Financial Aid and

Scholarships

What is Financial Aid?

COST OF ATTENDANCE

─ EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION- __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FINANCIAL NEED

(The sticker price, which includes the total cost of tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, transportation, and other educational expenses.)

(How much a family is expected to pay out of pocket toward one year of educational expenses based on the student’s and parent(s) income and assets. This is determined by the FAFSA and/or the CSS Profile.)

(How much money you need in financial aid in order to be able to attend the college.)

Financial aid is money available to help meet a family’s demonstrated financial need

• Made up of grants, scholarships, federal loans, and other types of self-help aid• Colleges use the formula below to determine how much financial aid to provide

each student:

Example of Calculating Financial Need

Cost of attendance at University X $40,000

Expected Family Contribution - $ 5,000

Financial Need = $35,000

This student would be expected to pay $5000 out of pocket and would need $35,000 in financial aid in order to be able to pay for his/her first year at University X.

The First Step Is Completing the FAFSA

The FAFSA is the required financial aid form that is used to determine federal financial aid and most scholarships.

• Calculates your Expected Family Contribution (EFC).

*EVERYONE APPLYING TO COLLEGE SHOULD COMPLETE THE FAFSA*• There is no income cut-off to qualify for federal student aid.

• Eligibility is determined using a mathematical formula that takes many factors other than income into account, such as the size of your family and the age of your older parent.

• When you complete the FAFSA you’re also automatically applying for funds from your state and often your college.

• In fact, many colleges won’t consider you for any of their scholarships (including academic scholarships) until you have submitted a FAFSA.

• Don‘t make assumptions about what you’ll get- fill out the FAFSA and find out. IT’S FREE!

Completing the FAFSA• The FAFSA is free to file.

• Seniors can begin filling out the FAFSA on January 1st.

• The FAFSA should be filed online to take advantage of the IRS interactive data retrieval tool.• There is a link to the FAFSA webpage https://fafsa.ed.gov/ on the left side of your

Naviance homepage.

• Prior to completing the FAFSA, you need to obtain a FAFSA pin.• There is a link to the FAFSA pin site at the top of the FAFSA webpage.

• Every year you are in college, you will need to complete a new FAFSA, so it is important not to lose your pin.

• Students should list their schools alphabetically.

• Some students will be selected for FAFSA verification.

FAFSA Assistance• FREE Help Applying for Financial Aid for College

• There is a link to the FAFSA Day website www.fafsaday.org on the right side of your Naviance homepage. Check for a location near you.

• Financial aid experts will be available to help you and your parents complete the FAFSA.

• If you plan to attend:• Please register on the FAFSA Day site.• Bring the following items: FAFSA Pin, 2015 Federal Tax Return, Social Security #, Driver’s License,

2015 W-2 Forms or year-end pay stubs, 2015 untaxed income records, current bank statements, 2015 business and investment records, your alien registration card (if you are not a U.S. citizen)

• Other financial aid questions can be answered by MEFA, the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority via phone or email.• There is a link to the MEFA website www.mefa.org on the left side of your Naviance

homepage.

CSS Profile

• An additional financial aid form may be required

• CSS Profile is used by about 400 colleges for nonfederal financial aid and scholarships ( The list of colleges can be found on College Board)

• The CSS Profile can be found on College Board, you can use the same user name and password if you already have an account.

• https://student.collegeboard.org/css-financial-aid-profile

• Requires more detailed financial information, including additional assets

• MEFA should also be able to help with any questions you have concerning the CSS Profile.

Financial Aid Packages

Financial Aid Packages consist of:• Gift Aid: Money you never have to pay back• Grants• Scholarships

• Self-Help Aid: Money you have to pay back or work off• Loans• Work Study

You may be able to receive some additional financial aid through tax credits and/or tax deductions.

• American Opportunity Credit ⦁Student Loan Interest Deduction• Lifetime Learning Credit ⦁ Tuition and Fee Deduction

Net Cost

Your Financial Aid Package should tell you your Net Cost for your first year of college.• Net Cost is how much you will be paying out of pocket and through self-help aid like

loans and work-study.

COST OF ATTENDANCE

─ GIFT AID- ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NET COST

(The sticker price, which includes the total cost of tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, transportation, and other educational expenses.)

(The total of your grants and scholarships- aid where no repayment is required.)

(How much money you will need to pay out of pocket and through self-help aid, like loans and work-study.)

Federal LoansYour Financial Aid Package should tell you how much money you can take out in Federal Loans.

