. Follow-up with the school, don’t wait for them to contact you.
Need to complete scholarship applications. Contact the school you plan to attend for instructions.
Send graduation information and transcripts to the school you plan to attend. They cannot award federal aid if they don’t have documentation that you have graduated.

52. Questions
You can call the Financial Aid office at or
Our office can help you even if your student is not going to attend Butler.