Financial Aid 101

Financial Aid 101 SUNY Orange Financial Aid Office

Financial Aid 101: • Where does financial aid come from? • How do students and families apply for financial aid? • How do I help families with special circumstances? • How are financial aid awards determined Agenda

The federal government establishes federal aid availability for each program on a fiscal basis. • Eligibility for federal aid is determined by congressionally-mandated formulas and data base matches and by using data on the student’s federal application. (FAFSA) • The federal government establishes the Pell Grant payment tables which determine individual Pell student awards. • The same federal regulations apply to all schools. Federal Aid Regulations

PellGrant • Campus-Based Programs • SEOG • Federal Work Study • Perkins Loans • Direct Student Loans • Subsidized: based upon financial need; 3.4% interest rate • Unsubsidized: not based upon need; 6.8% interest rate • Parent Plus Loans: 7.9% interest rate Types of Federal Aid

FAFSA stands for “ Free Application for Federal Student Aid.” • The FAFSA is the form that the federal government uses to determine a student’s eligibility for federal aid, including grants, scholarships, work-study and loans. What is the FAFSA

The FAFSA becomes available January 1st of each year and students must apply annually. Families can: • Download or complete the FAFSA on the Web at www.fafsa.ed.gov. FAFSA on the Web has a link to the New York State TAP application. FAFSA

You are independent in 2013/14 if you meet one of the following: • __You were born before January 1, 1990 • __You are married • __You are a graduate student (enrolled in a master’s or graduate certificate program) • __You are currently serving on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces • __You are a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces Federal Dependency Definitions

___Both parents are deceased, you were adopted, you were in foster care, or a ward of the court, at anytime since you turned 13. Provide death certificates or court documentation of status. • ___Have children who will receive more than half their support from you between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014. Provide 2012 tax transcripts and/or a letter explaining living arrangements, earnings and support information, and the name of person(s) claiming children if other than self. • ___Are or were in legal guardianship as determined by a court. Provide court documentation. • ___Have dependents (other than your children or spouse) that live with you and receive more than half of their support from you, now and through June 30, 2014. Provide 2012 tax transcripts, and a letter explaining living arrangements, earnings and support information • ___Are or were an emancipated minor as determined by a court in your legal state of residence. Provide court documentation from your state of legal residence. Please note that New York State does not grant emancipation status to minors. • ___Were determined to be an unaccompanied youth who was homeless by a director of an emergency shelter or transitional housing program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Provide written, signed documentation from shelter or agency on organization letterhead. • ___Were determined to be an unaccompanied youth who was homeless by your high school homeless liaison. Provide written, signed documentation from school liaison on district letterhead. • ___Were determined to be an unaccompanied youth who was homeless or self-supporting and at risk of being homeless by a director of a runaway or homeless youth basic center or transitional living program. Provide written, signed documentation from agency on organization letterhead. Federal Dependency DefinitionsContinued

Overrides are made on a case-by-case basis. • Overrides are made only when adequate documentation of extenuating circumstances is provided. • Extenuating circumstances are generally defined by a student’s inability to have contact with his/her biological parents due to emotional, mental, or physical trauma delivered to the student by the parent. Federal Dependency Definitions

The following situations do not qualify as sufficient to merit a change to independent status: • Parents refusal to contribute to a student’s education. • Parents are unwilling to provide information for the application or verification. • Parents do not claim the student as a dependent for income tax purposes. • Student demonstrates total self-sufficiency. • Parents reside outside the U.S. • Student does not live with parent. Federal Dependency Overrides

Adoptive parent = biological parent For Separated / Divorced Biological Parents • Determine the custodial Parent • Who did the student live with most of the last 12 months prior to the date of the FAFSA completion? • If the student lived equally with each parent or lived with neither biological parent, then which parent supported the student more in the last 12 months or in the recent calender year in which the student received some kind or parent support. • Count Income of step-parent • If step-parent is married to biological or adoptive parent, step-parent income must be included on the FAFSA. Foster parents, legal guardians, grandparents, and other relatives are never counted as parents on the FAFSA Who Counts as a Parent on the FAFSA?

