1. Meghan Cooley
Director of Recruitment Communication | Augustana College
Ryan Gebler
Assistant Director of Financial Aid | Lawrence University
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2. Why do this session?

 Many families have unrealistic
expectations
 Families need to be educated early
 Ignorance takes away access
 We have knowledge to share
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3. Start with the Basics
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4. Paying for College

 Introduce reality
 Introduce it early
 Define payment options
www1.salliemae.com/about/news_info/research/how_america_pays_2010/
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5. Vocabulary/Definitions

 Studentaid.gov/glossary
 English & Spanish
 Discuss the definitions
 Don’t just provide a list
 Keep people engaged/learning
 Meeting bingo
 Prizes
 Remember: ignorance = lack of access
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6. Timeline

 Present a timeline as early as possible
 Provide clear deadlines or milestones
 Help families own the dates
 Mark up family calendars
 What motivates your families?
 Include savings, scholarship and financial
aid deadlines
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7. What FAMILIES Need to Know
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8. What Families Need to Know

1. Types of aid & how to apply
2. Frame expectations
3. Plan of action
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9. 1. Types of Aid

 Gift Aid
 Merit-based
 Talent-based
 Need-based
 Self-Help
 Loans
 Student Employment
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10. Merit & Talent Aid

 Types
 Academic
 Talent
 Service/Involvement
 Athletic
 How to apply
 Application for admission
 Separate application
 Audition
 Interview
 Essay
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11. Need-based Aid

 “Need” is defined by each school’s analysis of:
 FAFSA
 Institutional Application
 Combination of both
 “Need” is relative to Cost of Attendance
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12. Self-Help

 Loans
 Student Employment
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13. Loan Options

 Federal Loan Options
 Stafford
 Limit based on year in school ($5,500, $6,500, $7,500 )
 Perkins
 Not every college participates
 Limited funding
 PLUS
 Parent Loan
 Easy application (must not have adverse credit history)
 Private Student Loans
 Variable & fixed interest rates
 85% of dependent undergraduates need a co-signer
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14. Student Employment

 Different names… pretty much the same thing
 Federal Work-Study
 Student Employment
 Campus Employment
 Paid for hours worked ($ goes directly to the student)
 Can be used for:
 Tuition
 Books
 Pizza, etc.
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15. 2. Frame Expectations

 Net Price Calculator
 Federally mandated
 Estimated Cost of Attendance for that individual at that
specific institution
 Based on income information and, sometimes, academic
information
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16. 2. Frame Expectations

 Dispel hope for “magical” full-tuition scholarship
 Hope is not a plan
 Are scholarships stackable?
 Do scholarships help meet need?
 Dismiss myths
 Private schools provide grants to bring the cost down to that of a
public school. MYTH!
 Disregard averages
 “Half the population is below average.” –Ryan’s statistics professor
 Ask questions
 How is scholarship determined for first year?
 How is it renewed for future years? (GPA, major, other
commitments?)
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17. 3. Plan of Action

 Understand your EFC
 Net Price Calculator (available on school’s website)
 FAFSA 4Caster
 FAFSA
 What is the family’s budget?
 What is most important for the student?
 Get organized & apply!
 Which board game are you playing?
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18. Plan of Action:
Teaching Families About the
Financial Aid Process
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19. What is an EFC?

 WHAT IT’S NOT…
 A dollar amount expected from income and/or assets
 An estimate of extra cash available
 WHAT IT IS…
 A financial index used to determine eligibility for federal
student aid (i.e. Pell Grant, Subsidized Stafford Loan)
 A measure of a family’s capacity over time to absorb
educational costs
 An important index for families to know
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20. How to Determine Your EFC

 FAFSA 4caster
https://fafsa.ed.gov/FAFSA/app/f4cForm
 Other “estimators”
 The actual application… the FAFSA!
 Complete the FAFSA as a junior, sophomore, or freshman
 Gives you an idea of what to expect when you complete the
FAFSA after January 1 of your senior year.
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21. What’s Your Budget?

 Annual & Monthly
 Sources
 Parent
 Savings
 Income
 Student
 Savings
 Summer Earnings
 Employment during the academic year
 Other
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22. What’s Important to the Student?

 Debt-Free vs. School-of-Choice
 The Bottom Line vs. “Fit”
 Earning Potential vs. Loan Debt
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23. Get Organized

 What are the deadlines?
 Deadline by type of application
 Federal
 Institutional
 State?
 Scholarships
 Firm or soft deadline?
 What are the documents?
 How can you track documents?
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24. Applications:
Federal v. Institutional

 Federal
 FAFSA = eligibility for federal student aid
 Most institutions use this in determining need-based aid
 Institutional
 Different questions, different rules, different game
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25. Timeline

What When
Preliminary Planning Freshman, Sophomore, Junior
Deadlines & Documents Summer before Senior Year
Application for Admission Fall of Senior Year
Institutional Application(s) Varies: November-March
FAFSA January/February of Senior Year
“Outside Scholarships” Varies: November-April
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26. Know what questions to ask
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27. What’s your pie look like?

 Where is the money coming from?
 Do parents know?
 Does the student know?
 Coach them through what questions to
ask themselves
 Prepare them to discuss their financial
plan with a college
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28. Talking to Colleges

 Families need to:
 be comfortable talking finances
 ask direct questions
 be proactive
 discuss scholarships, financial aid,
etc. EARLY in their college search
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29. References

 Best Definitions: studentaid.gov/glossary
 How Families Pay Graph:
www1.salliemae.com/about/news_info/research/how_america_pays_2010/
 Public Service Pieces:
 Online: collegequestions.org
 Hardcopy: order from augustana.edu/publicservice
 Preparing for College: The Parent Path
 Preparing for College: the College Path Checklist
 Preparing for College: 25 Questions to Ask a College
 How Families Pay for College
 The Liberal Arts and Your Education
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30. Meghan Cooley
meghancooley@augustana.edu
Ryan Gebler
geblerr@lawrence.edu
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