1. Financial Aid Presentation
Bremen High School
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night

2. Goals for Presentation…
What is Financial Aid
Types of Financial Aid
Financial Aid Process
Award Letters
Where to find Scholarships
What is FAFSA4Caster
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night

3. Financial Aid Defined…
Assistance awarded to students which may be based on:
financial need, which is determined by federal methodology
special qualities the student may have such as academic or athletic talent
Aid can come from Federal, State, College and Private Sources
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night

4. Types of Financial Aid Gift Aid: Does not have to be repaid Self Help:
Grants (based on need)
Scholarships (based on merit)
Self Help:
Work Study: Earned (based on need)
Loans: Borrowed (need and non-need based)
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night

5. Financial Aid Process
Please use this information as a quick reference to track your progress:
Step 1 - Apply for an FSA ID – Today
Student: Username Password
Parent: Username Password
Step 2 - Complete your FAFSA Application – beginning January 1, 2016
Make sure you select the FAFSA
If you have not yet filed your 2015 income tax return, submit your FAFSA using estimated tax information (look at your 2014 income tax return). You must make corrections to your FAFSA application after you file your 2015 income tax return.
Step 3 - View your Student Aid Report (SAR)

6. The FSA ID
An FSA ID is a username and password that can be used for many federal student aid activities, such as to:
Electronically sign your student’s FAFSA.
Import your tax information from the Internal Revenue Service.
Prefill data in this year´s FAFSA if you filed a FAFSA last year. That's called filling out a Renewal FAFSA.
Make online corrections to an existing FAFSA.
View or print an online copy of your Student Aid Report(SAR).
Both the student and one parent must apply for their own FSA ID.
The FSA ID process consists of three main steps:
1. Enter your log-in information.
Provide your address, a unique username, and password, and verify that you are at least 13 years old.
2. Enter your personal information.
Provide your Social Security number, name, and date of birth.
Include your mailing address, address, telephone number, and language preference.
For security purposes, provide answers to five challenge questions.
3. Submit your FSA ID information.
Agree to the terms and conditions.
Verify your address.
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night

7. The FSA ID - https://fsaid.ed.gov

8. Completing the FAFSA application
You may need to refer to:
Your Social Security card. It is important that you enter your Social Security Number correctly!
Your alien registration or permanent resident card (if you are not a U.S. citizen)
Your 2015 W-2 forms and other records of money earned
Your (and if married, your spouse's) 2015 Federal Income Tax Return.
IRS 1040, 1040A, 1040 EZ (You may be able to transfer your federal tax information using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool)
Your Parents' 2015 Federal Income Tax Return (if you are a dependent student)
Your 2015 untaxed income records (if applicable)
You and your parents’ (if you are a dependent student) current bank statements
Your parents’ current business and investment mortgage information, business and farm records, stock, bond and other investment records
Your FSA ID
Your parent’s FSA ID
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night

9. Social Security Number
The student must have a social security number in order to complete a FAFSA application.
A social security number issued through DACA does not qualify a student to submit a FAFSA.
If the parents do not have a social security number enter The student is still eligible for financial aid.
An ITIN (taxpayer identification number)cannot be used to complete the FAFSA. These can be identified by a nine digit number beginning with the number 9 and the middle digits range from (9XX-7X-XXX).
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night

10. The FAFSA Application - www. fafsa. ed
The FAFSA Application (Complete and submit as soon as possible on or after January 1, 2016)
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night

11. Dependency Questions (Section 3) (if you answer YES to any of these statements you are considered independent)
You were born before January 1, 1993.
As of today you are married.
At the beginning of the school year, you will be working on a master’s or doctorate program.
You are currently serving on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces for purposes other than training.
You are a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces?
You have children who will receive more than half of their support from you.
You have dependents (other than your children or spouse) who live with you and who will receive more than half of their support from you.
At any time since you turned aged 13, your parents were deceased, you were in foster care or were a dependent or ward of the court.
As determined by court in your legal state of residence you are an emancipated minor.
As determined by a court in your legal state of residence you are or you were in legal guardianship.
At any time on or after July 1, 2015 did your high school homeless liaison, an emergency shelter director or a transitional housing program director determine you are an unaccompanied youth or homeless.
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night

12. Dependency Status Answer NO to all questions in section 3.
Dependent
Independent
Answer NO to all questions in section 3.
Parents’ income will be used in determining financial aid eligibility.
Answer YES to one or more questions in section 3.
No parent information needed.
The federal government and the schools consider it primarily the family's responsibility to pay for school. They provide financial assistance only when the family is unable to pay. If a family just doesn't want to pay, that won't make a difference. Parents have a greater responsibility toward their children than the government or the schools. Some parents mistakenly believe that if they refuse to contribute, the school will declare the student independent and pick up the parent's share of the college costs.
Parental refusal to complete the FAFSA and verification forms and to contribute to your education are not sufficient grounds on their own or in combination for a dependency override.
The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 amended section 479A(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to permit college financial aid administrators to offer dependent students an unsubsidized Stafford loan without requiring the parents to file a FAFSA, provided that the financial aid administrator verifies that the parents have ended financial support to the student and refuse to file the FAFSA. 
Likewise, even if you are totally self-sufficient and your parents don’t claim you as an exemption on their federal income tax returns, that isn’t enough justification for a dependency override.
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night