Reporting the FAFSA Social Security Numbers • Use 000-00-0000 to prevent a reject code on the SSN match • Do not use a Taxpayer ID Number(TIN); it will reject. Reporting the FAFSA income • Report wages not on a tax return but seek advice about IRS requirements to file at certain earning levels Undocumented Parents

Custody changes usually indicate the possibility of a Dependency Override • Legal Guardianships leads to automatic Independence • We ask for the court documents to determine custody actions vs. legal guardianships Custody vs. Legal Guardianship

Available now on the 2012/2013 FAFSA on the Web and will continue in 2013/2014 • Both students and parents can link from the FAFSA to a completed IRS tax return • Need federal PIN(s) to initiate retrieval • Can use IRS data for initial application or corrections • Advantages in using IRS data: • Accuracy • Timeliness • IRS-retrieved data does not need additional verification by obtaining an IRS Tax Transcript If you have not filed your Federal Income Tax return, you will need to wait 2 weeks before using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. Students and parents can make corrections to their Student Aid Report (SAR) after that time period. IRS Data Retrieval

Applicants must enter the Federal School Code of the colleges that they wish to receive FAFSA results. Students may enter up to 10 colleges on the FAFSA on the Web. • To locate a school’s Federal School Code, contact the school’s financial aid office, look for it on their web site, or search for it on www.fafsa.ed.gov • Our school code is 002876 Federal School Codes

After filing the FAFSA, the student receives a SAR. • The SAR is the official record that the federal processor received the FAFSA • At the same time the student receives the SAR, every school listed on the FAFSA will receive an electronic Institutional Student Aid Report, or ISIR. • Students and families should review the SAR carefully and correct any errors. Student Aid Report (SAR)

All FAFSA data will be repeated. • The Pell eligibility index called the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). • Codes and text indicating if the FAFSA was selected for Verification or if the student must document additional information. What is on the SAR

All students may be selected by the federal government for verification in the 2013-14 aid year. • The process allows the Secretary of Education to include any item from the FAFSA for possible verification . • Students will be targeted for a selection of items based upon each student‘s characteristics. • Requires verification processing of all non-dollar changes and corrections must be made to an applicant’s FAFSA information. Please submit all information on the FAFSA correctly in order to eliminate possibilities for auditing of your file. What is Verification

The EFC is an index derived from a congressionally-mandated formula that indicates the amount of money a family is expected to contribute to college costs for the academic year. • Financial Need is the difference between the Cost of Attendance (COA) at a college for the academic year and the student’s EFC. COA – EFC = Financial Need How the Federal Government Determines What Families Can Pay

The COA varies depending on Dependent Student vs. Independent Student. However the components are the same: • Tuition and Fees • Room and Board • Transportation • Books and Supplies • Personal Expenses Cost of Attendance

Entitlement Aid: Grants: (gift assistance – not paid back) • Pell Grant • Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG) • Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) SUNY Orange may then Offer: Federal and Private Loans: (must be repaid) Other forms of aid: • Direct Loans, subsidized and unsubsidized (must be repaid) • Perkins loan (must be repaid) • Parent loan (PLUS) (must be repaid) • Private/Alternative loans (must be repaid) Jobs: Federal Work Study Scholarships: From the college or private sources. Meeting Financial Need

The New York State Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) helps eligible New York residents pay tuition at approved schools in New York State and enrollment must be full time. • APTS is a comparable NYS grant, but for part-time students who apply for it in the financial aid office. • A link to the TAP application is found at the end of the FAFSA on the Web. You can also visit the NYS web site at http://www.hesc.ny.gov/content.nsf and complete an application if you forget to use the FAFSA link. • Eligibility for TAP is based on NYS taxable income, not federal adjusted income, and the upper limit is $80,000 combined income for a dependent student and parents. New York State Assistance

Federal Student Loan Limits Direct Unsubsidized and Subsidized Loans are: • $31,000 for Dependent undergraduate students excluding those whose parents are unable to borrow a PLUS Loan, but no more than $23,000 may be subsidized. • $57,500 for Independent undergraduate students and Dependent undergraduates whose parents are unable to borrow a PLUS loan--but no more than $23,000 may be subsidized The following table shows the maximum amount of money you may borrow each academic year in Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans: Federal Student Loan Limits

SUNY Orange begins the Institutional Scholarship process in January of each year. • Please look up deadlines for New, Continuing, and Graduating scholarship deadlines at our web site http://www.sunyorange.edu/financialaid/scholarships.shtml We offer a variety of scholarships based on interest, skills, and abilities: • Academic excellence • Athletics • Community Service • Areas of study, such as Nursing, Business Administration, Science and Music. Institutional Scholarships

Tips for Student Success: • Contact the financial aid office for institutional requirements. • Check your MYSUNY Orange web pages for outstanding requirements needed for verification. • Meet all deadlines. • Ask questions. • Learn about Satisfactory Academic Progress. Learn the Process

FAFSA: www.fafsa.ed.gov • Federal Pin #: www.pin.ed.gov • Federal Student Aid on the Web: www.studentaid.ed.gov • U.S. Department of Education: www.ed.gov • Direct Loans: www.studentloans.gov • Fast Web: www.fastweb.com • NYS HESC (for TAP) www.hesc.ny.gov Helpful Web Resources

Questions and Answers

Financial Aid 101