1. Finding Money for College
September 27-28, 2017
CSNHS-South

2. What is Financial Aid?
Financial Aid is financial assistance to pay education-related expenses at approved colleges.
Financial Aid is given in the form of:
Grants
Scholarships
Work Study
Loans
Financial Aid comes from 4 sources:
Federal
State
Institutional
Private

3. The Three Prices 1. The price you think you’ll pay
Based on what you know
2. The price you’d like to pay
Based on your finances and values
3. The price you will pay
Based on the college, the government, your parents and you

4. Federal Student Aid Eligibility
demonstrate financial need (for most programs);
be a U.S. citizen or an eligible noncitizen;
have a valid Social Security number (be registered with Selective Service, if you’re a male (you must register between the ages of 18 and 25);
be enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a regular student in an eligible degree or certificate program;
be enrolled at least half-time to be eligible for Direct Loan Program funds;
maintain satisfactory academic progress in college or career school;
sign the certification statement on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) stating that
you are not in default on a federal student loan and do not owe money on a federal student grant and
you will use federal student aid only for educational purposes; and
show you’re qualified to obtain a college or career school education by
having a high school diploma or a recognized equivalent such as a General Educational Development (GED) certificate; 
completing a high school education in a homeschool setting approved under state law (or—if state law does not require a homeschooled student to obtain a completion credential—completing a high school education in a homeschool setting that qualifies as an exemption from compulsory attendance requirements under state law); or
enrolling in an eligible career pathway program and meeting one of the "ability-to-benefit" alternatives described below.
**This is not a comprehensive list of eligibility criteria for federal student aid. For complete details, visit and go to the Student Eligibility chapter of the Federal Student Aid Handbook. (Students should refer to Funding Education Beyond High School: The Guide to Federal Student Aid, which they can view at
Basic eligibility criteria for federal student aid:
US citizen/permanent resident (there are some additional categories of eligible noncitizen, but they’re relatively rare)
High school graduate, GED holder, or homeschooler who has completed his/her home school education as recognized by the state government
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 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. Who can get other kinds of financial aid?
States, colleges, and private scholarships have their own eligibility criteria.
Be sure you know what you need to do to qualify.
At this point, you might want to share the eligibility criteria for one or two financial aid programs offered by your state government. Common criteria include being a resident of the state, for instance. You can find your state higher education agency’s contact information (including Web site address, if any) at

6. What can I use financial aid for?
Financial Aid may be used for “education related expenses”
What are examples of education related expenses?
Tuition and Fees
Books
Lab supplies
School supplies
Transportation (car, bus, gas, etc.)
Housing
Food

7. How much federal student aid can I get?
In general, depends on your financial need.
Financial need determined by Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and cost of attendance (COA)
EFC comes from what you report on FAFSA
COA is tuition, fees, room and board, transportation, etc.
COA – EFC = financial need
EFC is determined by a formula that takes into account information such as the student’s and parents’ income and (often) their assets, how many people are in the family household and how many of those people are in college. For a full explanation of the EFC formula, go to and download the EFC Formula PDF under the heading “Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)SM Information.”
Cost of attendance is determined by the school and may include:
Tuition and fees
Books, supplies, transportation, personal, misc.
Room and board
Dependent care
Study abroad expenses
Disability expenses
Employment expenses for coop study
Loan fees
For more information about cost of attendance, see the “Calculating Awards & Packaging” volume of the “Federal Student Aid Handbook” at
Financial need is determined by subtracting the EFC from the COA. Because COA differs from school to school, a student’s financial need will also differ from school to school.

8. How much federal student aid can I get?
For early estimate, use FAFSA4caster:
Go to
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, savings, 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

9. How much state, school, and scholarship money can I get?
Depends on the program: do your research!
Our state aid: Millennium Scholarship
CSN, GBC, NSC, Roseman, SNC, Truckee Meadows, UNLV, UNR, WNC
Ask college financial aid offices for info about aid available at their schools
Free scholarship search:
It’s important to research early so you don’t miss out on any aid

10. How do I apply for aid?
Federal student aid: fill out Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at
State aid: Respond to the State Treasury Department when you get your letter in July
School aid: contact financial aid office at schools you are considering
Scholarships: Open those s from Mrs. Gonzalez that list all the available scholarships! Find the ones that work for you and apply.
Use scholarship search sites
Re the FAFSA, stress that it is a free application. If a student finds him or herself at a Web site 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.
Note: the FAFSA is also available in paper form, but the online application is much quicker.
[Note to counselor: If you are working with students who need paper FAFSAs, you can download a PDF of the FAFSA at (click on “FAFSA Filing Options”) and print as many copies as you need. Alternatively, a student may call FED-AID ( ) to request up to three copies of the FAFSA.]
If there are specific state, school, or scholarship programs that most or all of your students apply for, you might insert their Web addresses here, or state where to get applications.

