and Scholarships What is Financial Aid? Financial aid is money - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Financial Aid and Scholarships

What is Financial Aid? Financial aid is money available to help meet a family’s financial need: • Grants and scholarships (gift aid), student loans, work study • Colleges use the formula below to determine how much financial aid to provide each student: (The sticker price, which includes the t otal cost of tuition and fees, COST OF ATTENDANCE room and board, books and supplies, transportation, and other educational expenses.) (How much a family is expected to pay out of pocket for ─ EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION one year, as determined by the FAFSA and/or the CSS Profile.) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - FINANCIAL NEED (How much money you need in financial aid in order to be able to attend the college.)

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). • Most colleges won’t consider you for academic scholarships until you submit a 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. • *EVERYONE APPLYING TO COLLEGE SHOULD COMPLETE THE FAFSA*

Completing the FAFSA • The FAFSA is free to file. • Seniors can begin filling out the FAFSA on October 1 st . • The FAFSA should be filed online. • There is a link to the FAFSA webpage https://fafsa.ed.gov/ on the bottom of your Naviance homepage. • Prior to completing the FAFSA, you and one parent need to obtain an FSA ID (if a sibling is in college one of your parents already has one.) • There is a link to the FSA ID site at the top of the FAFSA webpage. • Every year you are in college, you will need to complete a new FAFSA, using this ID.

FAFSA Assistance • FREE Help Applying for Financial Aid for College • There is a link to the FAFSA Day website www.fafsaday.org on the bottom 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: • Register on the FAFSA Day site and review the list of documents to bring. • 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 bottom of your Naviance homepage. You may have to click on View all from my school. • MEFA College Financing Seminar TONIGHT at BVT from 6:00-8:00.

CSS Profile • An additional financial aid form required by some colleges • CSS Profile is a College Board form, the list of participating colleges can be found on College Board. • Requires more detailed financial information, including additional assets • MEFA can help with any questions concerning the CSS Profile.

Financial Aid Awards Your financial aid award letter will tell you your Net Cost (how much you will pay out of pocket) for your first year of college. $50,000 COST OF ATTENDANCE $35,000 ─ FIN. AID ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - $15,000 NET COST

Federal Loans Your financial aid letter will 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. • You can also contact the school’s financial aid office, if you think you should be eligible for more. 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 . • Federal Direct Subsidized Loans: for students with financial need ; the government pays the interest as long as your in school at least half-time. • Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans: do not require financial need ; you are responsible for paying the interest during all loan periods; your interest will accumulate if you do not pay the interest while you are in school.

Other Options To Pay Net Cost Your financial aid award letter may give you other options for paying your net cost such as work study. Other options may include: • Family Contribution • Payment Plan Offered By the Institution • Parent/Graduate PLUS Loans • Military and/or National Service Benefits • Non-federal Private Education Loan

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 (needs) expenses such as housing, utilities, transportation, etc. • 30% of after-tax pay for discretionary expenses (wants) such as entertainment, gym, pets, etc. • 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 • Annual Salary $45,000 • Monthly (after taxes) $2800 • 50% - Needs, housing etc.. $1400 • 30% - Wants, entertainment, etc.. $840 • 20% - Financial Commitments, loans $280 • Savings, retirement etc.. $280

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!*

Scholarships Awarded to Class of 2018 Over 6 million dollars in scholarships!!!! From where?  Schools, Colleges & Universities  BVT Memorial Scholarships  Local Industry Scholarships  Local Community Organizations  National & State Scholarships

General Information about Scholarships • There are many, many sites and resources for scholarships on the internet • Research, Research, Research! • Be sure to check out the Scholarships from the schools you are applying to • Look for scholarships through other avenues such as your job, your parent/guardian or other relative’s job, clubs, etc • You should never share your social security number or pay to apply for any scholarship • Beware of Scams out there! • In addition to your own research BVT has scholarship postings on Naviance

Apply For Scholarships • The more scholarships you get, the less you’ll need to borrow. • Naviance has many scholarship tools listed under the Colleges Tab • BVT posts the following types of scholarships in Naviance: • Town and Community Scholarships • Scholarships specifically for students from BVT • Local Business Scholarships • State & National Scholarships (some) • Scholarships are available for students going to: • Work • Technical schools • Military • 2 year and 4 year colleges • Check Naviance regularly, new scholarships are posted weekly • Scholarships posted in Naviance are a great chance of scholarship money because many are local & community scholarships and specifically for students from BVT

At BVT - Naviance is where we post scholarships Under the Colleges Tab Go to “Scholarships and Money” and then click on “Scholarship List” Check frequently

Scholarship Help & Questions  Check Naviance FREQUENTLY!!  Sign up for Scholarship REMIND (next slide)  Follow directions for applications, mailing locations & due dates carefully  In January 2019 – you will be assigned a “Scholarship Survey” in Naviance – this will make you eligible for a host of BVT specific Scholarships  stay tuned for more information  See Ms. Smith in Room 260 with any questions or for help with scholarship applications  Counselors can also help you with applications, transcripts and letters of recommendation

Sign-up for the BVT Scholarship REMIND • If you have a smartphone, get push notifications through the remind app. • @bvtscholar If you don’t have a smartphone get text notifications. • Text the message @bvtscholar to the number 81010 • If you have trouble using 81010, try texting @bvtscholar to 774-450- • 7027