1. Financial Aid Night

2. Agenda General Advice Key terms Types of aid and overview EFC
Will I qualify?
Planning ahead: 10th and 11th grade
12th grade
Financial Aid Offers
What you should do now
Questions

3. General Advice
Talk to your kids! Be honest about whether they will need money for college.
Involve your kids in the process—they should understand and know how to fill out financial aid forms and applications. The money is awarded to the student, NOT the parent.
Keep your options open….you never know what might happen.
Federal and State aid can also be applied to community colleges.
Your financial aid calculation changes with the number of people in the family in college—apply again with each child!
Remember that financial aid offers will vary from student to student, school to school and year to year. Apply and see!

4. Key Terms
Cost of Attendance:  total cost to attend a particular college for one year.  Tuition and fees:  The part of college costs that is applied to the educational program and classes. This is the part that MUST be paid up front. Room and board:  The cost for housing and food. EFC:  Expected Family Contribution, or the amount your family is expected to be able to contribute toward the cost of college for one year. Financial need:  This is the amount you need beyond your EFC to be able to pay for college for one year.  FAFSA:  Free Application for Federal Student Aid.  Calculates EFC, determines grants, loans, from the government.
PROFILE:  The financial aid application used by many private colleges.  Like the FAFSA, the PROFILE information is used to calculate a student's EFC, but the method of calculation is different.

5. Types of Financial Aid
Gift aid:
Scholarship:  Money given to you for college that does not have to be paid back.  Scholarships may be given by colleges or by outside organizations. Grant: money given to the student by an institution (school, state, federal gov’t) that does not need to be paid back. Cal grant has 3 types based on need and merit (or some combination) and is only awarded for schools in CA.
**often the terms “grant” and “scholarship” are used interchangeably.
Self help aid:
Loans:  Money that you borrow and have to repay with interest after you graduate. Subsidized federal student loan:  A student loan with terms that are significantly better than market rates.  Students do not pay interest on the loan until they graduate. Unsubsidized federal student loan:  A student loan with terms that are closer to market rates, but probably still better than regular consumer loans.  Student must pay interest while in school. Parent Plus Loan: a loan at a higher interest rate that is given in the parents name.
Private loans=a bad idea!! Last resort only.
Work study:  A federally subsidized job program that is available to some students based on financial need.  This program gives the students access to special job openings (often on campus) so students can use their earnings to help pay for college. If this is offered, you should absolutely take it!

6. Important Factors to Consider in Financial Aid process
1. What is your EFC? Can you actually afford to pay your EFC?
2. What is the sticker price of each college on my students’ list?
For each college on my students’ list, what is the average time it takes to graduate? Will we need to pay for 4 years? 5 years? 6?
3. Does each college on the list meet 100% of need? If not, what percentage will it meet?
4. How much merit aid does each college give?
5. Considering my EFC, the % of need met, the time to graduation, and merit aid, what is the actual cost of each college? (you may not know this until spring of senior year).
6. Make sure I fill out all the forms with my student.
7. Make sure I compare/contrast and negotiate all the financial aid packages.

7. Financial Aid Formula Cost of college
Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
= Your financial need

8. How do colleges meet need?
Through grants and scholarships (free
money), loans, and student work
programs
Colleges might not meet 100% of your
need

9. How to find out the cost of college
1. Calculate your personal EFC (online tools) 2. Look on the college’s financial aid web site 3. Look on Collegeboard.com: find the college and look at its costs and financial aid section. 4. Remember that housing costs vary and that transportation costs will be factored into financial aid. Remember: this is not an exact science. Financial aid varies from student to student, school to school and year to year.

10. How is EFC Calculated? Considers parent and student Income plus assets
You may not agree with it, you may not be able to afford it
Your EFC might be zero
Assets used to calculate the EFC include:
Real estate other than the family residence
Investments
Family-owned business with more than 100 employees
A farm that the family does not live on
Current cash, savings, and checking accounts
Education IRA or higher education savings plans
The following assets are not included:
The value of IRAs and other retirement plans
Home equity (the difference between home value and home debt)
Farm equity for a farm on which the family lives (the difference between the value of the farm and the debt against the farm)
Family-owned business with fewer than 100 employees
Cash value of life insurance policies

11. Assets on the EFC
Assets are not included if your adjusted gross income is below 50K
Student assets ARE included, expected to contribute 20%. Better for assets to be in parents name, can rollover 529 to savings.
Income has a bigger impact than savings
Typical family receives an asset protection allowance of 45K, which is subtracted from your net worth, and of the remainder, 12% is expected to be put towards education.

