1. Financial Aid Update
Presented at the
2018 Student Success Sumit

2. Government Update Reauthorization – not any time soon!
Beware of budget bills!
Negotiated Rulemaking (Borrower Defense and Gainful Employment)
Additional Negotiated Rulemaking -
State Authorization, credit hour, accreditation, TEACH, faith-based entities, innovative learning models, etc.
Not enough oxygen for Higher Education issues in DC

3. State Update Blue Ribbon Commission College Attainment Rate – 60%
Free Community College

4. 2019-20 FAFSA https://fafsademo.test.ed.gov Username – eddemo
Password - fafsatest

5. New FAFSA Design

7. Pell Grant Maximum $6,095 for academic year
Can receive additional for summer term effective July 1, 2017
Minimum EFC is 5,486
Up to 12 full-time semesters

8. FAFSA Completion Rates
As of April 15, %
As of April 15, %
As of June 30, 2017 – 63%
As of June 30, 2018 – 60%

9. WV FAFSA Completion Through June 30 of each year
Dependent Students
Independent Students
Award Year To Date Total
Percent Change from Previous Year
18-19
34,858
33,229
68,087
-4.7%
17-18
35,748
35,522
71,270
2.0%
16-17
35,358
34,520
69,878
-1.4%
15-16
35,152
35,747
70,899
-5.5%
14-15
36,050
38,741
74,791
-1.6%

10. Outreach Text messaging to seniors FAFSA Datashare Screen sharing
CFWV Community Calendar
FATV videos

11. Outreach Activities
Contact Karen Martin at to schedule a financial aid night or FAFSA workshop

12. CFWV Calendar

13. FAFSA Data Share Signed agreement with the TRIO organization
Authorized personnel will upload a CSV file to FAMS
First name, last name, birth date, and zip code
We will match and disclose back to the authorized personnel which students have a Completed FAFSA, Incomplete FAFSA, or No FAFSA

14. FAFSA DataShare

15. FAFSA DataShare

16. Student Loans

17. 90 + Day Student Loan Delinquency Rate

18. 3-Year Default Rates

19. State Financial Aid Programs Funding Levels
PROMISE Scholarship
$47,500,000
Higher Education Grant
$40,619,864
Higher Education Adult Part-Time Student Grant
$5,011,298
Engineering, Science and Technology Scholarship
$452,831
Underwood-Smith Teacher Scholarship and Loan Assistance
$328,349
WV Center for Nursing
$425,000
Total
$94,337,342

20. State Stats 2018-19 3,665 new PROMISE recipients
10,147 current PROMISE awards
30,195 students awarded HEGP
544 HEAPS Workforce students awarded
271 Engineering, Science & Tech. awards
135 WV Center for Nursing awards
37 Underwood-Smith awards

22. Data Merit-based scholarship – 94% open rate
Merit-based denial letter – 51% open rate
Need-based grant – 63% open rate
Industry average is 18%

23. Average time Award Letters Viewed @ 12 minutes

24. Average time before viewing award letter @23 hours

25. Time of Day

27. Hi, my name is SAM. I am an artificially intelligent chatbot here to help answer student financial aid questions. How can I help?
Go live in October 2018

31. Verify on FAMS that students have applied by March 1
Private schools – send grade report form
Final eligibility is based upon 8th semester grades for students at both public and private

32. ACT has a July test date July 13, 2019
SAT school assessment can be used for PROMISE
New ACT/SAT concordance released June 2018
SAT subscores for PROMISE will change for class of 2019

33. The maximum award will remain $4,750
Academic eligibility standards for the 2019 graduating class
22 ACT Composite with a minimum 20 in each subject area
1100 SAT Composite with minimum of 530 EBRW and 520 Math
3.0 overall and core high school grade point average
Final test dates to establish scholarship eligibility will be July 13 for the ACT and June 1 for the SAT
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) must be filed by March 1, 2019, at
PROMISE Scholarship application must be completed on-line by March 1, on the College Foundation of West Virginia website,

34. Students need to ensure they use the correct Social Security number
Students will create a username ( ), password, and security question. Then they will complete the PROMISE application.
This will allow students to go back and view/edit their PROMISE application and see the status of their application just like counselors can in FAMS
Student will get a confirmation page when they complete the PROMISE application; students retain a copy of the confirmation page
Access to FAMS so you can see your PROMISE applicants (school counselors only)

