1. Financial Aid 101

2. Goals Types of Aid FAFSA process College Bound Scholarship Financial Aid Terminology

3. Types and Sources of Financial Aid

4. Gift Aid Merit Based – Institutional- offered based on profile, talents – Scholarships – student seeks and applies Need Based – Federal and state based assistance – Institutional

5. Seeking Aid Scholarships- begin searching, monitoring in sophomore and junior year. Make a calendar of scholarships to apply for in senior year. Consider aid offered in selecting colleges Use fafsa4caster FAFSA process takes place in senior year, and each college year thereafter Continue applying for scholarships

6. FAFSA Process Free Application for Federal Student Aid www.fafsa.gov Starting point for most financial aid, such as federal and state grants, institutional funds, and often required as part of scholarship applications. Determines the Estimated Family Contribution, the EFC. Colleges use this to calculate your aid offer.

7. FAFSA Tips You can begin to file your FAFSA on January 1 st, of your senior year in high school. File over the web You must check with your college – there may be additional financial aid forms and deadlines. And remember…. You may file the FAFSA before your parents do their taxes – you can and must update your FAFSA later using the IRS data retrieval tool. Don’t wait until you are admitted to college.

8. FAFSA Tips Read the directions and use help features. Make sure your SSN & date of birth are accurate. You and your parents must sign electronically and will need PINs- can be established in advance. Keep in safe location! Keep copies of your family’s prior year’s taxes. Include codes for all the colleges you apply to. Remember to file the FAFSA every year. Never pay someone to fill out the FAFSA. The FAFSA is always FREE. Get help from events such as College Goal WA, and use the help tools online.

9. FAFSA- 2 STEPS For most people the FAFSA will take at least two work sessions to complete. 1. INITIAL FAFSA filing- usually by February 1 st, may be based on estimated income information because taxes are not ready yet. 2. FAFSA Corrections- ideally by end of February, start of March, after taxes are filed. Complete IRS data transfer, re-sign. Colleges update information.

10. The FAFSA Cycle You file your FAFSA at www.fafsa.gov by the priority deadline of February 1 st. Your FAFSA is sent to the schools who you listed on your FAFSA Your FAFSA is sent to the schools you have chosen. The Financial Aid office will use your FAFSA to determine what aid you are eligible for. Financial Aid offices begin awarding aid and mailing/emailing letters to new students in late March/early April APRIL – You receive your Offer of Financial Assistance that will list what aid you are eligible to receive. Throughout the spring and summer, you turn in or complete any requirements that are listed on your Offer. 10 days prior to the start of the quarter, your aid disburses. This will happen each quarter. JANUARY 1 ST : Start the process again for the next year.

11. The Aid Offer Cost of Attendance: a figure every college provides Cost of Attendance- EFC = Financial Need Colleges will put together an aid offer that may or may not meet 100% of need. Colleges use the same FAFSA information. Colleges should provide net price calculator

12. Simple Examples EFC= $5,000 College A: COA $11,000-EFC $5,000= Need is $6,000 College B: COA $27,000- EFC $5,000= Need is $22,000 College C: COA $52,000- EFC $5,000= Need is $47,000

13. Loan offers might include...

14. To receive the scholarship, you must have signed up in 8 th grade and: 1.File the FAFSA by February 1 st * Be sure to include 6-digit school codes for all schools you would like your FAFSA sent to 2.Graduate high school with a 2.0 or higher 3.Be a good citizen with no felony convictions 4.Enroll within one year of high school graduation in one of the 68 eligible institutions in WA State 5.Be a US citizen or eligible non-citizen WA State College Bound Program

15. The Dept. of Education will send your FAFSA data to the colleges you list on your FAFSA and to the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) You will see a line item in your aid award letters labeled “state need grant” Keep correspondence from College Bound, including emails. Should cover tuition, fees, and a small book stipend. WA State College Bound Program (cont.)

16.  The College Bound Scholarship is a four-year scholarship that must be used within five years  Equal to 12 quarters or eight semesters maximum  You must enroll in college within one year of high school graduation  Enrollment does not have to be continuous  You may enroll part-time but your scholarship will be reduced  You must maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) College Bound – Important Notes

19. FREE Internet scholarship search engines:  FinAid on the Web: www.finaid.org www.finaid.org  Naviance  FastWeb: www.fastweb.monster.com  GoCollege: The Collegiate Web Source: www.gocollege.com  theWashBoard.org Private Scholarships

20. Summary of Dates Junior Year- make schedule for scholarship applications, begin applications Senior Year- fafsa4caster in the fall January 1- February 1- INITIAL FAFSA and possibly CSS Profile February –March- FAFSA corrections April- aid award letters May 1- commitment date