Financial Aid and Scholarships: Navigating the Maze of College Financing

Webinar Transcription

2024-06-11 – Financial Aid and Scholarships: Navigating the Maze of College Financing

Sydney: Hello, everyone. Welcome to today’s webinar, “Navigating Financial Aid and College Scholarships.” My name is Sydney Mantell. I use she, they pronouns, and I will be your moderator today. I’m also a senior advisor here at CollegeAdvisor.com, and as a proud first generation college student and graduate of the North, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I love giving back to the next generation of students at CollegeAdvisor.

I also have my Master of Environmental Management degree from Duke University, and I currently work in science communications with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. To just quickly orient everyone with the webinar timing, we’ll start off with the presentation and then answer your questions in a live Q&A.

So you can go ahead and download the slides for today’s presentation on the sidebars handout tab. And you can already start submitting your questions in the Q and A tab. So if things come up during the presentation, just go ahead and submit your questions and we will answer them later on. All right, so now let’s get started and meet our presenter, Frank Ranieri.

Frank: Hello, thank you for that. Um, yes, my name is Frank Ranieri. Um, I’ve been with a CollegeAdvisor here for almost 3 years now, uh, in the financial aid specialist role. Um, did my undergrad at SUNY Cortland, which is a state school up in New York, um, where I played basketball and still very, uh, sports still play a very big role in my life and my, uh, other settings.

But, uh, without further ado. Um, we’re going to start with a poll here. Um, what grade are you in?

Sydney: Yep. So I’ll go ahead and open that poll and yeah, we just want to get a good idea of who is in the room with us today. And, uh, while people are answering, Frank, I have a question for you. If you could just share one of your favorite memories from your undergrad in New York.

Frank: Yeah. My favorite, um, sticking with my sports theme was, was playing basketball in college. Um, it was very. small level. Um, but it was very much life. Um, so, um, and then just the balancing act of like school, paying the bill and making it to basketball practice, um, was like a stressful, but also very exciting time for me.

Sydney: Yeah, I can imagine being a student athlete came with a lot of fun memories, but also a lot of challenges. Um, my favorite undergrad memory as a UNC Tar Heel was that my freshman year we actually won the NCAA National Basketball Championship. So basketball was also near and dear to my heart, but more as a spectator.

Um, all right, so I’m going to go ahead and close that poll. It looks like most of our people here are juniors. We have a couple of seniors and some other folks as well. So, all right, uh, take it away.

Frank: Awesome.

All right. So cost versus value. Why will I pay? Um, just some things to think about is the financial sustainability. Um, what does attending a school that’s outside of your budget, how does that impact your life, your experiences and your future life? Um, fit versus prestige. Um, would this school pass a blind taste test?

Um, you know, is, are you interested in a school because of the name or because of what the school can offer you and what the school can do for you? And then the big picture, right? Um, what are your goals as a student? What is the family’s goal beyond undergrad? Um, consider, um, the, all the costs that are associated with being a student, not just at the undergraduate level, but if you go on to grad school, post grad.

you know, paying for rent versus paying for school. Um, you know, younger siblings coming up, young relatives, things of that nature.

Understanding the cost. What are the costs? Um, there is a direct and indirect cost when being a student. A lot of this can be considered under the umbrella that is the cost of attendance, which you can see lower on this slide. Um, you know, essentially there is an overall cost of being a student and not every single cost that a family, uh, has is going to be a build cost to the school.

Things that are billed to the school are going to be your tuition, your fees, um, you know, room and board. If you live on campus, meal plans, things of that nature, indirect costs, books, supplies, uh, personal expenses, travel, um, getting to and from school in the fall and the spring. Um, again, all, all a cost to somebody, which it might not, you won’t be billed to the school directly, but someone needs to come up with, with, um, how to pay for your books and things of that nature.

Um, your net cost is going to be the overall cost of attendance minus any of your financial aid. Um, again, financial aid is made up of the three, um, kind of sections of financial aid, which are scholarships, loans, and grants. So the overall cost minus your aid

net cost calculators, um, trying to determine what you’ll pay or how to estimate it. Um, most schools have a, uh, uh, calculator on their website that you can kind of input parents finances to kind of get an idea of roughly what it can cost you. Um, there are also websites like the CSS profile that have general calculators on there as well.

Um, things you want to remember, full need, and debt free. Um, some of these terms, um, schools will have on their website. Um, they want to advertise that they meet full need and their debt free financial aid packaging. Um, which is great. But again, there they can award your full need what they feel your financial need is not what you feel your financial need is.

So, you know, when you hear the word You know, we meet full need. It’s based on what your need is calculated by the financial aid forms. The debt free financial aid package means you’ll get an award letter without any loans on it. However, you know, if you need to take out some of the federal loans to pay the bill, You know, sometimes that is a necessary evil.