12. Example: Treatment of Parental Assets
Total Assets:$100,000
Asset Protection: subtract 45,000
Total Net Assets are now:$55,000
Multiply by 12%
Available Assets=$6,600 which can be applied to your EFC

13. What if you can’t afford your EFC?
If your EFC is too high, you will not be eligible for need based aid.
However, you will be eligible for merit/non-need based aid:
Cal grants at over 3.0 GPA and for middle income
Grants/scholarships from universities
Unsubsidized and parent PLUS loans

14. Merit Aid/Non-Need Based aid
Given by individual colleges
Not normally given by CSUs or highly selective schools
Often given by “likely” school, where a student stands out
Look at list on Naviance for merit aid, examples: Occidental, Lewis and Clark, Whittier
Colleges that change lives
Apply via college, FAFSA or PROFILE

15. The “gap”
If a school does not meet 100% of need, even if your EFC is zero, you may not be able to afford to go to that school
You should:
Call the financial aid office to see if you can negotiate or to see if there are additional scholarships through the school
Apply for outside scholarships
Compare/contrast financial aid offers from other schools

16. Don’t forget about the PROFILE!
Many select private schools use the PROFILE in addition to the FAFSA. (google the list)
Totally different calculation: includes both custodial parents plus primary residence
May require it for ANY financial aid

17. Scholarships Cover unmet need Replace loans or work
There are tons out there!
To apply:
Via institution
Research on Naviance, College Board, Finaid.org: be strategic (unique and local), Fastweb
Ask at Work

18. Western Undergraduate Exchange
The “WUE”
The Western states: CA, UT, NM, NV, MT, ID, AZ,CO, HI, WA, OR have agreements with each other to give students from participating states 1.5 times in-state tuition
This is a significant discount, and often attending these schools can be cheaper than attending schools in CA
Not all public universities participate—check the Web site

19. Don’t forget about working!
Most students will work in the summers
Most students will be able to work during the school year
This can offset the gap
This can offset or cover some loans

20. What if I don’t think my family will qualify for aid?
Apply for non-need based scholarships
Apply to schools with good non-need based aid (merit aid)
Do the FAFSA anyway: info goes to institutions, unsubsidized loans
Keep all options open

21. What if I have extenuating circumstances?
Job loss, injury/illness, “tricky” family situation
You should call the financial aid office!

22. 10th and 11th grade planning
Calculate EFC
Have open, honest conversations with students
Research schools that have good merit aid and that meet 100% of need
Research scholarships, especially local scholarships and those for 11th grade students
Earn high grades and test scores

23. 12th grade Financial Aid Timeline
By PLP in October: Calculate EFC Financial safety and schools with good merit aid/meet 100% of need on school list Check financial aid deadlines October-December: Do the FAFSA forecaster You can transfer info later to the FAFSA Apply for scholarships By December: Cal Grant verification form (done in Connections class) In January: File 2011 taxes Apply for FAFSA early: first come first served, deadline is March 1st for CA FAFSA Night at Summit: January 10th File PROFILE for select private schools: don’t forget this!! February-April: Once you file taxes, correct the FAFSA Check s! Follow up on issues with FAFSA, PROFILE, etc. Mid April to May 1st: Accept and negotiate financial aid offers

24. Sample Financial aid Award: Pacific University
We are pleased to offer you the following financial aid to help fund your education at Pacific University in
Fall Spring TOTAL
Pacesetter Excellence Award $16, $16, $32,850.00
Federal Pell Grant $2, $2, $5,550.00
Federal Direct Subsidized Loan $1, $1, $3,500.00
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan $1, $1, $2,000.00
Total award $21, $21, $43,900.00
Cost of Attendance: 45, 410
(tuition, fees, room and board, supplies, books, transportation, personal expenses)
Gap:

25. Sample Financial Aid Award: Boston University
STUDENT ID: U Fall Spring (Check One): Total ( )
Boston University Grant 13, , ,500
Academic Competitiveness Grant
Federal SEOG 1, , ,500
Federal Perkins Loan 1, , ,000
Federal Pell Grant 2, , ,200
Total Gift Aid: 18, , ,950
Other Awards:
Federal Direct Unsub Loan-Additional 1, , ,000
Federal Direct Subsidized Loan 1, , ,500
Your total financial aid award for this year: $ 43,450
Total Cost of Attendance: 54,900
Gap: 11, 450

26. Sample Financial Aid Award: UC Irvine
Federal Subsidized Loan: $3500 Federal Unsubsidized Loan: $200 Federal Direct PLUS Loan: $400 Hawk (UC Irvine) Loan: $1500 Cal Grant A: $11, 124 Federal Pell Grant: $5500 SEOG Grant: $300 Work Study: $1500 Cost of Attendance: $28,357 Total aid offered: $28,357 Gap=$0

27. Resources Finaid.com Naviance
College handbook: on the Summit web site under parent toolkit, then college, then financial aid.

30. Final tips Meet financial aid deadlines for schools
Check each school for financial aid requirements
In 12th grade, file taxes early and file FAFSA and PROFILE early
Apply for financial aid every year your child is in school: things change!
If you think you just might need money, fill out forms.
FAFSA is used for state and school based grants.
Circumstances might change
Have a family conversation about financial aid
Focus on YOUR price, not the sticker price.