Student Eligibility and the Financial Aid Application Process

Objective Know the required elements of student eligibility for federal student financial aid Understand how to complete the FAFSA

Student Eligibility US Citizen or Eligible Non-Citizen If required, be registered for Selective Service Not be in default on a federal debt Not have exceeded aggregate borrowing limits Not owe Title IV Refund High School Graduate or equivalent

Student Eligibility Not have been convicted of selling or possessing drugs while receiving federal student aid –Self reported on the FAFSA –Database match with the Department of Justice

Student Eligibility Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) –Established by the individual schools –2.0 by the beginning of the junior year –No more than 150 percent of the program length.

Institutional Eligibility Generally, institution must be accredited or pre-accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association May not admit as a regular student those who do not have a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent and Who are below the age of compulsory secondary school attendance in the state in which the school is located

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Required for federal student aid programs Schools may not require an additional application for federal aid programs Computes Expected Family Contribution Database matches confirm eligibility as an eligible student

FAFSA Multiple ways to complete the FAFSA –On the Web –Paper FAFSA –FAA Access –FAFSA on the Phone

FAFSA FAFSA on the Web –English or Spanish –Real time submission –Electronic signatures –Pop up help –Pop up chat help

FAFSA Skip logic Edit Checks On-line status update

FAFSA Special Circumstances –Students may skip the parent questions if they feel they have a special circumstance Independent Student Override Parent refusal to provide information and/or sign

FAFSA IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) –Pulls IRS tax return data into the FAFSA –Can be used for the correction process –Relieves the student/parent from submitting a tax return transcript for verification –Not available for everyone Amended return Married filing separately Parent or student for whom no social security number was entered on the FAFSA

FAFSA Common Mistakes –Form is not signed –Wrong SSN –Wrong Name –Wrong Date of Birth –Putting parent income information in student section –Income taxes paid from W-2 (not tax return) –Household size

FAFSA How to sign the application –FSA ID –Printed Signature Page –Sign rejected paper Student Aid Report (SAR) –School submits the signature through FAA Access (and keeps the documentation in the student’s file)

FAFSA Signing the application: –Certifies the information is correct –Gives ED authority to verify the information with other agencies –Agrees to provide the school with requested documents –Certifies the student’s identity –Acknowledges consequences of false information –Agrees to certain application certification statements

Output Student receives a Student Aid Report (SAR) – –Paper EFC Comments (verification, database match failures) Eligibility for Pell/Stafford Loan

Output School receives a Institutional Student Information Report (ISIR) –EFC –Verification Code –“C” Code –Comment codes

Expected Family Contribution (EFC) The amount a family can reasonably be expected to contribute to a student’s annual cost of attendance. The same at all schools Calculated using a congressionally mandated formula

CPS Database Matches SSN (for the student and the parents) Department of Homeland Security –When the answer to the citizenship question is “eligible non-citizen” Selective Service –For males over the age of 18 National Student Loan Data Service –Defaults –Overpayments –Aggregate borrowing limits

CPS Database Matches Department of Defense –To identify students eligible for the Iraq/Afghanistan Grant Department of Veteran Affairs –When the student claims on the FAFSA to be a veteran

Changes to the FAFSA Corrections: Applicants may correct items entered incorrectly or originally estimated (Income, assets) Updates: Year in school, Dependency Status (except for the student’s marital status) Adjustments: Changes made by the school as the result of professional judgment (dependency, income, etc.)

Questions?