Um, state schools in state schools, how that works. Um, in state tuition provides some of the most predictable financial aid packages, um, publicly reported tuition discounts. Um, essentially what this is, is your If you’re an in state student going to a state school, your tuition is a lot less than if you were out of state.

But what happens a lot of times with these state schools is they don’t have a lot of aid to offer institutionally. Um, again, it’s, there’s really no hidden cost with that. You pretty much know ahead of time, so to speak. Um, as a, as a state school, uh, graduate myself, I have a lot of experience in that realm.

Uh, defining financial aid. I think I said this a Financial aid is just the umbrella term for resources to cover your cost of education. Um, again, a lot of people think of financial aid as the free money. Financial aid is the overall umbrella. Again, scholarships, grants, loans, scholarships is going to be your free money based on your academics, where merit is, where, excuse me, where grants is going to be free money based on your financial needs.

Um, meaning, you know, income assets as determined by the fast foot and or CSS profile. Um, and as you can see, both equal free money. Those are the, that’s where you want all of your aid to come from. If you can Um, and then there are obviously loans. Um, there are the federal direct loans, which are from the federal government.

There’s going to be your parent plus loans, which is a federal direct loan, but it’s in the parent’s name, not the student. Um, and then there are private loans. Private loans is where a student is the borrower from a third party lending institution. Um, in most cases. A cosigner will be required, meaning the loan will be in the student’s name, but there will need to be someone with established credit to co sign the loan.

That does not need to be a parent, but you know, it has to be someone who has a relationship with the student, um, to help co sign. Um, and then the family contribution, the family contribution again is, um, a fancy term for expected cost or, you know, the FAFSA calculates. an estimated family contribution or what we think a family can afford.

Um, again, this family contribution line is where that, um, meeting your full need comes in where a school will meet up to what your family contribution is. But again, that contribution number, you know, could be accurate or or you could feel its way off. And that’s where you can have decisions with someone like myself.

have conversations about how it’s calculated and then most importantly, speak to the school directly to find out how they came up with that family contribution.

Uh, types of aid. Um, number one is we got the merit scholarships. They are, they can be institutional or external. What that means is, you know, each school you apply to, most have some sort of merit scholarship, not all. Um, but when you apply, you will be, uh, automatically reviewed. for institutional merit scholarships.

Most schools you apply to, you won’t need to do any separate scholarship application, um, external scholarships or outside scholarships are going to be scholarships that you apply to a third party. Um, website, foundation, um, some sort of company or corporation that awards scholarship funding to students, um, to pay for school.

External scholarships can be taken and given to any school that you decide to go to where institutional scholarships are just going to be for that individual institution. Merit scholarships are typically need blind, meaning they are not looking at your income. They’re not looking at your assets.

They’re not looking at your parents income. Um, Um, they are just looking at your academic, uh, prowess, you know, things you did in high school, you know, standardized tests, extracurricular, your philanthropy, things of that nature. Um, and sometimes they can be demographic based where, you know, to apply for this outside scholarship, you have to be located in Northeast.

Um, things of that nature, um, the need based aid or the grant aid, um, can be institutional. It can be state, federal, or external. Um, kind of the same idea. Uh, when it comes to need based aid, it’s going to be based on, uh, income and assets. Um, institutional means the schools awarding it where a school may give a grant or, or a need based aid based on your income, um, state and federal.

are just that things of the, the federal, the federal Pell grant is a grant that would come from the federal government, which again would be solely based on the income assets on the FAFSA. Um, to get these types, you need to proof of your financial need, things like the FAFSA, your tax forms, um, proof of any government programs that you may, uh, be a part of.

Um, you know, rather social security, you know, free lunch, um, things of that nature. Um, and again, uh, sometimes they can be demographically based as well.

Uh, things to know when it comes to institutional aid, um, read financial aid websites closely. I tell any family I work with, um, to get very, um, knowledgeable on the school’s website, where you are applying a lot of the deadlines, documents, um, you know, Things to remember, tips and tricks can be found right on that website.

Um, you want to look at the difference between the tuition and the cost of attendance. Again, same idea where the cost of attendance can be six, 7, 000 more than what the billable costs are. So that is something to remember. Um, look for phrases like need, blind, full need, zero debt. Um, you know, if, uh, if a school says they are need blind, that’s typically on the admission side where they’re not looking at finances when they make an, uh, an admissions decision.

Um, do they meet full need? Are the award packages given with zero debt? Um, and absolutely use the net cost calculators. Um, again, so you have somewhat of an idea of what a school can offer.

Um, A lot of these things are good to know, you know, what’s the average financial aid package look like? What’s the average out of pocket cost? Average loans What’s the private loans looks like for the undergrad population? All these things are can be determining factors, you know, if the school’s Promoting very little loan very little loan debt And you can’t cover your bill without loans.

