Financial Planning & Aid
Contents
FAFSA INFORMATION
Here is the site for the FAFSA Worksheet for this coming season, in prep for the 2011-12 school year.
http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/fafsa.jsp
You cannot send your FAFSA until January 2, 2012 for the College Year beginning in the fall of 2012, but here is the worksheet to help you prepare….
It is recommended for all seniors to fill out the FAFSA whether you think you will be eligible or not. As Herm Davis always says….we can’t predict what is to come and at least if you submit the FAFSA…it’s done….
The CSS Profile(asked for by many private colleges and universities) and many state scholarships as well as college/university scholarships(need based) are based on the FAFSA. It will be required.
College Tracks will have many sessions to help students and parents thru it.
This worksheet is to help you know what will be asked for and help you prepare for it….
The FAFSA is all done electronically(rapid results).
The paper form can be submitted but it will take 3 weeks or more to process.
Remember….it is better to do your FAFSA as early as possible (after January 2nd)
General Guidance
The US Department of Education has two booklets on financing a college education:
- Funding Your Education
Funding Your Education, an introductory publication for students that provides general information about the U.S. Department of Education's federal student financial aid programs and how to apply for them. See http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/FYE/index.html
- The Student Guide
The Student Guide is a comprehensive resource on student financial aid that describes grants, loans, and work-study as well as other forms of student financial aid available through the Department's Student Financial Assistance office. Updated each award year, The Student Guide tells you about the programs and how to apply for them. See http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/student_guide/index.html
MCPS Financial Aid Workshops
MCPS offers free financial aid workshops. The workshops are helpd at MCPS highschools. See http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/northwoodhs/departments/careercenter/financialaid.html for the most current list.
The Smart Student Guide to Financial Aid
The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators sponsors and maintains this free, comprehensive, independent and objective guide to sources of financial aid. See http://www.finaid.org
Male Students Federal and certain State laws require Selective Service System (SSS) registration as a prerequisite for obtaining student financial aid, job training, government employment, and U.S. naturalization. Visit the Selective Service System (SSS) web page at http://www.sss.gov/hslink.htm
Financial Aid Links
Federal Student Aid (FSA) Programs
The FSA programs are the largest source of student aid in America, providing over $60 billion a year in grants, loans, and work-study assistance. The FSA is designed to help students and parents at every stage of the financial aid process. See http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/
Financial Aid Information Page
See http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~finaid/finaid.html
AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps is a network of national service programs that engage more than 50,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet critical needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment. AmeriCorps members serve through more than 2,100 nonprofits, public agencies, and faith-based organizations. See http://www.americorps.org/whoweare.html
College Board's Scholarship Search
This a a free web-based scholarship search sponsored by The College Board. This site lists over $3 Billion in available scholarships, grants, loans, and internships. http://apps.collegeboard.com/cbsearch_ss/welcome.jsp
fastWEB! (Financial Aid Search Through the Web)
FastWeb is a free Financial Aid Search Engine. They have descriptions of over 600,000 scholarships. See http://www.fastweb.com/
American Universities
http://www.clas.ufl.edu/CLAS/american-universities.html
CollegeNet
See http://www.collegenet.com/
Kaplan Educational Centers
See http://www.kaplan.com/
Sallie Mae's Wired Scholar
See http://www.salliemae.com/
Nellie Mae Loan Link Resource for Student Load Info
http://www.nelliemae.org/
Peterson's Education Center
The Peterson Education and Career Center covers everything from financial aid to admissions tests to graduate studies. See http://www.petersons.com/
AcademicNet
See http://www.academic.com/
Scholarship Links
Hope Scholarship and Lifelong Learning Credits
http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/
The MCPS Scholarship Database has scholarship and financial aid information - including the MCPS searchable scholarship database, and links to several other large scholarship searches. There is also a listing of free, local financial aid workshops.
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/careercenter/financialaid/scholarshipsearches.aspx
Black Excel: Gateway to Scholarships is a comprehensive listing of scholarships for minorities
http://www.BlackExcel.org/link4.htm
Title IV School Code Search for the FAFSA
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/Students/apply/search.html
Maryland Higher Education Commission has information on financial aid and scholarships in the State of Maryland
http://www.mhec.state.md.us/SSA/introduction.htm
There is also a Student Guide that can be downloaded from http://www.mhec.state.md.us/StuGuide/guide03.pdf
B-CC TCCi
The B-CC TCCi provides information on colleges, historical acceptance trends, scholarship listings, and information about colleges.
Come to the Counseling Department to obtain the password to enter the site. This site is for all B-CC High School students to see how their fellow students fared over the last 8 years did getting into colleges.
For clarification or further information, contact the College/Career Center.
Frequently Asked Questions About Financial Aid
General Questions about Eligibility and Applying
1. I probably don't qualify for aid. Should I apply for aid anyway?
Yes. Many families mistakenly think they don't qualify for aid and prevent themselves from receiving financial aid by failing to apply for it. In addition, there are a few sources of aid such as unsubsidized Stafford and PLUS loans that are available regardless of need. The FAFSA form is free. There is no good excuse for not applying. Moreover, many colleges require a FAFSA to be on file in order for a student to be considered for their school's merit-based scholarships or awards. It is therefore imperative that every student file a FAFSA so that all financial aid opportunities, need-based or merit-based, can be explored.
2. Do I need to be admitted before I can apply for financial aid at a particular university?
No. You can apply for financial aid any time after January 1. To actually receive funds, however, you must be admitted and enrolled at the university.
3. Why can't I submit my financial aid application before January 1?
The need analysis process for financial aid uses the family's income and tax information from the most recent tax year (the base year) to judge your eligibility for need-based financial aid during the upcoming academic year (the award year). Since the base year ends December 31, you cannot submit a financial aid application until January 1.