13. Who is considered a parent?
“Parent” refers to a biological or adoptive parent.
Grandparents, foster parents, legal guardians, older siblings, and uncles or aunts are not considered parents on this form unless they have legally adopted you.
In case of divorce or separation, give information about the parent you lived with most in the last 12 months.
If you did not live with one parent more than the other, give information about the parent who provided you the most financial support during the last 12 months or during the most recent year you received support.
If your divorced or widowed parent has remarried, also provide information about your stepparent.
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night

14. Expected Family Contribution
EFC
Expected Family Contribution
Calculated on the basis of information reported on the FAFSA and according to a formula established by law.
A family’s taxed and untaxed income, assets, and benefits are all considered in the formula.
Investments include real estate (do not include the home you live in), trust funds, UGMA and UTMA accounts, money market funds, mutual funds, certificates of deposit, stocks, stock options, bonds, other securities, installment and land sale contracts (including mortgages held), commodities, etc.
Investments also include qualified educational benefits or education savings accounts such as Coverdell savings accounts, 529 college savings plans and the refund value of 529 prepaid tuition plans.
Investment value means the current balance or market value of these investments as of today. Investment debt means only those debts that are related to the investments.
Investments do not include the home you (and your spouse) live in; cash, savings and checking accounts; the value of life insurance and retirement plans (401[k] plans, pension funds, annuities, non-education IRAs, Keogh plans, etc.).
What? Why? Where?
A measure of a family’s financial strength.
Schools use the EFC to determine federal student aid eligibility and financial aid award.
Shown on Student Aid Report (SAR).
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night

15. Student Aid Report (SAR)
The official notification sent from the federal government as a result receiving a FAFSA for a student.
The SAR summarizes the applicant information, provides the EFC for a student and displays other special messages related to the student’s application.
The SAR is sent to the student as well as any colleges or universities listed on the FAFSA application (up to 10).
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night

16. Determining Cost of Attendance
These costs are determined by the individual schools.
Make sure when comparing schools that the same costs have been included in the cost of attendance.
The cost of attendance for most students includes:
Tuition and Fees
Books and Supplies
Room and Board
Transportation
Miscellaneous Living Expenses
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night

17. How is financial aid determined by a school?
Cost of Attendance (COA)
Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
Financial Need
The general rule is that a student’s total aid may not exceed a student’s financial need.
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night

18. Federal & State Sources to Meet Need
Maximums
Federal Pell Grant
$5,730
Illinois Monetary Award Program
(MAP)
Maximum award is based on legislative action and available funding every year (up to $4,968).
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
$100-$4,000 annual maximum
Federal Work Study
No annual minimum or maximum amounts, however students will be responsible for applying income earned to pay tuition.
Federal Perkins Loan
$5,500 annual maximum
Direct Subsidized Loan
$3,500-$5,500 annually depending on grade level
Direct Unsubsidized Loan
$5,500-$7,500 annually depending on grade level
Direct Plus Loan
Parent Loan: Maximum amount is the cost of attendance minus any other financial aid the student receives.
Unsubsidized: Amount minus any subsidized amounts received during the same period.
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night

19. The Award Letter Sample University Amount Total Cost of Attendance
$44,000
Expected Family Contribution
-$3,000
Financial Need
$41,000
Federal Pell Grant
-$1,200
Illinois Map Grant
-$3,330
Federal SEOG
-$4,000
University Grant
-$6,500
Federal Work Study
-$1,500
Federal Perkins Loan
-$500
Subsidized Direct Loan
-$3,500
Unsubsidized Direct Loan
-$2,000
Unmet Need
$18,500
Parent Plus Loan $0
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night

20. Scholarships Bremen Webpage http://bhsd228.schoolwires.net/Page/6312
Other helpful websites
Check financial aid websites of the college you are attending for additional university or college scholarships.
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night

21. FAFSA4Caster
A free financial aid calculator that gives you an early estimate of your eligibility for federal student aid. This information helps families plan ahead for college.
Available at and college/universities websites
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night

23. Keep in mind…
You may be asked to submit documentation to the financial aid office for verification purposes.
The combination of student aid and EFC must not exceed student’s COA.
If financial aid from any source becomes available after packaging, awards must be reduced until the total package does not exceed COA.
Outside Scholarships: Find out how this money will be treated in each college’s financial aid award package.
Federal Work Study must be earned and the amount indicated on your Award letter will need to be applied to the tuition bill by the student.
ALL loans must be repaid and will require additional paperwork including a Master Promissory Note.
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night

24. When a Student Is Attending College Which Year’s Income Information
Upcoming changes for
Submit a FAFSA® Earlier.
  Students will be able to file a 2017–18 FAFSA as early as Oct. 1,
Use Earlier Income Information.
Beginning with the 2017–18 FAFSA, students will report income information from an earlier tax year. See the table provided below.
When a Student Is Attending College
(School Year)
When a Student
Can Submit a FAFSA
Which Year’s Income Information
Is Required
July 1, 2016–June 30, 2017
January 1, 2016–June 30, 2017
2015
July 1, 2017–June 30, 2018
October 1, 2016–June 30, 2018
July 1, 2018–June 30, 2019
October 1, 2017–June 30, 2019
2016

25. Resources
Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education
Illinois Student Assistance Commission
Some material adapted from a Powerpoint created by Carl Zambo, former Oak Forest High School counselor.
Bremen High School - Financial Aid Night