That’s again, a reason to have a conversation with that financial aid office. Um, the average out of pocket cost per student is another good indicator where it’s, um, you know, what is the average student paying? Um, you know, is it, is it a few thousand? Is it 20, 000? You know, what is that number and how does that compare to your award and, and you and your family’s financial situation?

Um, um, And again, the persuasiveness, like, are they really pushing private loans? Um, if they are really pushing private loans, sometimes it can be an indicator that they may not have that much funds to award, uh, institutionally. Um, and again, when it comes to institutional aid, you know, if it’s, it’s going to have the school name and it’s going to be a grant, typically what that grant is, it’s really just reducing the tuition and discounting the tuition based on your financial need.

Um, and institutionally schools can make these decisions. on their own. That’s why they require the FAFSA and or the CSS profile to determine your institutional need. Um, but again, it ultimately comes down to the school’s decision,

uh, external aid or external scholarships, um, funded by outside organizations or third party payers is a direct pay or pay to the school. Um, again, outside scholarships. Um, you will have to apply for as a student, um, pretty much the summer, you could, you could start looking into it now, um, and definitely like this school year, your senior year, you can be applying for outside scholarships.

Most of them are going to be paid to the school. Some will directly pay you the student. Typically what happens is they send a check or electronically pay the school directly. The school then receives the money and adds it to your account almost like a payment. Um, Um, things to remember. Is it renewable versus single year?

Um, is it tuition restricted or is it unrestricted? What that means is some scholarships may only go towards your tuition, um, where some will just go towards the bill. Um, institutional aid reduction myth. Will your outside scholarship reduce your institutional aid? Um, in most cases it will not, in some cases it can.

Um, it all depends on what the school’s budgeting criteria is and how willing they are to, to work with you. Um, any outside scholarship you get, you will 100 percent get that. It’s just a matter of does the money the school offered get reduced, um, um, when that happens. Um, what the thing about the, oh, and another fun fact about outside scholarships is sometimes they will give you the option.

Do you want it all up front or do you want to break it down over four years? For example, some may give a 20, 000 scholarship for you and you can use it in year one or you can break it up over the four years. Um, typically I would advise in that situation to break it up over the four years. So you don’t run into potentially losing any other aid from the school.

But again, it becomes a family decision. And, you know, sometimes that money up front can help propel you through the first year. And then you worry about, you know, the upcoming years as they come. Um, and you can also apply for scholarships as continuing students. This is not just for incoming freshmen only.

Um, and I advise families and students, um, to be reviewing and applying for outside scholarships every year,

finding merit scholarships, the institutional merit scholarships are going to be listed on the financial aid website. the applicant portal, um, and or the admissions office. Um, most institutional merit scholarships, those decisions actually come from the admissions office. So when they’re making their decision to admit a student, they’re also making their decision on to give you any free Merit money.

Um, but typically the, the amounts are going to be listed in the financial aid, but they’re actually awarded by the admissions office. And then the financial aid is the office that applies them to the account. Um, external scholarships. I spoke on this very briefly, um, scholarship search apps that we use, or we advise families to use is going to be going Mary, uh, scholarly scholarship owl.

These are going to be websites where students can make an account and Um, and can search scholarships within that account. It kind of takes the, uh, rather than just going to Google and looking for them. This kind of does the search for you based on your profile answers in your own demographic, um, groups, programs, activity, leaders, high school, college counselor, alumni networks, um, pretty much, you know, uh, your high school counselor should have information, any activity or groups you’re a part of.

Um, you know, anybody who you’ve worked with or any students that are maybe in a grade above you, basically any tips you can get for scholarships are going to be great because again, you have to find them and apply for them and then hopefully get approved for them. Um, when it comes to the outside scholarships.

And again, uh, this is not just incoming freshmen year after year apply for as many outside scholarships as you can.

Um, the need based aid, the institutional need based policy. Um, what is the school’s institutional policy? Um, what’s their scholarship policy? You know, you can review this on the admissions office as well. Uh, externally, Federal need based, federal student aid, student higher education board, matching websites, alumni network, local organizations.

Again, Institutional need based aid is going to be your institutional grants, institutional funding that are based on you, you and your family’s income and assets. The amounts they give are going to be on the financial aid website. There will also be information on the admissions off. website. Again, um, the term like need blind need aware is going to be more on the admission site.

Um, and then, you know, meeting full financial need debt free award letters. These are, these are terms you’ll find on the financial aid websites. Um, the federal student aid is, you know, where you can find the FASFA, the student aid dot gov, um, the state higher education board. Um, a lot of schools, If you go within, uh, the state that you grew up when you go to school there, you can get sometimes be eligible for state grants.

Um, those you, um, get reviewed for when you fill out the FAFSA. Um, alumni networks and local organizations are going to be great tools where you can, again, build your network to find other outside sources that, that may, may be different from going to the school to find out what type of aid can be offered.

