State Aid Basics Division of Student Financial Aid (SFA) Indiana Commission for Higher Education

State Financial Aid Programs Need-Based Awards Frank O’Bannon – Higher Education Award – Freedom of Choice Award 21 st Century Scholars Program Non Need-Based Awards National Guard Supplemental Grant Children of Veteran Awards Mitch Daniels Early Graduation Scholarship

Frank O’Bannon Grant Higher Education Award & Freedom of Choice The applicant must: – Be an Indiana resident by December 31, 2012 – Be a US Citizen or eligible noncitizen – Be a high school graduate or hold a GED – Attend an eligible Indiana institution – Be a full-time student – File a clean, on-time FAFSA

Frank O’Bannon Grant Higher Education Award (HEA) – Students attending public and proprietary institutions receive all state aid from this fund Freedom of Choice Grant (FOC) – Students attending private institutions receive state aid from this fund as well as the HEA fund 90% FOC 10% HEA

Frank O’Bannon Grant Awards is calculated using SFA award formula times – Tuition at SFA cap times; minus – High school diploma type, Associate Degree or Professional Degree minus; – Student’s Parental Contribution (PC) or Expected Family Contribution (EFC)

21 st Century Scholars Program 7 th and 8 th graders may enroll by June 30 Student’s household must have annual income of not more than amount required to qualify for federal free or reduced price lunches

21 st Century Scholars Program Need-based 21 st Scholars receive funds from both the Frank O’Bannon Grant and the 21 st Century Scholarship fund – The 21 st Century Scholarship portion is applied as follows: Public College – 21 st amount is difference between current year tuition and FOB award Private College – 21 st amount is difference between private college cap and FOB award Proprietary College – 21 st amount is difference between proprietary college cap and FOB award

National Guard Supplemental Grant 100% of tuition and regularly assessed fees Public institutions only Certified by Guard Unit each semester Student must be in active drilling status, cannot have been AWOL during prior year Must file FAFSA by March 10 and complete required National Guard paperwork

Part-time Grant Students attending 2-11 credit hours (or part- time equivalent) and meeting SFA priority criteria can receive grant Schools calculate grant based on 80% of tuition cap minus the students’ PC/EFC and multiplied by the number of credit hours being taken

Children of Veteran Awards (CVO) 100% of tuition and regularly assessed fees Public institutions only Eligible children of disabled Indiana veterans Eligible children of National Guard members killed while serving on state active duty Eligible children of Indiana public safety officers killed in the line of duty

Mitch Daniels Early Graduation Scholarship $4,000 scholarship to be applied toward tuition and regularly assessed fees, balance remitted to scholarship recipient

FAFSA RECEIVED by the federal processor between January 1, 2013 and March 10, 2013 Corrections received by May 15, 2013 REMEMBER – Students must file the CORRECT year’s FAFSA – Students should file a FAFSA each year by March 10 even if they are not sure whether they will be attending college – FAFSA may be filed with estimated tax information in order to meet March 10 deadline

FAFSA SFA receives FAFSAs for dependent or independent students listing Indiana (IN) as their state of legal residence or from dependent students whose parents list IN as their state of legal residence ISIRs are “drawn down” from the CPS each week night; transactions submitted by students and colleges are normally received 2-5 days from the date of submission depending on the time of year

SFA Award Cycle Three cycles in the SFA Award Calendar – Application (APPL) cycle Begins in February – Notification (NOTF) cycle Begins in June/July – Reconciliation (RECN) cycle Begins in late summer/early fall based on SFA’s classification of the institution

SFA Award Cycle SFA Award cycles overlap from February through May each year – As an example, currently we are in the AY RECN file cycle. The AY APPL cycle will begin in February of 2013 Student records for two different years appear in xGrads and in APPL and RECN files

Claiming Awards from SFA Two types of state financial aid awards – Reconciled Awards (Awards SFA creates) Frank O’Bannon Grant, 21 st Century Scholarship, National Guard Supplemental Grant – Billed Awards (Awards institutions bill SFA for) Mitch Daniels Early Graduation Scholarship, CVO, Minority Teacher/Special Services and Nursing Scholarships, Part-time Grant

