Financial Aid Process
LIST OF SCHOOLS
We need your list of schools where you have applied or where you will apply, by mid September at the latest !! (if you are applying Early Decision or Early Action, you definitely need to send the list early to make sure we don’t miss any early deadlines for PROFILE / INSTITUTIONAL forms). If you sent the list already, but you are applying to more schools, please let me know ASAP.
Remember, each school has their own deadline date for the FAFSA and they may require a PROFILE or Institutional form also. We need to know your schools so we don’t miss any of these deadlines.
Upperclass: If you are changing schools, please contact me immediately!
INCOME / ASSET PLANNING
When we initially met, I indicated whether you needed to adjust your income and/or assets to lower your EFC. If we have not discussed the details and put the plan in place to lower your EFC, then you need to call me immediately.
Keep in mind that you have until the date you submit the FAFSA form to arrange your assets to minimize EFC. However it may be advantageous to liquidate certain assets before the end of the year for tax purposes. So if you have any questions, please call me.
Upperclass: If there are any changes to your income or asset situation, please call me immediately!
CASH FLOW
When we first met, I asked you “What can you comfortably afford to pay each month toward a college plan?” You gave me a $/month figure.
Remember, there are only three ways to pay for college: income, assets, and borrowing. So you need to start saving this $/month amount ASAP. We need to build this monthly income into an asset to help pay your college bills/loans. If we have not started your income and/or asset plan, please call me to discuss the details so we can get your plan put in place.
TAX FORMS
All financial aid paperwork is going to ask about the income and taxes reported on the 1040, 1040A, or 1040EZ for the parent(s) and the student(s). The Federal financial aid paperwork, FAFSA, is available starting October 1st each year and uses your tax returns from two years ago. Example, if you graduate high school in 2020, you will use 2018 tax returns. We will notify you each September that we need your tax documents and our reply form by October 1st.
Following are the main numbers that we need to report on the FAFSA.
- Type of form used: 1040EZ, 1040A, 1040- AGI parent(s) and student
- Federal taxes paid (from 1040 form) - Gross income of parent(s) and student
- Amount deposited into deductible retirement- Value of cash, savings, checking,
accounts (IRA, 401k, 403b, etc.) investments, and certain real estate
If you would like help in completing your taxes, please call me. There would be an additional fee of $90 to complete a basic Federal and Pennsylvania tax return ($10 extra for a local return). Student tax returns are half price. Please note that I am not a CPA, but I am very experienced in doing a basic return.
ACCEPTANCE / HOUSING DEPOSIT
When you get your acceptance letter, the school will want a deposit to reserve your space. It is usually non refundable and due by May 1st. We usually don’t recommend sending in deposits until you know where you are going. The exceptions are if the school has a housing shortage, the deposit is refundable, or if you just can’t stand waiting. Sending in the deposit will not have an impact on negotiating.
MERIT BASED SCHOLARSHIPS
You will receive a letter from the school if you get a merit/leadership/talent/athletic based scholarship. This will be separate from your need based financial aid letter. Sometimes they want you to sign the letter and send it back, accepting the scholarship. Call me to discuss this, before sending anything back to the school.
FAFSA
It is not necessary to meet face to face to complete your financial aid paperwork. We will communicate through mail, e-mail and phone. If you do want to meet, then call to set an appointment once you have all of your information.
We are going to process all FAFSA’s online.
The FAFSA will be completed in October/November each year. We will need your income information as stated in the Tax Forms section. For the asset information, please complete the Reply Form, which can be downloaded from my website, after you login using data from the “pink” letter.
After we submit your FAFSA online, we will notify you that it was completed. If you want to see the FAFSA before we submit it, please indicate this on the Reply Form. We will e-mail you a copy to review and then you will contact us to make any adjustments, if necessary, so we can submit it. Remember, time is of the essence, so act quickly.
STUDENT AID REPORT (SAR)
The SAR is the completed and processed FAFSA.
To view your SAR, you log into with the student’s FSA ID (on the “pink” letter we sent you). The SAR will tell you what your EFC is, in the upper right corner, and list all the information you supplied on the FAFSA.
It will also tell you whether you are eligible for the Federal Pell Grant. If you are not eligible, it only applies to the Pell Grant. You are still eligible for all other types of aid.
The schools will use this information to generate a financial aid award package. We will make sure the SAR was processed correctly.
PROFILE
Some schools want the PROFILE in order to determine how much of their money they will give you. We need your list of schools to determine if you have any schools that want this form,
The first step is to register you in the PROFILE system. There is a fee from the processor: $9 to register and $16 per school. We will send you a bill after we submit your PROFILE form. After you are registered, then we need your income and asset information to complete the form. We do this form online and a signature is not needed.