How can we help you identifying and applying to scholarships? Um, developing search set strategies, uh, defining your narrative and fit for scholarships. Preparing for scholarships, interviews, reviewing on advising on financial aid forms, deadline scholarships. Um, again, uh, the websites I gave is a great tool because it will list a lot of the scholarships that you may be eligible for.

And as you meet the criteria, you absolutely want to apply for them. Um, Preparing for scholarships, interviews, um, reviewing the financial aid forms, the deadlines, um, that’s as a financial aid specialist, um, here with CollegeAdvisor, that’s pretty much what my role is, is I can assist in, um, filling out scholarship applications, the financial aid forms.

The deadlines, what the verbiage means, you know, how to appeal things of that nature are all kinds of ways that I can assist you. Um, but you know, rather it’s myself or one of your admissions advisors. We both can help with search strategies for outside scholarships. Um, your, your admissions advisor can definitely help on writing those essays for scholarships.

Um, if you have questions on like reviewing the scholarships or what the scholarships mean or how they work, that would be a question for myself or one of my colleagues, um, in the financial aid specialist role.

Sydney: All right. Well, thank you so much, Frank. Um, that was a lot of really helpful information. I hope everyone found this presentation to be useful and remember that you can download the slides from the link in the handouts tab so you can go back and refer to those websites and resources that Frank was mentioning.

So we’re now going to transition into the live Q& A. So don’t forget that you can submit your questions on the Q& A tab and I’ll read through them and paste them in the public chat so that everyone can see. Then I’ll read them aloud for Frank to give you an answer. And just as a heads up, if your Q& A tab isn’t working for some reason, just double check that you joined the webinar through the link in your email, not from the CollegeAdvisor webinar landing page.

So to just kick it off with some questions, um, when should students start applying for scholarships and financial aid?

Frank: Pretty much, that’s a very good question. Um, most what most financial aid or scholarship websites right now are still going to be kind of geared towards the incoming class for this fall.

Um, but by like, for example, I would make a going Mary account. And scholarship all I would be on those websites now, but again, most of them are going to be geared towards the incoming fall 24 class, which you guys are going to be fall 25 or at least for the juniors out there. But as of as of, like, August, September, those should update and you should start applying as early as then, especially for you, you.

People going early decision like the admissions financial aid stuff is going to be due by like October, November So once you get that stuff in then you can really concentrate on just it’s all scholarships at that point until you um You know, here are your decisions on the schools,

Sydney: right? And you can start that scholarship research and kind of poking around those search websites anytime. Yeah, definitely. Exactly.

Frank: Exactly. It’s just, you most likely you can’t even apply yet as a junior, but that time is going to be coming very quickly. Um, like I said, by August, you should be able to start applying for outside scholarships.

Sydney: And kind of, um, going off of that, what are some of the documents students need to gather before applying for financial aid or scholarships?

Frank: comes to financial aid, u Um, parents taxes. Um, and what’s called prior prior year. Um, the way I tell families to, um, to know which year it’s for is you just subtract two years off of your fall that you’re applying for.

So if you’re going to be. Fall 24, 25, you need parents, 2022 taxes for fall 25, you need 23 taxes. So it’s always two years minus the fall, uh, semester. Um, uh, in regards to the FAFSA, a lot of this is all done electronically where once you make an FSA ID. Um, you and your parents, it will link everything to your parents taxes.

And there’s not a lot of tax input to do on the FAFSA, which is really nice. Um, for those of you that are applying to CSS profile schools and those ones, you do have to manually kind of type in the tax information. Um, and then you have to upload those taxes electronically, but as long as you have copies electronically, you don’t necessarily need a paper form of the taxes.

Um, and that’s something that we can help you fill out those forms when it comes time as well.

Sydney: And could you briefly touch on the differences between the FASFA and CSS profile and are, is it always needed that you need to do both forms?

Frank: Uh, no, great question. Um, you to be reviewed for financial need every school in the country You have to do a FAFSA. So that one’s like a non negotiable if you want to be reviewed for need Uh, the css profile is only if the school requires that form So when it comes to filling out financial aid, you’re either doing the FAFSA by itself or you’re doing FAFSA and profile There’s never profile by itself If that makes sense, um, and if you go to collegeboard.org, which most of you probably have an account with your SATs and things like that, there’s a list of what schools require the CSS profile. Traditionally, it’s going to be your private, um, your more expensive schools require the CSS profile because it is a more detailed application. where it asks a lot more, uh, in depth question about income and assets.

And it, it tries to get a more fuller picture of your finances, but it is, it is, it is a lengthy form. It is, it is, uh, there are a lot of, a lot of questions on that form.

Sydney: Great. And we have another audience question. Um, what should students do to keep tab of the scholarships they receive from external sources?