4. Do I have to reapply for financial aid every year?
Yes. Most financial aid offices require that you apply for financial aid every year. If your financial circumstances change, you may get more or less aid. After your first year you will receive a "Renewal Application" which contains preprinted information from the previous year's FAFSA. Note that your eligibility for financial aid may change significantly, especially if you have a different number of family members in college. Renewal of your financial aid package also depends on your making satisfactory academic progress toward a degree, such as earning a minimum number of credits and achieving a minimum GPA.
5. How do I apply for a Pell Grant and other types of Federal need-based aid?
Submit a FAFSA. To indicate interest in student employent, student loans and parent loans, you should check the appropriate boxes. Checking these boxes does not commit you to accepting these types of aid. You will have the opportunity to accept or decline each part of your aid package later. Leaving these boxes unchecked will not increase the amount of grants you receive.
6. Are my parents responsible for my educational loans?
No. Parents are, however, responsible for the Federal PLUS loans. Parents will only be responsible for your educational loans if you are under 18 and they co-sign your loan. In general you and you alone are responsible for repaying your educational loans. On the other hand, if your parents (or grandparents) want to help pay off your loan, you can have your billing statements sent to their address. Likewise, if your lender or loan servicer provides an electronic payment service, where the monthly payments are automatically deducted from a bank account, your parents can agree to have the payments deducted from their account. But your parents are under no obligation to repay your loans. If they forget to pay the bill on time or decide to cancel the electronic payment agreement, you will be held responsible for the payments, not them.
7. Why is the family contribution listed on the SAR different from the family contribution expected by the university?
The federal formula for computing the expected family contribution is different from those used by many universities. In particular, the federal formula does not consider home equity as part of the assets, yet many private colleges will take home equity into consideration for their institutional funds.
8. If I take a leave of absence, do I have to start repaying my loans?
Not immediately. The subsidized Stafford loan has a grace period of 6 months and the Perkins loan has a grace period of 9 months before the student must begin repaying the loan. When you take a leave of absence you will not have to repay your loan until the grace period is used up. If you use up the grace period, however, when you graduate you will have to begin repaying your loan immediately. It is possible to request an extension to the grace period, but this must be done before the grace period is used up. If your grace period has run out in the middle of your leave of absence, you will have to start making payments on your student loans.
9. I got an outside scholarship. Should I report it to the financial aid office?
Yes. If you are receiving any kind of financial aid from university or government sources, you must report the scholarship to the financial aid office. Unfortunately, the university will adjust your financial aid package to compensate. Nevertheless, the outside scholarship will have some beneficial effects. At some universities outside scholarships are used to reduce the student loan level.
10. Are work-study earnings taxable?
Yes, the money earned from Federal Work-Study is generally subject to federal and state income tax, but exempt from FICA taxes (provided you are enrolled full time and work less than half-time). The student should be careful to report amounts based on the calendar year, not the school year.
11. Is it legal for a 17-year-old student to sign a promissory note for a student loan, even though the student has not yet reached the age of majority?
Normally, a minor cannot be held liable for a contract that they sign. However, in 1992 the Higher Education Act was amended to permit eligible students, defined as per Title IV regulations, to sign promissory notes for their own student loans. As such, student loans represent one of the few exceptions to the so-called "defense of infancy".
FAFSA Questions
1. Where can I get a copy of the FAFSA?
You can ask your guidance counselor for a copy. You can also get the FAFSA from the financial aid office at a local college, your local public library, or by calling 1-800-4-FED-AID. The online version of the form is available at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov.
2. Are photocopies of the FAFSA acceptable?
No. Only the original FAFSA form produced by the US Department of Education is acceptable. Photocopies, reproductions, facsimiles and electronic versions are all not acceptable.
3. How soon after January 1 should the FAFSA form be sent in? Is it better to wait until the income tax forms have been completed?
Send in the form as soon as possible after January 1. Do not wait until your taxes are done. Although it is better to do your taxes early, it is ok to use estimates of your income, so long as they aren't very far off from the actual values. You will have an opportunity to correct any errors later on the Student Aid Report. If you wait too long, you might miss the deadline for state aid. Most states require the FAFSA to be submitted by March 1, and some even as early as early or mid-February.
4. My parents are separated or divorced. Which parent is responsible for filling out the FAFSA?
If your parents are separated or divorced, the custodial parent is responsible for filling out the FAFSA. The custodial parent is the parent with whom you lived the most during the past 12 months. Note that this is not necessarily the same as the parent who has legal custody. If you did not live with one parent more than the other, the parent who provided you with the most financial support during the past twelve months should fill out the FAFSA. This is probably the parent who claimed you as a dependent on their tax return. If you have not received any support from either parent during the past 12 months, use the most recent calendar year for which you received some support from a parent. Note, however, that any child support and/or alimony received from the non-custodial parent must be included on the FAFSA.
5. My parents are divorced, and the parent I'm living with has remarried. Does my step-parent have to report his or her income and assets on the FAFSA?
Yes, provided that the parent you're living with is the one filling out the FAFSA (your custodial parent). If the step-parent is married to your custodial parent at the time you fill out the FAFSA, they must report their income and assets, even if they weren't married to them in the previous year.
6. My custodial parent remarried and signed a prenuptial agreement that absolves the step-parent from financial responsibility for my education. Why does my step-parent have to provide financial information on the FAFSA?
Prenuptial agreements are ignored by the federal need analysis process. After all, two individuals (parent and step-parent) cannot make an agreement between them that is binding on a third party (the federal government). The federal government considers the step-parent a source of support regardless of any prenuptial agreements to the contrary. If a step-parent marries the parent, he or she is considered responsible for supporting the parent and children, even if he or she is unwilling to do so.