This year’s FAFSA changes are mainly cosmetic. The online FAFSA form is receiving a visual update that gives it a similar look and feel that puts it more in line with other tools featured on StudentAid.gov. A new simplified form being released in October of 2022 also has just 36 questions to answer, down from the 108 of previous years.
Noticeable changes you may see if you fill out the FAFSA later this year include:
Continue reading Changes Coming to the FAFSA in October
STEM careers have become a national priority and students who aspire to careers in science, technology, engineering, and math will be happy to know that STEM scholarships abound.
Often, when you apply for scholarships in a specific area of interest, the competition is much less than if you apply for national scholarships with thousands of applicants. The fact there are fewer applicants improves your odds of being offered the scholarship.
STEM scholarships may be plentiful but how do you find them?
Continue reading STEM Scholarships
I will never forget the moment we received our Student Aid Report and I saw the EFC (Expected Family Contribution) on the right-hand corner. I was in shock as most parents are. How could the powers that be believe we could afford to pay that amount for college? It was a mystery to me how they came up with that number, as it is to most of you.
The EFC determines how much financial aid the colleges will award to your student. You can’t receive any federal or institutional aid without getting an EFC when you complete the FAFSA. We are stuck with it and will probably never truly understand how they use to determine how much money your family can afford to pay.
If you are going to need financial aid for college (and who doesn’t?), you will need to understand the EFC.
Continue reading Do You Understand the EFC?
It’s that time of year when seniors will be weighing their college options. Choices will be made as parents and students evaluate colleges who offered admission.
The long wait is over and it’s time to make a decision. Which college will your student attend? This decision feels like the most important decision in his life up to this point and will weigh heavily on his mind and yours over the next month.
Before your teen makes the decision, however, you should weigh your college options. You would never purchase a home without determining its value, its fit for your family, or even its location. This college decision should be approached in the same manner. And to complicate matters, the decision has to be made in a timely manner—the National Candidate’s Reply Date is May 1st.
If your student didn’t get an offer of admission from his first or even second choice college, or he is accepted without enough financial aid, it’s time to re-evaluate the colleges on his list. Your teen should take a closer look at those schools on the list that weren’t on top. If he did his homework before applying, these schools should be more than sloppy seconds.
Continue reading Weighing Your College Options
Many families are aware of the aid the federal government provides to college students. But did you know that states also have financial aid available for college students?
In 2018-2019, states awarded an average of $930 per full-time-equivalent undergraduate student in the U.S., according to the College Board’s Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid 2020 report. This continues a seven-year trend of rising state grant aid. But as state budgets see significant cuts in response to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, experts say the trend may pause or reverse.
Continue reading Understanding State Financial Aid
For many parents, this will be the first year you will complete the FAFSA. Since you have never completed it before, you won’t notice the changes. However, it’s important to note the functionality of the form and the functions of the mobile app.
The Department of Education (ED) released a document this month summarizing the changes to the 2021-22 FAFSA. The most notable changes are the increase of the income threshold for the automatic-zero expected family contribution (EFC) and questions asked about the Schedule 1 tax form.
The 2021–22 FAFSA changes include the following:
In early June, ED published the federal need analysis methodology for the 2021-22 award year in the Federal Register. Per Section 479(c) of the Higher Education Act (HEA), ED is required to annually adjust the income level necessary to qualify an applicant for the zero expected family contribution. This adjustment is made according to increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
New functionalities in the MyStudentAid mobile app will include:
The paper FAFSA PDF will become available in October, and the color rotation for the paper form is green for 2021-22. FAFSA worksheets in English and Spanish will also be available.
When completing the FAFSA, even though it’s available October 1, it’s generally good to wait a week or two before filing because there will most certainly be kinks in the system–it happens. Don’t wait too long, however. With financial aid, the sooner you apply the better chances you have of snagging some of that free money!
Don’t forget to read the other articles related to FAFSA Week:
FAFSA Week: Debunking 5 FAFSA Myths
If you break it down, the 2021-22 FAFSA isn’t that complicated. Because it’s a federal form (like income taxes), many parents and students are hesitant to tackle it. If you take it step-by-step, it’s much easier. Here’s a synopsis of the requirements and the sections of the 2021-22 FAFSA.
Use this list to gather all the information necessary before you begin:
At each online step, a “help and hints” box pops up at the side, in case you need guidance. Here’s a short synopsis of each section from CollegeXpress.
Student eligibility
This is pretty basic: the name of your high school, what year in college you’ll be entering, and your parents’ level of education. This is also your chance to opt into federal work-study. Consider saying yes if you aren’t sure; you can always decline later if you change your mind.
You will also be asked if you have registered with Selective Service (the military draft). Nearly all men age 18–26, including undocumented immigrants and people with disabilities, are required by law to register—and if you aren’t registered, you will be denied federal financial aid. You can register via the FAFSA form by checking a box.