Frank: A great question. Um, if, A lot of like the reason we kind of like going, the reason I like going Mary personally is it kind of keeps track of that stuff for you. Um, but you know, you’re going to have, we offer the financial aid metrics form that you guys can fill out, which is basically like, um, it has like bullet points for you to input what a school’s cost of attendance is, what their average debt is, what’s.

You know what you were expected to pay. Um, you know, you can make another tab within that excel spreadsheet or google sheet that we use. Um, enlist any scholarships you’ve received. That’s that’s a great idea to make sure you keep track of them. Um, uh, so. Yeah, I would keep it all in one place, add it to the financial aid metrics form that we send to you guys.

Sydney: Yes, that’s great advice and keeping track of those deadlines for scholarship applications is definitely important too. So it’s good to use something that keeps it all in one place. Um, all right, and could you go over some of the different types of student loans available and, um, just kind of the difference between them and why some might be more favorable than others?

Frank: Yeah, absolutely. So, uh, By completing a FAFSA, being either a U. S. citizen or an eligible non citizen, you’re automatically eligible as a freshman for 5, 500 in a federal direct loan. By no means does that have to be taken out, but typically that’s going to be the lowest interest rate that you’ll be offered is that federal loan.

Of the 5, 500. Um, every July is when the, the interest rates get named for that upcoming year. Um, this past year, I believe the interest rates have been pretty, they’ve been, they’ve been pretty set at like the 3. Eight range or something like that. I’d have to, I’d have to look that up. Sorry. I don’t know that top of my head.

Um, And so if you need extra loan money in addition to the 5,500 Uh, essentially there’s two options for private educational for other loans. One is going to be your private loan, uh, where the students, the borrower and a co signer is needed. When those that it’ll be borrowing from a third party website, um, your, your Sally Mays, SoFi, uh, Wells Fargo, Department of Ed, um, Nelnet, um, there, there’s a plethora of outside lenders that you can apply to.

Um, most schools will have some sort of lender list on their website. Um, I know, uh, the student aid website has lenders listed as well. Um, in those cases, The interest rate is going to be based on the cosigner and those typically tend to be the higher interest rates of the of the loans that are offered.

Um, the other loan is going to be the federal parent loan where the parent is the borrower. That interest rate is in the 6 percent range, which is Higher than the student’s federal loan, but typically that’s going to be lower than the private loans that you can find Um, but again that loan is strictly in the parent’s name It can never be um, like put in the student’s name or anything like that.

Um, and it is a very light credit check So the federal government when it comes to the parent loan are basically looking at major hits to your credit. Um, you know, they’re not looking at income to debt ratio. So as long as you don’t have any bankruptcies or major hits to your credit, um, as a parent, you can get the parent loan, um, which allows you to borrow up to the cost of attendance.

Sydney: Thank you. That was, uh, really informational. And could you kind of describe how loan repayment works as well and What are some options for students if they can’t make a payment?

Frank: So the federal loans are the best type of loan for those repayment options for your like situation. Like you mentioned, like if you can’t pay, they have income based repayment plans.

You can do, um, pay as you earn payment plans. Um, if you take out a federal loan, they’re automatically going to set you up on a 10 year repayment plan that starts six months after graduation. And then you have the ability to change that loan or how you’re paying it back as much as you want. Um, there’s a graduated repayment plan that can push it out from 20 to 30 years to repay.

If you do that, you will end up probably paying double, maybe even triple your loan based on the interest. Um, so I, I don’t really advise that option, but there is that option to kind of push it out. The income based repayment is great because it’s going to be based on what your income is. Um, But again, that can be good for the first few years.

But you know, in theory, uh, you know, once you get into the workforce, as your income goes up, they’re going to expect you to pay more. Um, uh, but there are all types of different kind of like avenues you can, you can go on, um, you can, like, if you were to lose your job or family emergency, you could call the lender and they could literally put the loan on hold and you don’t have to pay anything for six months again, interest will be accumulating, but it is a nice tool that like, you know, if, if life gets in the way.

Um, the private loans and that same goes for the federal parent loan. So the federal parent loan, same idea you’re as a parent, you can work out the payment arrangements that work best for you when it comes to private loans. They’re typically not so friendly, um, where, you know, they’re going to expect their money every month.

Um, Now, again, you can extend the payment plan. Um, you can adjust it like you, they’ll, they will work with you, but they don’t have as many options as the federal government

and also, sorry, just on that note, uh, most schools allow for a payment plan. Um, again, the payment plan is not going to save you any money, but it’s just going to kind of buy you some time throughout the year when it comes to a payment plan. No, it all has to be paid within that academic year. So, you know, it’s not like.

You can go on a 10 year payment plan for four years of college. It’s if the payment plan to keep the student in good academic standing You need to make your payments on time every month Um, typically those can be in a 10 month payment plan period for the year and you can do a mix of them Sorry, i’m thinking of things here.

You can do a mix of them too. Like you can do a loan A parent can do a small loan a student can do a small loan and you can do a payment plan So, you know you have all those options whatever works best for you and your family Family situation.

