Guide To Fafsa Questions

2015 Guide to FAFSA, CSS Profile, College Financial Aid, & EFC
Use the article from Forbes to answer these questions in complete sentences. Please
change your responses to another color or bold.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/troyonink/2014/11/28/2015-guide-to-fafsa-css-profile-collegefinancial-aid-and-expected-family-contribution-efc/
Applying for College Financial Aid

1. What are the 2 possible forms to complete to apply for need-based financial aid?
The 2 possible forms to complete to apply for need-based financial aid are FAFSA
and CSS Profile.
2. What form do most colleges and universities nationwide use to determine need-based
financial aid?
Most colleges and universities nationwide use FAFSA to determine need-based
financial aid.
3. What is the CSS Profile used for?
It is used to assess the students eligibility for the colleges own institutional
dollars.
4. What colleges require the CSS Profile?
The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, William & Mary, Georgia Institute of
Technology and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are examples of
flagship state universities that also require the Profile.
Calculating Your Expected Family Contribution
5. What is the process for applying for and obtaining financial aid?
The student is required to complete and submit as part of the process of applying
for financial aid, and after all of the time and information it takes to complete the
form(s), it all boils down to three letters, EFC, which stands for expected family
contribution. You provide your financial information on the aid forms (FAFSA and
CSS Profile), submit the forms online to the processing centers for each respective
form, and the information from the forms goes into the aid calculations (the
Federal Methodology, Institutional Methodology and Consensus Methodology).
6. What is the EFC?
EFC is Expected Family Contribution.
7. How is EFC calculated?
EFC is the output of the aid forms and calculations. Your data goes in and your
childs EFC comes out and goes to the colleges aid departments that the child asks
the data to be sent to on the aid forms. All three of the EFC formulas focus
primarily on the assets and income of the parents and student, family size and the
number of dependent children enrolled in college in a given year to assess the
familys ability to pay for college using the income and assets that they have.
8. What factors determine a persons EFC?
The factors that determine a persons EFC are the assets and income of the
parents and student, family size and the number of dependent children enrolled in
college in a given year.
9. Why might a person get 3 different EFC amounts?
The factors that determine a persons EFC might change.
Using EFC to Determine the Need for Financial Aid
10.How is EFC used to determine if a student qualifies for need-based financial aid?
EFC is used to analyze a students need for financial aid using a simple formula
that subtracts the students expected family contribution (EFC) from a colleges
total cost of attendance (Cost of Attendance EFC = Financial Need). If a students
EFC is less than a colleges cost of attendance, then the student qualifies for needbased financial aid.
Cost of Attendance
11.What elements add up to the cost of attendance?
Cost of attendance is obviously one of the two variables needed to determine
need-based aid eligibility. Cost of attendance is the total cost of enrolling at a
college, including tuition, fees, room & board, books, travel and personal
expenses.
12.What is the national average cost of attendance for:
a. 2-Year Public College?
$20,000
b. 4-Year Public College?
$28,000
c. 4-Year Private College?
$55,000
d. 4-Year Elite College?
$65,000
Putting EFC into Perspective
13.How would a student qualify for need-based financial aid?
A student would qualify for need-based financial aid if their EFC value is in the blue
section (low).
14.What are students eligible for when they qualify for need-based financial aid?
Students are eligible to receive need-based grants, scholarships, work-study and
student loans as part of the studentss financial aid package.
15.Why is it incorrect to assume a student will get financial aid if s/he is eligible?
It is incorrect to assume this because eligibility does not mean certainty.
16.Why would a student be denied need-based financial aid?
A student may be denied need-based financial aid if their EFC value is in the red
section (high).
Eligible for Aid at One College, But Not at Another
17.What is eligibility for need-based financial aid dependent on?
A students eligibility for need-based aid is relative to the cost of attendance of
each college the student is considering.
18.Why might a student be eligible for aid at one college but not at another?
The students EFC might be higher than the cost of attendance at another college.
Predicting the Financial Aid Award
19.When will students know their financial aid package amounts?
They will know their financial aid package amounts when they receive their
financial award letter.
20.What types of resources are included in a financial aid package?
The resources included are federal money and private scholarships.
What to Do if Your Family Has Special Financial Circumstances
21.What form does not include a place to explain special situations?