Please see the Reply Form for the data we need to complete your PROFILE form.
INSTITUTIONAL FORM
Some schools have their own form for financial aid. It will either be in the application packet for admissions or they will send it to you after you apply. Please send this form to us, with signatures, so we can complete it and mail it to the school. We will send you a copy of the completed form. If you are not comfortable signing the form then we will send the completed form to you to sign and you will mail it to the school.
PHEAA GRANT (Pennsylvania Grant)
After the FAFSA is processed, your information is automatically sent to Pennsylvania. PHEAA will send you an e-mail stating that they need additional information.
Please forward that e-mail to us and we will complete the online form for you.
We will print the completed form, mail it to you to sign, and then you will mail it to PHEAA. After PHEAA processes the form, they will send you an email saying that your award is now available to view online (usually sometime in May).
We will establish your login data for PHEAA and it is always available to you on your student’s client page on my website and the “pink” letter. Please do not change the login data when you get the email from PHEAA.
Upperclass: If nothing has changed with your school, then you will receive an email from PHEAA telling you to login to view your grant (usually sometime in May).
VERIFICATION
You may have to complete a verification form for some of your schools. Once we review your SAR, we will contact you if you have been verified. You should receive a letter from the school with a verification form. Please sign the form and send it to us. We will complete the form and send everything to the school. If you are not comfortable signing the form, then we will send you the completed form to sign and you will mail it to the school.
IMPORTANT: Some schools are going to online notifications through the student’s web account. So make sure the student is frequently checking the financial aid status on their school’s web account.*Part of the verification process for everyone is to connect your FAFSA to the IRS. We will do the IRS connection for you.
FINANCIAL AID AWARD LETTERS / NEGOTIATION
Once your FAFSA is processed, the schools you listed will have access to your numbers. They will look at their cost versus your EFC and determine if you have a need. They will then send you a financial aid award letter listing the scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study your student is offered. You need to send us a copy as soon as you get these letters.
Please note that each school will have some sort of deadline for accepting their offer (most are May 1st). This will vary per school. The issue is that some schools may want an answer before you have received all of the award letters. So the first step is to ask for an extension to May 1st. Tell them that you are still waiting on other schools’ offers and you need more time to compare. If they do not give an extension, then call me to discuss our next move.
We will provide you with an award comparison chart. This will show each school’s cost, financial aid package, your out of pocket cost, how much is free money, and how much is loans/work study. This will give you the financial data to help you decide on a school.
Once we have all of your award letters, we will compare them and determine if there is a valid reason to ask for more money at your target school(s). We will write a negotiation letter in the name of the student and you will send it in. You will have to keep me informed of their response, so I can determine our next move. We usually handle this step through the mail, e-mail and phone. If you want to sit down in person to discuss these issues, then just call to set an appointment.
Most schools want to know if you are attending by May 1st. So this step should be completed by late April.
Upperclass: Please send us a copy of your award letter to determine any changes or possible need for
negotiations.
COLLEGE BUDGET WITH BORROWING PLAN
After you decide on your school and we negotiate the best package to pay the least amount possible, then we need to discuss how to pay your out of pocket expenses. Remember there are only three ways to pay for college: income, assets, and borrowing.
We need to meet face to face to discuss the details. The timing will vary per each family’s situation. Usually this meeting is sometime from April to mid July. We will remind you by e-mail to set your appointment. You can also call us to set an appointment anytime you are ready to discuss your budget.
LOAN APPLICATIONS
After we decide how to pay for college, you will have some loan applications to complete. We will help with this process.
The main loan that most students take is the DirectStafford Loan. The student borrows the money through the Federal Government. There are two steps to get the loan: Master Promissory Note (MPN) and Entrance Counseling. I will complete the MPN for the student. The Entrance Counseling is the student’s responsibility. I will direct the student to the website where they can complete this step. Unless you change schools, the loan automatically renews each year once the FAFSA is submitted.
If you are offered a Perkins Loan, the school will have a form to complete. They usually mail it to you with instructions and due dates or they provide a website to complete the form. Call me when you get the form and instructions, and we will complete the paperwork.
As far as parent PLUS loans, student private alternative loans and home equity loans, we will discuss whether you should use any of these during our budget meeting.
That should cover the process over the next few months. Please log into my website (using login data on Red or Pink Letter) and print the appropriate Reply form for your student. Send it to us with the information listed on the form by October 1st. Please call us at 724-864-5550 with any questions.
You can mail the information to us at 7 Colonial Circle, Irwin, PA 15642 or drop it off (drop box always available by office door). If I don’t need an original copy, you can fax to us at 724-864-2220 or e-mail to .