Bellarmine College Preparatory

1
Bellarmine College Preparatory

• Financial Aid Information
• for 2007 Bellarmine Seniors
• and their Parents

2
Sources of Financial Aid

• Gift Aid
• Grants Scholarships

• Self Help
• Loans Work

3
Whats Available?

• Federal Grants (based on financial need)
• Pell Grant
• Academic Competitiveness Grant
• SMART Grant
• Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant

4
Whats Available? cont.

• Federal Work Study
• Federal Perkins Loans
• Federal Stafford Subsidized Unsubsidized Loans
  (Unsubsidized loans are not need-based)
• Direct Loans (are the same as Stafford)

5

Types of Applications

• FAFSA (Free Application for Federal
• Student Assistance)
• CSS Profile
• Private and other applications
• Scholarships

6
Differences between FAFSA and Profile

• FAFSA
• information on size of family, adjusted gross
  income, age of older parent, assets outside the
  home, etc.
• PROFILE
• individual colleges ask for information
  including home equity, income and assets from
  non-custodial parents, etc.

7
CSS PROFILE

• Not used for awarding federal financial aid . . .
  only aid from the colleges/universities
• Not all schools require (see list on following
  slide
• Online Registration only
• go to www.profileonline.collegeboard.com
• 5 registration
• 18 per school

8
Coll/Uni requiring the CSS Profile

• Quick List of Institutions Requiring the CSS
  Profile
• check profileonline.collegeboard for details and
  a complete list!
• Amherst Bates Boston College Boston U.
  Bowdoin Brown Bucknell Cal Tech Carleton
  Claremont McKenna Colby Colgate College of the
  Holy Cross Colorado College Columbia Cornell
  Dartmouth Duke Emerson Emory Fairfield
  Fordham George Washington U Georgetown
  Harvard Harvey Mudd Haverford Ill. Inst.
  Tech. Ithaca Johns Hopkins Lehigh Linfield
  Loyola Chicago (St. Joseph College)Loyola,
  Maryland Loyola Marymount MIT Middlebury
  Northeastern Northwestern Occidental Pitzer
  Pomona Princeton Reed Rice Santa Clara Seton
  Hill Skidmore SMU Stanford Swarthmore
  Trinity-CT Tufts Tulane U of Chicago U of
  Michigan U of North Carolina U of Pennsylvania
  U of Puget Sound U of Rochester U of Southern
  California Vanderbilt Wake Forest Washington
  U., St. Louis Whitman Whittier Willamette
  Williams Worchester Poly Tech Yale

9
Basic Equation of Need

• Cost of Attendance (COA)
• Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
• Students Financial Need (eligibility)

10
Cost of Attendance

• Tuition and fees
• Room and board
• Books and supplies
• Transportation
• Miscellaneous personal expenses
• May cover cost of computers
• May also include other extraordinary expenses

11
Expected Family Contribution

• Need Analysis is the formula used in determining
  a familys EFC
• EFC is the measure of a familys financial
  strength
• The Coll/Univ Financial Aid Office uses the EFC
  to determine the students overall need for
  financial aid

12
Calculating Eligibility

• Federal EFC will be same at all Coll/Univ
• Federal financial aid eligibility varies based on
  institutions COA
• Some Coll/Univ may use institutional methodology
  to award their own institutional funds

13
Eligibility Varies Based on Cost
Private 4-year COA 38,979 - EFC 1,000
Need 37,979
Public 4-year COA 15,514 - EFC 1,000
Need 14,514
Public 2-year COA 13,422 - EFC 1,000
Need 12,422
14
Cal Grants

• Student must meet
• All federal eligibility criteria
• Income asset limits
• GPA requirement
• In order to qualify, the FAFSA must be submitted
  no later than March 2nd. Bellarmine will send
  GPA information on all of our seniors to the
  processor.

