FALL 17 St. Bonaventure University Majors/Programs: More than 50 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

APPLYING FOR FINANCIAL AID FALL ‘17

• St. Bonaventure University
• Majors/Programs: More than 50 undergraduate

majors and programs including pre-health dual admissions programs, and more than 15 graduate programs, two of which are available 100% online.

• Financial Aid: More than 95% of students

receive financial aid.

Knowledge is an investment

If a man empties his purse into his head, no one can take it from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the highest return. – Benjamin Franklin

The Value of a College Education

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2015, average yearly earnings are higher for college graduates and unemployment rates are lower:

Highest Degree

Unemployment Rate

Master’s 2.4% Bachelor’s 2.8% High School 5.4%

Master’s degree $69,732 Bachelor’s degree $59,124 High school diploma $35,256

Goals of Financial Aid: Affordability

• To provide Access -- regardless of income
• To provide Choice -- regardless of cost
• To Recruit -- extraordinary students

Paying for college is a “partnership” between the student, parents, college, government, and outside sources

Principles of Need Analysis

• To the extent they are able, parents have primary

responsibility to pay for their dependent children’s education

• Students also have a responsibility to contribute to their

educational costs

• Families should be evaluated in their present financial

condition

• A family’s ability to pay for educational costs must be

evaluated in an equitable and consistent manner, recognizing that special circumstances can and do affect its ability to pay

Sticker Price vs. Net Cost

• Sticker Price is the amount listed for tuition, fees,

room, and board

• Net Cost is the amount after your financial aid is

subtracted

• Net Cost is much more important since it was your

actually pay

Net Cost Comparison

Sticker Price =

$18,000

Less: Financial Aid =

$6,000

Net Cost = $12,000 Sticker Price =

$35,000

Less: Financial Aid =

$27,000

Net Cost = $8,000

School A School B

What is the Expected Family Contribution (EFC)

• Amount family can reasonably be expected to

contribute

• Stays the same regardless of college
• Two components
• Parent contribution
• Student contribution
• Calculated using FAFSA data and a federal formula
• The EFC does NOT necessarily equal what the family

pays

Financial Aid Formula – How need is calculated

Cost of Attendance

• Expected

Family Contribution = Financial Need

Need Varies Based on Cost

X Y Z

Cost of Expected Family Need Attendance Contribution

(Variable) (V ariable) (Constant)

1 2 3 EFC EFC

Financial Aid Applications

1.

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

• Free
• www.fafsa.ed.gov

2.

New York State Tuition Assistance Program (TAP)

• Can be linked when you file the FAFSA
• www.hesc.ny.gov

3.

CSS Profile

• Required by some colleges/universities
• www.collegeboard.org

FAFSA

• Standard form that collects demographic and

financial information about the student and family

• Application to apply for federal grants, loans,

and work-study

• Colleges use EFC to award financial aid

Early FAFSA

• Can apply beginning October 1st (rather than January)
• Will use tax return data from 2 years prior to start of

academic year (2017-2018 academic year = 2015 tax return data)

Why changes to the FAFSA process?

• Better align the admissions and financial aid

application processes to give students and families an earlier and more accurate idea of their anticipated financial aid and college costs

• Allow the use of actual rather than estimated tax

information when submitting the FAFSA

• May result in reduced paperwork for verification

FAFSA – Getting the application started

• Create a Federal Student Aid ID (FSA ID)
• Available to create FSA ID

(username/password) TODAY

• Students and parents should EACH

create their own Federal Student Aid ID

• fsaid.ed.gov

Tips for starting the FAFSA

• Make sure the FSA ID has been created
• Read questions carefully – student vs. parent
• Do not have to wait until accepted for admission
• Info “as of the date you complete the form”

Frequent FAFSA Errors

• Social Security Numbers
• Divorced/remarried parental information
• Income earned by parents/stepparents
• Untaxed income
• U.S. income taxes paid
• Household size
• Number of household members in college
• Real estate and investment net worth

Who Are Considered Parents on the FAFSA?

• Biological or adoptive parents (regardless of gender)
• Parents married and living with each other
• Parents unmarried and living with each other
• Parent widowed or single
• Parents divorced or separated - answer questions for parent

with whom student lived more during past 12 months. If equal time between each parent, answer for the parent who provided more financial support during the past 12 months

• If custodial parent has remarried, answer about that parent

and the person whom parent married (stepparent)

Who Are Not Considered Parents on the FAFSA?