11. How do I apply for federal student aid?
Get a FSA ID
An FSA ID is a username and password that you must use to log in to certain U.S. Department of Education (ED) websites
Your FSA ID identifies you as someone who has the right to access your own personal information on ED websites
Your parent will also need an FSA ID
An FSA ID is a username and password that you must use to log in to certain U.S. Department of Education (ED) websites. Your FSA ID identifies you as someone who has the right to access your own personal information on ED websites such as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid(FAFSA®) at fafsa.gov.
If you are a parent of a dependent student, you will need your own FSA ID if you want to sign your child's FAFSA electronically. If you have more than one child attending college, you can use the same FSA ID to sign all applications. Please note: Each FSA ID user must have a unique address.

12. How do I apply for federal student aid?
(Optional) Use FAFSA on the Web Worksheet to get ready.
Get worksheet at
Find a checklist of documents you need at the same site.
Fill out worksheet to prepare your answers.
The FAFSA on the Web Worksheet was designed for students who prefer to fill something out on paper and then transfer their answers to FAFSA on the Web. However, for , the worksheet was shortened significantly since the online FAFSA itself was greatly simplified. So be aware that not every question on FAFSA on the Web appears on the worksheet.
We recommend students use the worksheet instead of the paper FAFSA if preparing for the online FAFSA. The worksheet follows the order of questions on the online FAFSA, whereas the paper FAFSA does not and therefore can cause confusion if used for this purpose.
[Note to counselor: You can download the worksheet, make copies, and distribute them, or you might want to save time and paper by ing the PDF to your students. You also can order bulk quantities of the worksheet at

13. How do I apply for federal student aid?
Fill out your FAFSA online at
Apply on or after Oct.1 but as early as possible to meet all deadlines.
Don’t forget to print confirmation page.
It typically takes 3-5 days to process a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) that was submitted online
Within 3 days to 3 weeks you will get your Student Aid Report (SAR)
If you provided a valid address on your FAFSA, you will receive an notification that includes a link to your electronic (SAR) at FAFSA on the Web
Be sure to look over your SAR to make sure you didn’t make a mistake on your FAFSA
The FAFSA is available online (in English or Spanish) January 1 of each year. A high school student will (ideally) fill out the FAFSA in January 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.
If the student and/or parents have not yet filed their tax returns, it’s okay for them to carefully estimate the amounts that will be on their tax forms and report the estimated amounts on the FAFSA. They will need to correct those amounts once they have filed their taxes. (see slide 15)
provides help screens as the student fills out the application; and the “live help” button links the student to private online help from 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.
Paper FAFSAs can take as much as 2.5 weeks longer to process than the online FAFSA.

14. How do I apply for federal student aid?
Watch for 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!
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.
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.

15. How Can I Get Help? CSN Financial Aid Office Call 1-800-4FED-AID
Online Chat through studentaidhelp.ed.gov is also available
Up Next
FREE, evidence-based texting tool that offers personalized support on all things related to college access and completion
High school seniors can enroll by texting their FIRST and LAST NAME to this phone number: (240)

16. Where can I get more info?
Federal Student Aid
Information about aid programs
Free scholarship search
Free college search
FED-AID ( )
Help with the FAFSA

17. Additional stuff
MANY of the scholarships are now requesting that you have filled out your FAFSA in order to apply for one.
Some schools continue to give aid throughout the summer, so become friendly with the financial aid office at your school.
ALWAYS choose work study!!!
PLEASE do this early!!
October 1st, 12:01 am you may begin 

18. CSN President’s Scholarship
A one-time CSN President's Scholarship to complete your degree for up to $3,000 for fall and spring ($1,500 per semester) immediately after you graduate
Graduate from CSN High School with a weighted GPA of 3.0.
Complete a free application for financial aid (FAFSA) with the CSN school code (010362).
To complete the FASFA, please visit: then click: Start a new FAFSA, click: “put in student information”, click “find the FAFSA,” fill it out and submit it.
Enroll in 12 credits at CSN for each semester in courses that are required for your declared major.

19. NV Promise
Nevada Promise Scholarship helps you pay for up to three years of tuition & mandatory fees at CSN.
By October 31, 2017:
Apply for the Nevada Promise Scholarship at
Wait for your application to be reviewed & accepted before moving to the next steps.
Attend a mandatory information workshop by December 31, 2017.
Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at
by April 1, 2018.
Meet with your assigned mentor & complete 20 hours of community service by April 30, 2018.
If selected for FAFSA verification, provide required documentation
by April 30, 2018.
Once all scholarship & enrollment criteria are met, enroll in 12 credits at CSN.
Fall enrollment opens May 19, 2018.
Fall classes begin August, 27, 2018.

20. Questions. Please see Mrs
Questions? Please see Mrs. Gonzalez or contact the Financial Aid Office of the school you plan to attend!