15
Stafford Loan

• Annual and aggregate loan limits
• Freshman - 3500
• Sophomore - 4500
• Juniors/Seniors - 5500
• Aggregate - 23000
• Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized

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Types of Stafford Loans

• Subsidized Staffords student must have
  financial need . . . Federal government pays
  the interest while the student is in college/grad
  school
• Unsubsidized Staffords student does not have
  financial need and pays or defers the interest
  while in college/grad school
• Note all first year students (US citizens or
  permanent residents) will be eligible for one of
  these loans, regardless of income

17
Cost of Borrowing - Stafford

• Interest rate
• Fixed at 6.8
• Fees
• Up to 3 origination fee paid to the U.S.
  Department of Education (ED)
• Up to 1 insurance premium paid to the guarantor

18
PLUS Loan

• Parent borrows for dependent undergraduate
• Approval subject to credit check
• Loan limits COA less other aid
• Interest rate is 8.5 fixed
• Repayment begins 60 days after the beginning of
  the final term of the freshman
• year

19
Special Circumstances

• If there is a special circumstance (loss of job,
  etc.)
• First, call each Coll/Univ Financial Aid Office
  for guidance and required forms
• A detailed explanation should include
• Students name and SSN
• Give SPECIFIC financial details
• Time period involved
• Attach supporting documentation

20
Special Circumstances (cont.)

• Follow up with the Coll/Univ Financial Aid Office
  (FAO)
• Each FAO makes their own decision, results may
  vary from school to school
• Once made, change may not necessarily affect
  students eligibility for certain types of aid

21
Awarding Packaging

• Award letters may vary in composition
• Listing of awards and amounts
• COA, EFC, need and unmet need
• Period of enrollment covered
• Response may or may not be required

22
FAFSA

• First year . . . Dont wait for admission!!!
• Always apply
• Yearly process
• After January 1 prior to the fall term (ie.
  January 1, 2007 for fall 2007)
• Student needs a PIN (more on this later)
• Parent needs a PIN (more on this later)

23
FAQs about completing the FAFSA

• 1-3 Name
• No nicknames
• Name must be listed exactly as it appears on the
  Social Security card
• Will be matched with Social Security
  Administration (SSA)

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FAQs (cont.)

• 26 Interested in Loans or Work-Study?
• If unsure, answer yes then decline once aid is
  awarded
• A yes does not obligate student to either
  program, nor will it cause them to lose out on
  gift aid
• A no may restrict some of their options for
  certain limited loan and work-study funds

25
FAQs (cont.)

• 48-51 Dependency Status . . . A student is a
  dependent student unless one of the answers to
  the questions is yes
• 24 years of age or older
• Dependents other than a spouse for which a
  student provides 51 of the support
• Veteran of the armed forces
• Orphan or Ward of the Court (prior to turning 18)
• Working toward a graduate degree
• Married (as of the day they complete the FAFSA)
• (note the only override on this is based
  situations of child abuse, etc., the family
  cannot decide to make a student independent)

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Parent Information

• Who is a Parent?
• Biological parent(s)
• Adoptive parent(s)
• Stepparent
• is considered a parent for financial aid
  purposes, and that persons income and assets
  must be included in FAFSA information

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Parent Information (cont.)

• Who is not considered a parent for this section?
• Foster parent(s)
• The ward is automatically considered an
  independent student
• Legal guardian(s)
• Must attempt to get parental information
• Coll/Univ FAO may use Professional Judgment to
  make student independent (happens rarely)

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Parent Information (cont.)

• 56-57 Parents Marital Status
• As of date application is signed
• Custodial Parent
• Parent the student lived with
• most in last 12 months
• If unable to determine, who provided most of
  students support? claims on taxes?

29
Parent Information (cont.)

• 66 Number in Parents Household
• Include student and parents
• Parents other children
• If parents provide more than 1/2 support from
  July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006, or
• Other children who are considered dependent for
  federal financial aid

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Parent Information (cont.)

• Other people if they now live with students
  parents and
• Parents currently provide more than 1/2 support,
  and
• Parents will continue to provide more than 1/2 of
  their support from July 1, 2007 through June 30,
  2008

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Parent Information (cont.)