35. Must complete half of their graduation requirements at a WV High School
Must be a WV resident at least 12 months before applying for PROMISE
Students who do not apply by March 1, can still apply and be considered for PROMISE but would not be awarded until spring contingent upon the availability of funds for late awards

36. Can attend out-of-state for up to 1 year and come back and regain PROMISE if meets eligibility requirements.
Cannot be used outside WV.
Community service is highly encouraged.
Students have 6 years after being awarded to utilize their PROMISE eligibility (military service exception)

39. To establish academic eligibility students must have:
A 2.0 cumulative high school gpa (confirmed by post-secondary institutions); or
500 TASC/2250 GED score; or
A 2.0 cumulative college gpa if student has college credit
Renewal students must also complete 24 semester hours or equivalent

40. The only application students need to complete for the Higher Education Grant is the FAFSA
FAFSA must be first submitted by deadline April 15, 2019
However, FAFSA needs to be correct by beginning of May to be considered in award cycle

41. 30,195 applicants were offered awards for the 2018-2019 academic year totaling $78.0 million
All students up to a 11,000 EFC on the date we did the award cycle were awarded.
Reserve 5% of funding for non-traditional students for those who apply by July 30
As far as timeline for this next year goes, award letters will go out via in May. Judy Kee Smith sent out budget requests; please get those back in. Even if tuition and fees is not set yet, give an estimate and it can be updated later.

42. 2018-19 Expected Family Contribution ( EFC)
Maximum Annual Higher Education Grant Award
0 -5,486
$2,700
5, ,000
$2,300

43. Higher Education Adult Part-Time Student (HEAPS) Grant

44. Higher Education Adult Part-Time Student (HEAPS) Grant
Block grant given to public 4-year, public 2-year, private non-profit, and career and vocational centers for their part-time students
$232 a credit hour for 18-19
Students must be enrolled 3-11 hours to be eligible for HEAPS part-time
Students must have a 2.0 cum gpa and meet SAP
Regular HEAPS is still the same. Whoever asks for it first gets returned funds.

45. HEAPS Workforce Grant Application becomes available on July 1;
Contact the college/vocational school for application
Can receive up to $2,000 or tuition and fees
For Certificate or short-term training programs like certified medical training, mining, gaming, etc.
Must file the FAFSA and complete HEAPS application

46. Engineering, Science and Technology Scholarship
Merit-based scholarship/forgivable loan
March 1 application deadline
3.0 overall GPA
Enrolled or accepted for enrollment full-time in an engineering, science or technology program (4-yr, 2-yr or certificate)
Maximum annual award amount is $3,000
Online application at becomes available October 1.
Collect high school grade information through Department of Education

47. Underwood-Smith Teacher Scholarship
Merit-based scholarship/forgivable loan
March 1 application deadline
Must be enrolled as a full-time student in a course leading to certification as a teacher at the pre-k, elementary, middle or secondary level
Must have a 3.25 GPA after completing 2 years of college (due to limited funding, high school applicants are not eligible)
Maximum annual award amount is $5,000

48. ESTS and Underwood-Smith Program Updates
Applications become available October 1
Online application on CFWV
March 1st application deadline
Students must apply annually
Please make sure when certifying GPAs of applicants that students are West Virginia residents.
There were phone calls from legislative staff of the education committee on the house of delegates side regarding students preparing to be STEM teachers receiving the ESTS scholarship. No legislation resulted.

49. Underwood-Smith Teacher Loan Assistance
Loan assistance provided to teachers as part of Senate Bill 359
New online application coming out in August
Teachers can receive up to $3,000 toward their federal student loans in exchange for 2 years of service teaching full-time
Can receive up to $15,000 total

50. West Virginia Center for Nursing
Scholarships for students going into nursing
Must have completed ½ of their program
Commit to work/teach in WV
For LPN, RN, LPN Teaching Certificate, MSN & Doctoral programs or
Application is available April 15-June 1 to apply for Fall 2019-Summer 2020

51. Discussion
Please make sure when certifying GPAs of applicants that students are West Virginia residents.
There were phone calls from legislative staff of the education committee on the house of delegates side regarding students preparing to be STEM teachers receiving the ESTS scholarship. No legislation resulted.

52. Brian Weingart, Senior Director of Financial Aid
Contact Information
Brian Weingart, Senior Director of Financial Aid
Division of Financial Aid
West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission
1018 Kanawha Boulevard East, Suite 700, Charleston, WV 25301
(304) •