• Foster parents
• Legal guardians who have not adopted the student
• Relatives, such as grandparents, who have not

adopted the student

• Stepparents who have not adopted the student and

the natural parent in the household is deceased. Must use remaining biological/adoptive parent, if any.

IRS Data Retrieval Tool

• While completing the FAFSA, applicant may submit

real-time request to IRS for tax data

• IRS sends real-time results to FAFSA application
• Applicant chooses whether or not to transfer data to

FAFSA

• Tax returns must already be filed
• Could reduce documents requested by financial aid
• ffice

Special Circumstances

• Change in employment status
• Medical expenses not covered by insurance
• Change in parent marital status
• Unusual dependent care expenses
• Cannot be documented using FAFSA
• Send written explanation and documentation to

financial aid office at each college

How does a college construct a financial aid award package?

• Schools attempt to meet your “financial need”.
• Financial aid is awarded utilizing gift aid first and

then self-help (student employment and loans) up to the financial need.

• Total aid cannot exceed the total cost of

attendance

• Need-based aid cannot exceed the demonstrated

financial need.

• All aid (including outside/private scholarships) are

included in the need calculation

Estimating your eligibility for financial aid

• Net Price Calculator -

Colleges are required to have estimating tools on their website allowing families to get a reasonable estimate of net costs.

• FAFSA4caster - estimates

your eligibility for federal student aid (on main page of FAFSA

website fafsa.ed.gov)

Scholarships – based on merit

• Academic Scholarships
• Other merit-based scholarships
• Athletic, Music, Art, Leadership, etc.
• Endowed Scholarships
• Private
• Local community organizations
• Employers
• Internet

Small scholarships add up!

Grants – based on need

• Federal Pell Grant – up to $5,815*
• FSEOG – up to $4,000
• New York State Tuition Assistance

Program (TAP) – up to $5,165*

• Institutional need-based grants

*Figures for 2016-2017 academic year

Student Employment

• Federal College Work-Study Program
• On-campus work program
• Some positions are in community service
• Usually minimum wage
• typically 5 – 15 hours/week
• Maximum earnings typically $1,500 to

$2,500/year

Loans

• William D. Ford Direct Loan
• Subsidized Federal Loan - $3,500 (1st year)
• Unsubsidized Federal Loan - $2,000
• Federal Parental Loan for Undergraduate Students

(PLUS)

• Alternative/private education loans

Always borrow federal loans first

Information on the Internet

• www.finaid.org
• www.studentaid.gov
• www.fastweb.com
• www.mappingyourfuture.org
• www.bigfuture.collegeboard.org
• www.nasfaa.org

Avoid Financial Aid Scams

• Organizations that offer to locate more aid and then

charge you a fee

• Anyone who charges you a fee:
• for information about financial aid
• to complete the FAFSA
• to apply/receive a scholarship
• Organizations that guarantee you will get a scholarship or

aid

Financial Aid Calendar For enrollment in Fall ‘17

• Late summer/early fall 2016 – apply to college
• October/November 2016 – apply for aid (FAFSA)
• December 2016 – March 2017 – receive financial

aid award letter from college

• May 1st, 2017 – College Decision Day
• Summer 2017 – apply for loan
• September 2017 – classes begin, aid applied to

account

529 College Savings Plans

• Tax-exempt college savings vehicles with a low

impact on need-based financial aid eligibility since considered as an asset of the account owner and not the beneficiary

• FAFSA reporting:
• Parent - reported as parent asset
• Grandparent – not reported on the FAFSA
• However, distributions from grandparents are

considered “cash support” on the FAFSA in the following year

America Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009

• American Opportunity Tax Credit – up to

$2,500 per student for families with incomes less than $160,000

A Sample Financial Plan for St. Bonaventure

Friar’ Scholarship $18,000 NYS TAP $3,000 Outside/Private Scholarship $1,000 Monthly Payment Plan ($600/mo) $6,000 Student summer earnings $1,500 Federal College Work-Study earnings $2,000 Federal student loans $5,500 Tax Credit $2,500 Savings, gifts, etc. $1,000 Total Resources $42,500

Helpful Hints

• Apply
• Beware of scams
• Pay attention to deadlines
• Role of student
• Talk about credit and smart borrowing
• Importance of grades
• Compare
• Ask questions!

Troy Martin Director of Financial Aid 716-375-2373 tmartin@sbu.edu Michelle Schram Assistant Director of Financial Aid 716-375-2529 mschram@sbu.edu Priscilla Bock Financial Aid Counselor 716-375-7888 pbock@sbu.edu

QUESTIONS?