• You can tell your school you do not want a loan that is being offered or that you want to take out a smaller loan amount, if it makes more sense for you to pay more out of pocket.

• You can also contact the school’s financial aid office, if you think you should be eligible for more in federal loans to see if anything can be done.

There are 3 types of federal loans that your schools might award you:• Federal Perkins Loans: low-interest loans for students with exceptional financial need; not

available at all colleges

• Federal Direct Subsidized Loans: for students with financial need; the government pays the interest as long as your in school at least half-time and during a period of deferment

• Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans: do not require financial need; you are responsible for paying the interest during all loan periods; your interest will accrue (accumulate) and be added to your principal loan amount, if you do not pay the interest while you are in school, during deferment, etc.

Other Options To Pay Net Cost

Your Financial Aid Package should give you other options for paying your net cost.

• Work Study

• Family Contribution• Payment Plan Offered By the Institution

• Parent/Graduate PLUS Loans

• Military and/or National Service Benefits

• Non-federal Private Education Loan

Financial Aid Shopping Sheet

• Template designed by the U.S. Dept. of Education that is voluntarily being used by more than 2,000 colleges and universities

• Standardizes the format of your financial aid package, which makes them easier for you to compare

• There is an example of the Financial Aid Shopping Sheet on Naviance• Click on the document library link on your Naviance Homepage

• Look in the Four Year College Folder

Financial Aid Shopping Sheet.pdf

Be Mindful of Preferential Packaging

Preferential packaging is a financial aid and enrollment strategy used by an institution to enroll the strongest class possible.

For example, if 3 students are accepted to College X, the college would award scholarships vs. loans in the following manner:

In other words, the better they think you’ll do at their school, the more money they are likely to give you in scholarships that you don’t have to pay back!

Difficulty Level Scholarship Loan

Student A Safety School $35,000 $ 0

Student B Fit School $20,000 $ 7,500

Student C Reach School $ 0 $20,000

Borrowing Responsibly

Responsible Borrowing Video Overview

• The suggested strategy is to try to borrow based on your anticipated starting salary after college

• Budget based on 50-30-20 formula using after-tax dollars• 50% of after-tax pay for fixed expenses like housing, utilities, transportation, etc./needs

• 30% of after-tax pay for discretionary expenses like entertainment, gym, pets, etc./wants

• 20% of after-tax pay for financial commitments like student loans, savings and retirement

*The best practice is no more than 10% of your after tax monthly pay should go toward student loans*

Example of Budgeting Based on 50-30-20

Based on this formula, if your anticipated starting salary is $45,000, you do not want to have a student loan payments greater than $280 a month!

Reasonable Total Borrowing

*Note that the amounts listed are what is considered reasonable to borrow over the course of your entire college education and not just for one year!*

Apply For Scholarships• The more scholarships you get, the less you’ll need to borrow.

• Naviance has scholarship tools listed under the Colleges Tab:• Scholarship Match- Finds scholarships that BVT lists that Naviance believes you may qualify

for

• Scholarship List- Where BVT lists local and national scholarships

• Scholarship Applications- Allows you to keep track of what scholarships you are applying to

• National Scholarship Search- Assists you in finding legitimate national scholarships that you may be eligible for

* You can also request transcripts for scholarships from the Colleges Tab by using the “transcripts” link on the left side of the page.

*Complete the Scholarship Committee Survey that has been assigned to you to improve your chances of being awarded scholarships that are selected by the school

• Look for scholarships through other avenues such as your job, your parent/guardian or other relative’s job, clubs, etc.

Other Ways To Keep Costs Down

• If you have to take a college placement exam, make sure you study!

• If you have to take remedial classes, you are paying for courses that will not count towards your degree.

• Consider Stackable Credits like certificate programs that can be built upon to earn an associates/bachelor’s degree

• Watch your credits! Too many credits really adds to the cost of college.• Studies show that on average associate’s degree-seeking students earned 81 credits

instead of the more typical 60• Bachelor’s degree-seeking students, on average, earned 135 credits instead of the more

typical 120

Next Steps

• Review Financial Aid Video Overview

• Complete the Financial Aid & Scholarship Post Test in Naviance

• Complete the Scholarship Committee Survey in Naviance

• Apply for a FAFSA Pin (make sure you keep it somewhere safe)

• Register for FAFSA Day, if you are planning to attend

• Complete the FAFSA with your parent/guardian

• Search for scholarships and work on scholarship applications