Sydney: Anything else? Any other

Frank: at the moment?

Sydney: Very customizable. Good. Good to know. And speaking of just individual circumstances, we have another question. If a good portion of income is supporting a disabled family member, can that also be considered in the needs assessment outside of just considering income and assets?

Frank: Absolutely. Um, it depends on if that school’s a FAFSA only or CSS profile school. The reason I say that is because on the CSS profile, there’s actually a section where you can type in your own words, like write about your situation, where if it’s a FAFSA school, you won’t be able to do that. In either case, I would advise reaching out to the school, like once you fill out those forms, even before you get the award letter, and just.

even before you’re accepted and kind of explain the situation. Typically what they’ll say is they need some sort of documentation or, you know, what money goes where, or what is the exact situation. And then, um, they won’t typically schools aren’t going to do any appeals until you have an award letter because they’ll say things like you don’t have an award letter to, to, to review yet.

But once, once you’re accepted and have an award letter in that type of situation, absolutely reach out to the school. All schools, schools. that I’ve ever spoke with or worked with have some sort of appeal process. And that would certainly fall under the, the, uh, approved appeal, um, options where, um, you know, medical family emergency expenses that aren’t really taken into account on your income, but it obviously deducts from the, the cash on hand.

Um, so yeah, school can certainly work with you.

Sydney: And you mentioned that appeals process. Could you talk a little bit more about what that is and when a student might want to appeal their financial aid decision and just what that process is like?

Frank: Yeah. Uh, when it comes to a financial aid appeal, um, typically it’s going to be, if it, if it’s not a situation like we just, where it’s, uh, you know, a family with a disability or something like that.

Typically the way to get an appeal approved is if there’s been a change in income or a change in financial circumstance. Um, for example, you know, for fall 25, 26 academic year, you guys will be applying with your parents, 23 income. You know, if a family member loses their job in 2024 and the income is severely reduced, you can reach out to the school and let them know that.

And then what they’ll have you do is probably fill out an appeal form and then they’ll ask for the 2024 taxes once filed. Um, so I definitely advise families. Especially if you know that your income is going to be less than 2024 to get those taxes filed as quickly as possible because schools won’t do appeals without seeing that new age year, new tax year, and the reduction in income.

The other types of appeals are going to be medical, You know, if there’s, if there’s been, um, hospital bills, medical bills that weren’t reported on the forums or they came out of nowhere, um, natural disasters, um, if you have a one time bump in income, um, if it’s typically like if, if a parent’s in like sales or real estate, sometimes a fluctuating job won’t allow for an appeal, but you can still have that conversation with the school.

Um, or, you know, there’s been situations where, you know, my employer owed me money from three years back and they, and it all got paid out in 2023. And my income has never been this high again, same idea. You just gotta get them your 2024 taxes to show that it was a blip or an anomaly. Um, the, um, but again, typically it’s going to be that like.

Hey, my income went down and here’s the proof and then, and then they can approve appeals.

Sydney: Thank you for that. And, uh, we have another question. Do you have any information for military families or families with disabled veterans?

Frank: So, um, most schools will have some sort of VA office, um, if they’re, you know, if, if, if like a parent’s giving the benefits to a child or, um, you know, if the students have veteran themselves, or if there’s some sort of disability, uh, um, award passed down, I’m trying to think, um, yeah, there’s a spot on the FAFSA and the profile to mark that you may have veterans benefits.

And then that kind of like triggers the school to have the VA. But again, most schools have some sort of V. A. Office or a V. A. Liaison that can answer those more specific questions when it becomes that time. But the V. A. Benefits are awarded kind of like an outside scholarship where it’s going to apply right to the account.

It goes right to the bill and it makes your bill less.

Sydney: All right. Thank you. And for that question. Um, yeah, keep submitting your questions. They are all great. I’m going to switch gears for a moment and talk about CollegeAdvisor because you can continue to get more great help like help from that of the financial aid team and people like Frank. CollegeAdvisor has a team of over 300 former admissions officers and admissions experts who are all ready to help you and your family navigate the challenging and confusing college process on one on one advising sessions.

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You can increase your odds and take the next step in your college admissions journey by signing up for a free 45 minute to 60 minute strategy session with an admissions specialist on our team by using the QR code on the screen. And during that meeting, we can review your current extracurricular lists, your application strategy, how those things align with your college list and outline the tools that you need to stand out in a competitive admissions world.

So that QR code will stay back on the screen, but we’re going to head back to the Q and a session now. And, um, I want to ask you a question about scholarships. So are there any kinds of scholarship scams that you should look out for and how should students avoid those scams?

Frank: So I haven’t seen any scams per se, but I typically tell families and students to kind of stay away from any scholarship platform that’s asking for money because kind of the whole point of a scholarship is to get free money.