School selection
Here’s where you enter the names of the colleges you plan to apply to. You can add as many as 10, but don’t worry if you haven’t finalized your list. If you want to add another or make changes, you can do it later.
For each school you include, you will be asked if you plan to live on campus, off campus, or with your parents (because you won’t need funds for room and board if you will live at home). For state aid, some states require that colleges are listed in a specific order; check the federal aid website to see if your own state is fussy about this.
Dependency determination
Colleges want to know if your parents support you or if you are an independent adult. The vast majority of high school students are considered dependent for college financial aid/FAFSA purposes. However, you’re generally considered an independent student if you are:
Otherwise, you are most likely a dependent student.
If your family situation is complex (for example, you are a minor but don’t live with your parents or don’t have access to their financial information), you can find some guidance on the federal student aid website.
Parent demographics
You fill this FAFSA section out if you are a dependent. Aid decisions will consider your parents’ age (because older parents may need to conserve more for retirement), how many children they support, and, most important, if they will have additional children in college that year. Each of these elements affects the calculation for your Expected Family Contribution (EFC), so answer the questions carefully. For example:
Financial information
You will need to fill in your parents’ adjusted gross income from the 1040 form, or whichever form they file. (Or your income, if you are independent.)
The IRS Data Retrieval Tool really shines with this part of the FAFSA, because it transfers your tax information directly to the form, saving time and eliminating the chance of a mistake.
You’ll also be asked about assets—both your parents’ and yours. That’s right: the money you’ve saved from summer jobs, birthdays, or bat mitzvah gifts—all of it is fair game. And your colleges will expect you to contribute a percentage of your savings to your college tuition.
Of course, your parents will need to report their savings and investments too, including money market accounts, mutual funds, 529 college savings accounts (yours and any siblings’), and investment real estate (not your family’s primary home).
Qualified retirement accounts—IRAs, 401(k), 403(b), or pension plans—aren’t counted as assets. As always, you can find guidance in the pop-up help boxes at the right side of the page.
Sign and submit
After you’ve finished the FAFSA’s financial section, you add your electronic signature with your FSA ID and hit submit. That’s it.
For a visual step-by-step guide to completing the FAFSA, follow this link:
https://www.nitrocollege.com/fafsa-application
Don’t forget to read the other articles related to FAFSA Week:
Financial aid can be a confusing part of the college application process. Even if you can afford to pay for college, it’s a good idea to learn what aid is available and apply for it. You aren’t obligated to accept it, but most students qualify for some form of aid and, if it’s available, why not use it?
Financial aid is intended to make up the difference between what your family can afford to pay and what college actually costs. With college tuition rising rapidly, more than half of the students currently enrolled in college receive some sort of financial aid to help pay for college. The system is based on the premise that anyone should be able to attend college, regardless of financial circumstances. However, students and their families are expected to contribute to the extent that they are able.
There are two types of aid: need-based, and non need-based. Need-based aid includes grants and scholarships that are issued based on the family’s ability to contribute to education costs. Non-need-based aid is allocated solely based on availability, not need.
There are three main types of financial aid: grants and scholarships, loans and work study.
Not all aid is equal and the best aid is the aid you don’t have to pay back. It’s like getting a huge coupon of savings to use for your college education.
Not all college loans are equal.
There are two types of government-based loans: subsidized and unsubsidized. Subsidized loans have lower interest rates and are awarded based on the student’s financial need with interest deferred until after graduation. Unsubsidized loans are awarded without regard to financial need with interest payments beginning immediately and regular payments due after graduation.
The Federal Work-Study Program provides a method for college students to earn funds to be used toward their education. The program is based on financial need and students must be accepted into the program to qualify which is determined by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA.
The FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and you should apply if you want any chance to receive federal and state student grants, work study, loans or merit-based aid. If you don’t complete the FAFSA, you can’t apply for student loans. Colleges also use these figures when determining financial aid eligibility for grants and scholarships. Plus, many states use your FAFSA data to determine your eligibility for their aid.
The FAFSA is available on Oct. 1 of every year and you should complete it as close to that date as possible in the fall of your senior year. Aid is dispersed on a first-come, first-served basis. The sooner you apply, the more likely you will receive a portion of the financial aid pie.
The Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is how much money your family is expected to contribute to your college education for one year. Typically, the lower your EFC, the more financial aid you will receive. Factors such as family size, number of family members in college, family savings, and current earnings (information you provide on the FAFSA) are used to calculate this figure. Once your FAFSA is processed, you will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) with your official EFC figure.
You can calculate your EFC by visiting FinAid.org.
As the offers of admission arrive from colleges, the financial aid award letters will follow. They can be confusing and vague. Added to the confusion is that every award letter is different, making it hard to easily compare them side by side.