The FAFSA does not include a place to explain special situations.
22.What form does have a place to explain special situations?
The CSS profile has a place to explain special situations.
23.What can parents do if using the FAFSA to explain their financial circumstances?
They can explain legitimate circumstances such as family illness, divorce,
separation, one-time spikes in income, job loss, etc.
How College Selection Impacts Financial Aid
24.What factors make a student more likely to get an aid package that meets a higher
percentage of their need?
One factor that makes a student more likely to get an aid package that meets a
higher percentage of their need is academic eligibility.
25.Why is aid more complex at elite private colleges?
An elite private college, by federal law, will require the FAFSA to be completed to
determine the students eligibility for federal student aid, but will require the
student to also complete the CSS Profile to determine the students need
(eligibility) for its own institutional aid dollars. And since the two formulas
calculate EFC differently, have different provisions for some circumstances, and in
the case of the CSS Profile, may also require financial information from noncustodial parents as well as the parent with whom the child resides (if divorced or
separated), the students aid eligibility could be much lower at one college versus
another on the basis of what aid form and formula a college uses.
Merit Aid
26.What is merit aid based on?
They are based GPA and SAT scores.
27.Why is merit aid so great?
They are grants that do not have to be paid back.
28.What is important to know about merit aid at elite colleges?
Almost all of the elite colleges in the country do not offer academic merit aid. You
get aid at those institutions only if you demonstrate a need for it, which means
your EFC has to be less than the sticker price.
Student Gets Merit Aid But No Need-Based Aid
29.What will happen if a student qualifies for merit aid but not need-based aid?
If a student doesnt qualify for need based financial aid, but is awarded merit aid,
then the out-of-pocket cost will be the sticker price minus the merit aid award.
Why Merit Aid Reduces Need-Based Aid Eligibility
30.True or False: If you qualify for need based aid and merit aid, you subtract both of them from
the college cost to determine how much you will pay.
False
31.True or False: If you qualify for need based aid and earn a scholarship, you will have a lower
cost to pay than if you did not have the scholarship.
False
The Out-of-Pocket Cost of College
32.What information will be given at the end of the college admissions and aid application
process?
At the end of the college admissions and aid application process, you will arrive at
a list of colleges to which the student has been accepted for admission, and have
been given an official financial aid award letter by each of those institutions that
explains the students eligibility for all of the aid that he/she is eligible for and/or
has been awarded, including outside scholarships, state grants, student loans,
work-study, etc.
33.What elements are included in the financial aid award letter?
The award letter includes the total cost of attendance to enroll for the upcoming
academic year, including tuition, fees, room, board, books, travel and personal
expenses.
34.What factors contribute to the total cost of attendance?
The total cost of attendance to enroll for the upcoming academic year includes
tuition, fees, room, board, books, travel and personal expenses.
35.What is the formula for out-of-pocket cost?
The out-of-pocket cost for each respective college will be the cost of attendance of
each college minus the amount of the aid package at each college.
36.Why might the out-of-pocket cost be greater than what is calculated using that formula?
If parents and/or students take on student loans to fund a given college, then the
out-of-pocket cost increases to include the interest on that principal borrowed to
fund that college.
Extra Credit: At home, speak with your parents and review the chart in the article 2015 EFC
Quick Reference Table for College Aid and answer these questions.
A. Is it likely you will qualify for need-based financial aid?
B. What is the plan to pay for college?
C. Are there any colleges your parents will not let you go to? Or, are there any limits they
have for where you can go to college? (Distance, cost, 2-year or 4-year, etc.)

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2015 Guide to FAFSA, CSS Profile, College Financial Aid, & EFC

Applying for College Financial Aid

21.What form does not include a place to explain special situations?

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