Um, and there’s so many, avenues out there that are free, um, that you shouldn’t have to pay to apply for out for, for free money basically. Um, but you know, that’s something where if you find one or it seems too good to be true, you can send it to someone like myself. You can send it to your admissions advisor.

You can send it to anybody here. Any of us here at CollegeAdvisor can, Help review to find out if it’s, if it’s viable or not. Um, but I haven’t come across any that I know of that are scams, but I do know they’re out there.

Sydney: Thank you for that. And, um, in terms of applying to the scholarships, what are some common essay topics that you see, or like how should students prepare for applying to scholarships now?

Frank: You know, there it’s a lot different than when I was going to school, um, where they’re not. A lot of them are still asking for your standard essay, like 500 words or less.

Tell us the last time you did something, ax fell in the blank. Right. Um, you know, if, if, uh, if a scholarship is asking about your volunteer hours, like don’t write about your, your big game, right. And like, very basic things like that. Um, keep it under the word count. If it’s, if it says 500 or less, do not go over 500.

They want it short, sweet to the point. Um, they are reviewing a lot. What I’ve seen a lot of recently is like submit a two minute video of explaining why you would benefit from this or, you know, more abstract of like, you know, explain yourself as an animal and why it has to do. So there’s a lot of, it’s not just the straight like black and white, write an essay.

We review essays. So there’s a lot of different avenues that they’re asking for, which I find pretty interesting and kind of nice. Um, that going Mary website also kind of lists how long it takes to fill out each one. Like they give you like, this won’t take 45 minutes. This one should take five minutes.

Things like that, which is kind of nice too. Um, but you know, I would definitely have that like few hundred words kind of statement of why you think you should get awarded a scholarship, but then, you know, manipulate it based on, on the questions at hand. And unfortunately, I’m not the one to help you write a great essay.

I’m more of a numbers person, but

Sydney: well, that leads into my next question. Cause it is about numbers. Um, are scholarships and financial aid taxable?

Frank: Oh, that’s a good question. Um,

So they can so that you don’t need to they don’t need to be submitted like if you get financial aid, you don’t have to follow taxes and and and Add them on as the taxable income If it goes over a certain amount sometimes it can be taxable. Um, but Um, I forget the exact Yeah, I have to get back to you on that one.

Um, but you know, being a student is going to be a benefit from taxes, not a, not a hindrance.

Sydney: Yeah, I’m also forgetting the specific number, but I do know that after you get over a certain threshold, it can be considered. Um, okay, this question says, would admissions advisors be able to assist in locating scholarships we can apply to, whether it be academic or sports scholarships?

I would definitely say yes, as someone who is an admissions officer or, you know, an admissions advisor here at CollegeAdvisor. That’s definitely something that we do. We use the search websites that Frank was mentioning earlier, along with our own internal networks of scholarships to help find things that people can apply to, um, that are directly related to the student’s academic and extracurricular profile.

Um, but I am curious to hear your take on the kind of athletic scholarships and how those. kind of differ from the rest of your merit or need based aid.

Frank: Yeah. Uh, athletic aid is going to be on a recruitment basis. Um, so I mean, athletic aid is like a different department within, within, within schools. Like it’s completely outside of the realm of financial aid.

Again, usually the, usually the, the athletic departments can be, they’ll have someone in the financial aid office is kind of like a liaison, but really they have their own kind of separate office. that makes sure that all of the aid gets paid. Again, um, you know, every student has a bill when you’re an athlete or if you’re like a full athletic scholarship, the bill is just going to be paid by what says like, you know, athletic scholarship a or b or one on one or whatever.

Um, but so typically if you’re not a recruited athlete, then there is not going to be any. Any aid availability now, you know, if you’re, if you’re on a team or, or trying out for a team or trying to walk on, sometimes there can be like leftover scholarships. If you’re not a head counting sport, um, for example, times track and field, um scholarships or small cover your books or thing you’re a walk on athlete, give you a small amount t a head counting sport, Men’s women’s basketball, your football, like women’s, uh, women’s like softball, things like that, where there is no partial scholarships, you’re either full on scholarship or you’re a walk on.

Um, and again, any athletic aid is going to be based on recruitment by the coach and the school and things of that nature.

Sydney: And just kind of also going off of that tangent, could you also describe the difference between like D1, D2, D3 and how that relates to scholarships?

Frank: Absolutely. Um, division, the difference between division one and division two is the number of scholarships. I believe like division one, you have 12, um, for like, for basketball, for example, and for division two, I believe they have 10.

Um, division one, um, they’re head counting. So like I said, you can’t give 12 scholarships to 20 kids. It’s 12 to 12, where division two, you can split them up. You can get a, you can give half scholarships and things like that. Um, division three, is going to be no athletic aid, um, where, um, you are paying the bill just as any other regular student.