• 67 Number in College
• Write in number of people from question 65 who
  will be college students between July 1, 2006 and
  June 30, 2007
• Always include student
• Do not include parents

32
Parent Information (cont.)

• 79-83 Income Information
• Custodial parent filed with ex-spouse
• Consider only income of custodial parent (which
  includes any child or spousal support received)
• Custodial parent remarried
• Stepparent information must be included

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Parent Information (cont.)

• 84-86 Complete Worksheets A, B and C on page 8
• A and B are untaxed income items
• C is exclusions from taxed income

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Parent Information (cont.)

• 87-89 General Asset Information
  
• If net worth is one million or more, enter
  999,999
• If negative, enter 0
• Net worth means current
• value minus debt

35
Parent Information (cont.)

• 87 Total of Cash, Savings and
• Checking Accounts
• Total as of the day the
• FAFSA is signed!
• (pay your monthly
• bills before completing
• the form!)

36
Parent Information (cont.)

• 88 Net Worth of Investments
• Do not include home you live in, prepaid tuition
  plans or value of life insurance, and retirement
  plans
• Include other real estate, Education IRAs, CDs,
  money market funds, mutual funds college
  savings plans
• Trust funds must be reported even if access is
  restricted

37
Parent Information (cont.)

• 89 Net Worth of a Business or Farm
• Value means market value of land, buildings,
  machinery, equipment, inventory, etc.
• Debt means only debts for which business or
  investment farm was used as collateral
• Business with more than 100 employees

38
Parent Information (cont.)

• Good tax planning doesnt always mean good
  financial aid planning

Parents assets - 6 - 12 considered available
for college expenses Students assets -
35 Grandparents assets priceless!
39
Prioritizing College Choices

• List a CA Coll/Univ in one of the top three
• boxes for Cal Grant consideration
• List schools most likely to attend
• Ways to add coll/univs to the list
• Wait for Student Aid Report (SAR)
• Add schools by phone or on the Web
• 6 colleges at a time . . . Final Choice needs
• electronic info

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Step Seven

• 98-99 Date and Sign
• If filing electronically, dont forget PIN or
  signature page
• If filed by a dependent student, student and 1
  parent must sign
• If filed by an independent student, only student
  must sign

41
Specialized Use Boxes

• Preparers Section
• If parent or student pays an individual to
  complete FAFSA, that person must complete this
  part
• School Use Only
• Financial Aid Administrator uses this box in rare
  case of a dependency override

42
Online Filing Tips

• Apply for PIN(s) NOW!
• go to www.pin.ed.gov
• both one parent and the student need PINs!
• Gather necessary documents ahead of time
• Complete a Pre-FAFSA Worksheet
• (available in the Bellarmine College Center)
• Check browser requirements
• Allow ample time to complete for on-time
  submission

43
Student Aid Report (SAR)

• Expect SAR after filing -- 1 to 2 weeks for
  Online FAFSA
• Carefully review for any errors
• Contact Coll/Univ before submitting corrections

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What Happens Next? (cont.)

• The processor will alerts applicant and Coll/Univ
• To possible database match problems
• If application has been selected for verification
• To whether or not EFC has been calculated

45
Outside Scholarships

• Apply (investigate) early
• Create a portfolio
• No time to be modest
• Personal statements
• youre only one person
• Letters of recommendation
• make sure they like you
• www.fastweb.com and www.fastaid.com

46
Scholarship Scams

• Dont pay money to get money
• Guaranteed!
• Youve been selected!
• For a small fee!
• How to get help filling out the FAFSA and
  Scholarships Applications

47
Taxpayer Relief Act

• HOPE Tax Credit
• Available for the first two years of education
  (max 1500 per student per year)

• Lifetime Learning
• Available for all students and all years of
  enrollment (max 2000 per year per student)

• Student Loan Interest Deduction
• Available for the first 60 months that interest
  is required (max 2500)

48
Taxpayer Relief Act (cont.)

• For more information about regulations and income
  levels
• www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/PPI/HOPE/
• www.irs.gov