Claiming Awards from SFA Awards can be claimed two ways – File transfer Institutions return an appropriately populated and formatted reconciliation (RECN) or fee remission billing (FRBI) file to SFA by uploading in xGrads – Individually Institutions can claim and bill for student awards individual in xGrads

Claiming Awards from SFA Deadlines to claim awards are based on the classification of the institution:

Claiming Awards from SFA Issues with student records MUST be cleared before claiming SFA awards: – Professional Judgment Appropriate reason code must be applied – Default/Overpayment Must be cleared – Residency must be complete before each term award reconciliation and billing deadline

Grade Point Average For students first entering an eligible Indiana institution after June 30, 2012 – Higher Education Award – Freedom of Choice – 21 st Century Scholarship – Child of Disabled Veteran Awards If parent enlisted after June 30, 2011

Grade Point Average Requirements – Successfully completed work of previous year Did student meet institution’s definition of Satisfactory Academic Progress? – Remains domiciled in Indiana – Meet financial need guidelines – Based on cumulative Grade Point Average, changes according to class standing

Grade Point Average Freshman – Satisfactory Academic Progress – Individual institutions’ definitions may vary Sophomore – 2.25 on 4.00 scale Junior and Senior – 2.50 on 4.00 scale

Grade Point Average Institutions will report cumulative GPAs and class standing, based on loan limits, for all students filing a FAFSA and listing Indiana as their state of legal residence – Initial term not meeting GPA requirement Warning – Subsequent terms not meeting GPA requirement Ineligible for aid

Grade Point Average At the end of each term a smaller report will be required; this report should contain data for aid recipients who are in or have previously used a warning semester New fields in the APPL, NOTF and RECN files will list students’ subject to GPA requirements SFA has requested a trial data file submission in January 2013; this file will not be evaluated for GPA requirements

Professional Degree Four or five year postsecondary school course of study Student may be admitted without an undergraduate degree Leads to degree that is not undergraduate or graduate degree as determined by Commission Prepares holder of degree for a profession

Associate Degree Student did not graduate with Academic Honors or Technical Honors Diploma Student receives Associate Degree from eligible Indiana institution Student then enrolls in baccalaureate program Student qualifies for Frank O’Bannon award

Reporting Associate and Professional Degree Students Both Associate and Professional Degree students can be reported to SFA via file transfer or through xGrads Associate Degree – Eligible for a 20% increase on an FOB award Professional Degree – Eligible to receive FOB and 21 st awards May receive additional funds based on high school diploma type

Eight-Year Rule Awards are only renewable, if otherwise eligible, for eight years “After date the individual first applies after July 1, 2011 and becomes eligible for benefits” SFA has defined as when student first starts taking classes

21 st Century Scholars Program Regional Support Move from a direct-service model to one based on partnerships and collaborations 8 regions through the state 1 Outreach Coordinator per region

Primary charge to work with K-12 schools, postsecondary institutions and community partners to support Scholars in that region

21 st Century Scholars Program Current Grade Level/ Graduation Year Scholar Success Program High School Cumulative GPA Annual FAFSA Filing Financial Means Testing College Enrollment Guaranteed Full Tuition Scholarship Expiration Enrolled as a Scholar BEFORE June 30, (Class of 2013)Recommended2.0YesNoWithin 1 YearYes8 Years 11 (Class of 2014)Recommended2.0YesNoWithin 1 YearYes8 Years 10 (Class of 2015)Recommended2.5YesNoWithin 1 YearYes8 Years 9 (Class of 2016)Recommended2.5YesNoWithin 1 YearYes8 Years 8 (Class of 2017)Recommended2.5YesNoWithin 1 YearYes8 Years Enrolled as a Scholar AFTER June 30, (Class of 2016)Recommended2.5Yes Within 1 YearNo8 Years 8 (Class of 2017)Required2.5Yes Within 1 YearNo 8 Years 7 (Class of 2018)Required2.5Yes Within 1 YearNo8 Years

Resources for Financial Aid Staff xGrads Information Files section – Contains guidebooks, file layouts, award calculators, results files and user agreement forms for SFA systems SFA website – Memoranda section Contains program-related memoranda provided to colleges partners – College Partners section Contains PowerPoint's of past SFA presentations SFA Listserv – Signup to receive group specific new and notices related to state aid

More Information Website: – Click the “Division of Student Financial Aid” link Phone: Fax: