2011-12 FAFSA Workshop for College Goal Sunday

1. 2011-12 FAFSA Workshop for College Goal Sunday

2. Agenda Review of the federal aid application process Walk through the on-line FAFSA Answer questions

3. The Application Steps for Federal Aid Gathering documentation Completing the FOTW (FAFSA on the Web) Worksheet (if needed) Completing the FAFSA on the web by the college deadline even if you must estimate Signing the FAFSA Reviewing the results Making corrections as needed Submitting other documents if requested by the college or university

4. What Can You Do When There May Be Special Circumstances? The FAFSA submitted by the family must reflect estimated or actual 2010 income figures and current asset values (if required). Students and families may have concerns about a variety of situations including independency and other special financial circumstances. The college/university will need to make an official decision about using a different income or other data. Get in touch with the financial aid office – the earlier the better.

5. Refer to the actual forms when possible, e.g., the Social Security Card, the federal tax return or W2. Recheck responses before submitting the application. Use estimates if tax returns are not completed, but remember to update the figures once the tax forms are done. If possible, utilize IRS transfer process. For more assistance with the FAFSA contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 800-433-3243. Other Suggestions

6. Three student options for applying: Online PDF FAFSA Paper FAFSA FAFSA Filing Options

7. FOTW

9. Improvements Enhanced, interactive tools such as FAFSA4caster, Student Aid Deadlines, Federal School Code Search and Browse Help Added commas to financial fields Added dashes and hyphens to date fields, SSN fields, and telephone number fields

10. New Question Added high school question if the applicant reports that he/she received a HS Diploma – collecting name, city, state (asked only if grade level is “0” or “1” on FOTW – can select from a list or enter data)

11. Change to Unemployment Reporting • The 2011-12 FAFSA instructed students and parents to include "the first $2,400 of unemployment benefits received" as untaxed income. However, the tax provision allowing the first $2,400 of unemployment benefits received to be untaxed was not extended through 2010. ED is in the process of removing the wording that instructs students and parents to include the first $2,400 of unemployment benefits as untaxed income.

12. What Hasn’t Changed…the PIN Process Can obtain PIN now from www.pin.ed.gov or access from the www.fafsa.gov page

13. PIN Reminders Parent and student can create own PINs (remember both parent of a dependent student and the student will each need a PIN), or Can request FSA to generate a PIN 3 ways that will display on the screen in real time, request that it be emailed in real-time, or have it sent via postal mail. Follow up includes a match of name, SSN, and date of birth. If the match is successful, the PIN becomes permanent. If the match is unsuccessful, the applicant is sent a SAR for signatures and the PIN is disabled. 13

16. Start Here Start a FAFSA Continue a FAFSA Complete a FAFSA Check status of completed FAFSA View or print processed results Correct FAFSA information Print signature pages, or Review correction history

17. One Log-in for all Functionality • Name re-ordered to first name and full last name.

18. Reconfirmation of Identifiers • New student identify confirmation to reduce incorrect entries

20. “My FAFSA” page – New Student • Dynamic messaging guides the applicant through all phases of the application experience • Application Status • PIN Status

22. “My FAFSA” page - “Continue” • Applicant may Continue to complete a saved application from where he/she left off or Start Over

27. Student can Select the school attended from the list. If the student does not find the school on the list, the student selects Next to continue and the search criteria are saved. High School Search Results – Matches Found

32. Definitions • Homeless means lacking fixed, regular, and adequate housing, which includes living in shelters, motels, or cars, or temporarily living with other people because you had nowhere else to go. • Unaccompanied means you are not living in the physical custody of your parent or guardian. • Youth means you are 21 years of age or younger or you are still enrolled in high school as of the day you sign this application.

34. The applicant should contact the financial aid office for assistance if • “you do not have a determination but believe you are an unaccompanied youth who is homeless or are an unaccompanied youth providing for your own living expenses who is at risk of being homeless. If you are older than 21 but not yet 24, you should also contact your financial aid office if you are homeless or are self-supporting at risk of being homeless. Note that if you answer “Yes” to any of the previous three questions (55, 56, or 57), the financial aid administrator at your college may require you to provide proof of your status. • Answer “No” if you are not homeless, self-supporting and at risk of being homeless, or do not have a determination from a district liaison, director of a cited program, or your financial aid administrator.”

38. Who is the “Parent”? Grandparents, foster parents, legal guardians, aunts and uncles are not considered parents unless they have legally adopted you. If your parents are living and married to each other, answer the questions about them. • If your parent is widowed or single, answer the questions about that parent. • If your widowed parent is remarried as of today, answer the questions about that parent and your stepparent. • If your parents are divorced or separated, answer the questions about the parent you lived with more during the past 12 months. (If you did not live with one parent more than the other, give answers about the parent who provided more financial support during the past 12 months, or during the most recent year that you actually received support from a parent.) If this parent is remarried as of today, answer the questions about that parent and your stepparent.

41. IRS Data Retrieval You can begin to use IRS data retrieval process for income questions after January 30 if • Valid SSN • Filed 2010 federal tax return, and • Unchanged marital status since 12/31/2010

43. Financial Information • The IRS Data Retrieval continues in 2011-2012 beginning January 30, 2011. • Also available in Corrections • Electronically filed tax return information will be available from the IRS in 1-2 weeks, data from paper tax returns will be available in 6-8 weeks.

44. IRS Data Retrieval • Once the applicant has successfully authenticated, tax data will be presented and the applicant will have the option to “Transfer” the tax information to the FAFSA • Transferred data will have a notation - “Transferred from the IRS”

48. Dislocated Worker • is receiving unemployment benefits due to being laid off or losing a job and is unlikely to return to a previous occupation; • has been laid off or received a lay-off notice from a job; • was self-employed but is now unemployed due to economic conditions or natural disaster; or • is a displaced homemaker. A displaced homemaker is generally a person who previously provided unpaid services to the family (for example: a stay-at-home mom or dad), is no longer supported by the husband or wife, is unemployed or underemployed, and is having trouble finding or upgrading employment. • If a person quits work, generally he or she is not considered a dislocated worker even if, for example, the person is receiving unemployment benefits.