So there is no athletic aid, uh, by when you’re division three, you have things like, you know, you’ll get, Like if you’re on campus when school’s not in campus, you get like special meal privileges, you’ll get like gear and stuff like that. But as far as like paying the school, you just got to pay the school just as, uh, the general population does.

Um, and yeah, it’s, it’s pretty much the amount of the scholarships that can be awarded.

Sydney: Yeah. Thank you for that explanation. Um, and what about studying abroad? How should students handle financial aid if they’re planning on studying abroad sometime during their undergrad career?

Frank: So typically, The way it works is the cost you pay shouldn’t really change as long as that school has a partnership or an abroad program.

So, you know, you’re paying the same tuition to your school that you’re going to, which is that semester, you’re going to be physically somewhere else. Um, depending on the school and like, you know, some schools offer additional grant funding for one semester’s worth. Like I’ve worked at schools where it’s like, you know, if you go abroad, um, will give you an extra grant one time.

Um, you know, some schools don’t offer that, but um, all schools that have an abroad program have a study abroad office and can answer questions like that. Um, it is going to differ from school to school, but the general rule is that the semester you’re abroad. Like you’re going to have more outside costs, but your billable costs will be the same where you bill tuition fees.

If it’s a partnership program at your school, sometimes you pay the room and board. Sometimes you’ll have to pay the partner school, the room and board, but you pay the tuition back home. So the overall cost should look similar to what you’re usually paying. In school, in my, in my experience, schools will, will assist more for like one semester.

If you try to go more than one semester, then it becomes out of pocket.

Sydney: Uh, what about maintaining your financial aid eligibility from year to year? Do students ever have to reapply for financial aid or yeah, does that number stay the same all four years?

Frank: Uh, yes, you will have to do the financial aid forms every year. So, um, Yeah, every year you got to do the FAFSA one as a profile school.

You got to the profile every year. Um, you, you do have to, you do have to meet what’s called federal satisfactory academic progress, SAP or SAP is the acronym. Um, typically, That requirement is going to be lower than the academic standards of a lot of the schools, like for example, your Harvard, your Cornell’s, your Stanford’s.

Um, like if you’re not meeting the federal regulate, you would have, you would have been on academic probation way before you met the federal. Federal, uh, floor. That makes sense. Um, but yes, typically you got to keep over like a two, uh, a two. Oh, and you have to be making academic progress where it’s not just about you can’t just be taking classes and dropping them, taking classes and dropping them.

You have to be like completing 60 percent of your classes. and keeping above a 2. 0 average, um, and making your way through. So, um, basically it’s like if you drop a class before you get the failing grade every time, eventually your progress can catch up with you as well. But again, most academic schools, academic requirements are more strict than the federal.

So if you’re, if you’re like going downhill or on academic probation, you’re going to be more in trouble with the school before you’re in trouble with your federal aid.

Sydney: And are there any other ways that students could have their financial aid package revoked?

Frank: No, I mean, unless there’s like a disciplinary action, if you get kicked out of school for. You know, fighting, partying, any of that kind of thing, you know, obviously it’s subject for, for removal there. Um, but no, as long as you’re keeping academic progress, um, and, you know, if something happens where you need to take a leave of absence, you know, where it’s not disciplinary, if, you know, family life comes up, You can put it pretty much everything on hold.

That’s a discussion to have with your academic counselor. Like once you’re in school, um, they do have approved leave of absences where, you know, you’re allowed to take a break and you may have to do some sort of like, um, go in front of a board about why you’re going and then to come back, things like that.

But, you know, schools will work with you in that regard.

Sydney: Great. And, uh, this might be our final questions, unless anyone puts anything last minute in the chat, but. I’m just wondering what are the benefits or kind of differences of a school being need blind in their admissions and what does that mean for a student’s chances of getting into that school?

Frank: So the need blind is basically Like

where a school is looking at you for your, for your, a academic excellence only, not your family’s income, where, um, you know, if a school’s need aware, you know, someone with a higher income, um, in theory could get offered a spot because they don’t have to give up any aid. They don’t have to discount their tuition.

It saves money on budget. Most schools that I’ve worked with are seen are all need blind these days, where the only time they go into need aware is when they’re reviewing either international students or like the wait list or. You know, if there’s a, uh, if there’s a small window to like, get another student in or things like that, but for the initial review, your, your early decisions, your regular decisions, those are most schools.

These days are need blind where they’re not looking at your income. So rather you’ll you are a. a lottery winner or, you know, on the poverty line, it should not affect you getting accepted to a school.

Sydney: Great. Thank you for that. And thank you again, Frank, for your entire presentation. Um, I definitely got a couple of great refreshers for the financial aid process. Um, we hope everyone enjoyed today’s webinar, navigated financial aid and scholarships for college. And we just want to remind you that CollegeAdvisor has a lot of other great June webinars coming up.

Um, so here’s the rest of our June schedule and thank you again for joining us today.

Frank: Thank you.