COMPLETING THE FREE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID (FAFSA) Presented by: Student Support Services and the Financial Aid Office at HCC 1

Objectives 2 We hope you have a better understanding of the following after viewing these slides: Common myths when completing the FAFSA Two primary methods for completing the FAFSA Importance of the FAFSA priority filing date at HCC

Applying for Financial Aid 3 The FAFSA is the only application students at HCC need to complete to apply for all of the federal and state financial aid offered through the Office of Financial Aid. Thats it! One form!

Applying for Financial Aid 4 Students and/or parents may need to submit additional forms after the FAFSA is filed, but HCC will provide directions for this via notifications sent to the student Additional forms that may be needed later are tax forms, Loan Request Forms, promissory notes, etc The key is to get the FAFSA on file and HCC will guide you through the rest of the process

FAFSA Myths Before going into detail about completing the application, it is important to dispel a few myths about the FAFSA The following slides explain some of the common misconceptions about the FAFSA 5

Myth 1 6 My parents and I must have our taxes done before we can complete the FAFSA You can file the FAFSA with estimated income information if you do not have your taxes done You will see later that it is extremely important that you meet the priority filing date, so dont let not having your taxes done keep you from doing that

Myth 2 & 3 7 I can file my FAFSA as an independent student (without my parents information) if my parents do not claim me as a dependent on their taxes Im 18 years old, so I dont need my parents information when completing the FAFSA Who claims whom on their taxes is irrelevant for this The dependency questions on the FAFSA will tell you if you need your parents information

Myth 4 8 The FAFSA, and financial aid in general, is processed the same way at every school It is true that the FAFSA is used at every school who participates in the federal student aid programs The aid process, available funds, need for supplemental forms, and deadlines can vary between schools

Myth 5 & 6 9 My financial aid eligibility will be the same regardless of when I submit my FAFSA The on-time (priority) filing date for the FAFSA is the same at every school You will see later in the presentation how meeting the priority filing date can impact your eligibility

Myth 7 10 My parents house, life insurance, and retirement accounts will count against my financial aid eligibility These do not count as assets on the FAFSA Money contributed to a retirement account during the year counts on the FAFSA Worksheets, but the value of a retirement account does not count

Myth 8 11 I can rely on my parents to handle the completion and submission of my FAFSA, in addition to the rest of my financial aid paperwork In cases where a student is defined by the FAFSA as dependent, both student and parental information is needed to complete the application Students who are involved in the FAFSA process from the beginning experience fewer problems as they progress through the system

Myth 9 12 The FAFSA is the only form needed to complete the entire application process for receiving aid from all federal, state, and institutional sources The key words are underlined above The FAFSA is the only application needed to make an initial application for federal and state aid at JMU Additional forms may be needed later to verify FAFSA elements or accept certain types of offered aid The Office of Financial Aid will notify the student of any additional documents needed

The FAFSA Priority Filing Date 13

FAFSA Priority Filing Date 14 March 1 st, 2012 This means your FAFSA should be logged in at the federal processor by March 1 st In using FAFSA on the Web, you should submit it few days before March 1st

Importance of Priority Filing Date In some cases, meeting the priority filing date can increase your eligibility for specific types of financial aid Allows appropriate amount of time for processing before the school year begins 15

Priority Filing Date & Guarantees 16 Meeting the March 1 st priority filing date does not guarantee a higher aid package than if your FAFSA reaches the federal processor after this Depending on how many students meet the March 1 st date, it is possible there will not be enough money in some of the accounts to pay an award to all on-time eligible filers

Priority Filing Date & Guarantees Meeting the March 1 st date simply increases your chances for certain types of aid that may not be available to those who apply later 17

Missing the Priority Filing Date You can still complete a FAFSA after March 1, 2012, but the funds available for awarding at that time could be limited 18

Now that you know the FAFSA priority filing date, its time to discuss the method used to file it. 19

20 FAFSA on the Web This is the fastest and most convenient method of completing the FAFSA Signatures are submitted to the federal processor by either Printing, signing, and mailing signature page; or Signing it electronically with a PIN must be signed

When is the Earliest I Can File the FAFSA? FAFSA on the Web The FAFSA will be available on the FAFSA On The Web site January 1, 2012 ( 21

Getting Ready for FAFSA on the Web 22 It might be beneficial to complete the FAFSA on the Web Worksheet to help you work through FAFSA on the Web Download a copy of the worksheet at

Submit 23 Once you have completed the FAFSA, submit it using FAFSA on the Web to the federal processor Make sure it gets there by March 1 st

Federal Government Responses 24 Students may receive s from the Central Processing System (CPS) The address is Students should deactivate spam filters for this address Students will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) from the CPS after submitting the FAFSA

Response from HCC 25 Once HCC receives the students FAFSA data from the federal processor, the Office of Financial Aid will review and send the student notification of his/her status The majority of communications (e.g. letters, s, etc.) sent from our office are sent directly to students, not parents The primary means of communicating with students are through their HCC g-mail and mail.

Response from HCC 26 If information is needed to verify elements on the FAFSA, then HCC will request it with instructions on how to provide it Once the student is eligible to be awarded, a financial aid award notice will be sent with instructions on how to accept the offered aid

Questions 27 Any questions you may have can be directed to the HCC Financial Aid Offices or Student Support Services Staff. (300 Bldg.)

Get Credit for This Workshop 28 Click here Click here to complete the form to receive credit for attending this workshop.