Contents
B-CC High School College Financial Aid
Series
Every fall the B-CC Guidance Advisory Committee puts together
a series of college financial aid information sessions and
workshops for parents. Please check the Bulletin
Board on the Counseling Department's main
page for dates and times.
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.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/careercenter/financialworkshops.htm
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 Career
Center page or the Selective Service System (SSS) web
page at
http://www.sss.gov/hslink.htm
Contents ↑
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.ed.gov/about/offices/list/fsa/index.html
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/
Contents ↑
Scholarship Links
Hope Scholarship and Lifelong Learning Credits
http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/
The MCPS Career Center 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://filemaker3.mcps.k12.md.us/scholarships
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
Contents ↑
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.
Contents ↑
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.
|
