1. Admissions & Financial Aid 101 Step 1: Complete Your College Application. Visit Admissions for instructions at www.stac.edu orwww.stac.edu use the Common Application. Step 2: After you have completed your 2009 Federal State Tax Returns, you can now complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online at www.fafsa.ed.gov

2. College Sample Aid Report Tuition, Books, Fees (Commuter Student)22,410 Tuition, Books, Fees, Room & Board 32,710 Scenario 1 This student was eligible for a partial Federal Pell Grant, a partial NYS TAP Award, earned a partial academic scholarship from the College, and a partial athletic scholarship for the track team. Commuting cost is $22,410. Reduced by the partial Pell Grant of $2,000, Reduced by the partial NYS TAP Award of $1,000, Reduced by the partial Academic Scholarship of $7,000. Reduced by the partial STAC Need Based Grant of $4,000. The cost as a commuting student for tuition, books and fees is now $8,410. The cost as a resident student for tuition, books, fees, room and board is $18,710. Student Cost: $8,410 or $18,710 --- about the cost of a SUNY Education!

3. College Sample Aid Report Tuition, Books, Fees (Commuter Student)22,410 Tuition, Books, Fees, Room & Board 32,710 Scenario 2 This student was not eligible for a Federal Pell Grant, and not eligible for a NYS TAP Award. The student earned a very good academic scholarship from the College, and applied for a federal Teach Grant of $4,000 per year. Commuting cost is $22,410. Reduced by the partial Academic Scholarship of $10,000. Reduced by the federal Teach Grant of $4,000. The cost as a commuting student for tuition, books and fees is now $8,410. The cost as a resident student for tuition, books, fees, room and board is $18,710. Student Cost: $8,410 or $18,710 --- about the cost of a SUNY Education!

4. College Sample Aid Report Tuition, Books, Fees (Commuter Student)22,410 Tuition, Books, Fees, Room & Board 32,710 Scenario 3 This student was not eligible for a Federal Pell Grant, and not eligible for a NYS TAP Award. The student earned a mid level academic scholarship from the College, applied for a federal Teach Grant of $4,000 per year, and earned a partial athletic scholarship for soccer. Commuting cost is $22,410. Reduced by the partial Academic Scholarship of $6,000. Reduced by the federal Teach Grant of $4,000. Reduced by the partial Athletic Scholarship of $5,000. The cost as a commuting student for tuition, books and fees is now $7,410. The cost as a resident student for tuition, books, fees, room and board is $17,710. Student Cost: $7,410 or $17,710 --- about the cost of a SUNY Education!

5. College Sample Aid Report The student can then borrow funds from the federal government without the parent for a total of $5,500 or in special circumstances, up to $9,500. This student may also be eligible to work on campus to earn up to $2,000 per year in a Federal Work Study Job.

6. Frequently Asked Questions Q: I know what I like to do and what I am good at. How do I know what major to choose? A: Many colleges will require you to declare a major. 50% of college students change their major, and 30% start undeclared. Here is a good tool to help you learn how to convert what you like to do into a major. http://www.stac.edu/Majors/default.html Q: How do I find the college that offers what I want to major in? A: Here is a good tool offered by the College Board. It will help you find out about many options, and you get to put in your preferences for school size, location, distance from home, etc. http://www.collegeboard.com/student/csearch/index.html

7. Frequently Asked Questions Q: Are my scholarships for only one year? A: In most cases, scholarships are renewable every year for up to four years, and scholarships that are keyed to grades, require a certain college GPA to keep the scholarship. Check on these and make sure you think the GPA is reasonable or you will lose the scholarship. Q: Is it hard to get an athletic scholarship? A: About 1% of all high school athletes play a NCAA DI sport for a scholarship. At the Division II level, there are many opportunities to play your sport for a partial scholarship. At the DIII level, you can play your sport, but those colleges have chosen not to offer scholarships for athletics. In the NAIA, a different organization than the NCAA, colleges also offer scholarships to play and most schools are smaller and it is reasonable to expect that a very good high school athlete could play a sport at the NAIA level.

8. Frequently Asked Questions Q: How do I apply for College Scholarships? A: In most cases, the College will review your admissions application to determine scholarship eligibility. You want to ask the college if there are other scholarships that require a separate application. Q: When will I find out how much the College will cost my family? A: You should receive your academic, merit and any other admissions related scholarship offers as part of your acceptance packet from the college. Once you complete the FAFSA and the NYS TAP Application, your colleges will send you a Notification of Aid, and in that letter you will find your admissions scholarships plus any forms of need based aid along with recommended loans.

9. Frequently Asked Questions Q: How do I apply for the Free Application For Federal Student Aid? A: http://www.fafsa.ed.govhttp://www.fafsa.ed.gov Q: How do I apply for New York State aid? A: http://www.hesc.com/content.nsf/SFC/2/Grants_Scholarships_and_Awards http://www.hesc.com/content.nsf/SFC/2/Grants_Scholarships_and_Awards Each college has a code you put on the FAFSA and the TAP application. Here are St. Thomas Aquinas College’s codes. FAFSA is "002832" and the NYS TAP code is "0830".

10. Frequently Asked Questions Q: What are federal Academic Competitiveness Grants? A: For students who are going to be federal PELL recipients, some are eligible for an additional $750 per year for the freshmen and sophomore years in college. There are requirements by state, but in New York for example, students need to have a NYS Regents Diploma with advanced standing or honors and meet the core requirements. this is not that difficult to do, and the college will review all PELL recipients for eligibility for this award. No separate application is required. Q: What is a SMART Grant? A: These awards are for juniors and seniors in college who are federal PELL recipients, maintain a 3.0 college GPA, and major in one of the designated areas as [art of the SMART grant requirement. These students receive an additional $4,000 per year for junior and senior year.

11. Visit The St. Thomas Aquinas College web page at http://www.stac.edu For information on scholarships and grants, visit http://www.stac.edu/Financial_Aid/grants.html http://www.stac.edu/pageflip/flipbook_financial/index.html For more information, contact the Office of Financial Aid St. Thomas Aquinas College 845-398-4097 Class Dismissed!

12. Sign up for a Tour and a Financial Aid Workshop http://www.stac.edu/form01.html For more information, contact the Office of Financial Aid St. Thomas Aquinas College 845-398-4097 Class Dismissed!