Thankfully, there are tools available and information to help you look at these letters for what they are: the college’s pitch for you to accept their offer of admission. You are in control of this process and you hold the cards. It’s your decision to accept or reject their offer based on the amount of aid they are willing to give you. Money, in this situation, is everything.
If a college wants you to attend, they will back it up with money. No money means their offer is probably based on filling a quota and expecting you will decline to attend. And you should. Who wants to attend a college that doesn’t value you as a student?
The FAFSA for the 2021 school year will be available on October 1. The earlier you file, the better your chances of getting some of the money colleges allocate for financial aid. In order to help parents understand the FAFSA and answer some of your questions, this week is FAFSA week.
Surprisingly, many families don’t even take the time to complete the FAFSA. The most common reason is they believe they won’t qualify for financial aid; but nothing could be further from the truth. Most students receive some form of financial aid. If you don’t file, you could be missing out on some of that aid.
Here are 10 reasons to file the FAFSA:
Even if you can afford to pay for your child’s education, it’s expensive. Why would you pass up an opportunity to help with some of the cost?
That’s right. It’s completely free to complete the FAFSA. You’ll spend some of your time completing the FAFSA and you could get thousands of dollars of financial aid in return. So one could say, it’s BEYOND free–they pay you!
If you get stumped, help is available. You can use the online help tool, submit a question on social media, or call the help number. You can even access the Help Center where you will find answers to their most-asked questions. Many schools even host a FAFSA day where they offer help to parents and students on how to complete the free form.
According to a recent Reuters article, about 1.8 million lower income undergraduates who might have qualified for aid neglected to file the FAFSA and missed out on financial aid. No matter what your income level, you should file the FAFSA because there is more money out there to be awarded than just need-based aid.
The federal government provides over $80 billion dollars in grants, loans and work-study programs every year. The only way to get Pell grants, , Stafford loans, Parent PLUS loans and other federal aid is by submitting the FAFSA. Federal loans offer the best interest rates and repayment terms for student borrowers and are superior to private student loans.
FAFSA is the gatekeeper for state financial aid programs. Each state’s programs are different but they all require the FAFSA to distribute the funds. Check with your state’s higher education agency for deadlines and requirements. In some states the financial eligibility ceilings are much higher.
Colleges and private scholarship sponsors offer billions of dollars in financial aid. Even if you don’t have financial need, you may be eligible for these awards. Some school and private scholarship programs are specifically designed for students who were rejected by federal financial aid. Some schools will not award merit aid unless you complete the FAFSA.
In addition to the aid that a student may receive from federal and state agencies, many scholarship applications include a box to check asking whether the student has submitted a FAFSA. According to Monica Matthews of How to Win College Scholarships, “Scholarship providers want to know that the student is doing everything possible to get financial help in paying for college and submitting the FAFSA is a very important step in the process.”
With two in college, your expected family contribution (what the parents can afford to pay) drops by 50%. Even if you didn’t get financial aid with the first, file the FAFSA because having a second child in college can net you some financial aid.
Look at it this way: FAFSA is the ONLY way to be considered for federal, state and college financial aid. Even if you don’t NEED the aid you still want to get it. Who doesn’t want FREE money?
Financial aid can be a confusing part of the college application process. Even if you can afford to pay for college, it’s a good idea to learn what aid is available and apply for it. You aren’t obligated to accept it, but most students qualify for some form of aid and, if it’s available, why not use it?
What is financial aid?
Financial aid is intended to make up the difference between what your family can afford to pay and what college actually costs. With college tuition rising rapidly, more than half of the students currently enrolled in college receive some sort of financial aid to help pay for college. The system is based on the premise that anyone should be able to attend college, regardless of financial circumstances. However, students and their families are expected to contribute to the extent that they are able.
There are two types of aid: need-based, and non need-based. Need-based aid includes grants and scholarships that are issued based on the family’s ability to contribute to education costs. Non-need-based aid is allocated solely based on availability, not need.
There are three main types of financial aid: grants and scholarships, loans and work study.
Not all aid is equal and the best aid is the aid you don’t have to pay back. It’s like getting a huge coupon of savings to use for your college education. Here are the types of aid you can receive that you won’t have to pay back after graduation:
Not all college loans are equal.
There are two types of government-based loans: subsidized and unsubsidized. Subsidized loans have lower interest rates and are awarded based on the student’s financial need with interest deferred until after graduation. Unsubsidized loans are awarded without regard to financial need with interest payments beginning immediately and regular payments due after graduation. Following is a brief description of each:
Once you have chosen the loan that best fits your needs, do the research and educate yourself about repayment, interest rates and grace periods.
To learn more about work study, the FAFSA, the EFC and award letters, read the entire article I wrote for TeenLife Online Magazine here.