The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will open on October 1st for seniors planning to start college in the Fall of 2023. Noelle Essig, College and Career Counselor, pulled together various resources to assist you. There are so many places to get support that you should never feel alone with this. When in doubt, call the financial aid office at one of the colleges you are considering. They are there to help! Check out this Q and A to help you along the way!

To apply for federal student aid, such as federal grants, work-study, and loans, you need to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®). Completing and submitting the FAFSA is free and easier than ever, and it gives you access to the largest source of financial aid to pay for college or career school.

In addition, many states and colleges use your FAFSA information to determine your eligibility for state and school aid, and some private financial aid providers may use your FAFSA information to determine whether you qualify for their aid.

Click here to learn more: https://studentaid.gov/help/fafsa

MRS.ESSIG TIP: I often get asked if parents should fill it out if they "know" they won't receive government aid. My response is that you won't get any aid if you don't try, especially the first year. And in my own experience, my college sons received merit scholarships to their college. In order to receive their merit scholarship, it is a requirement that we fill out the FAFSA each year. Also, during COVID times, when schools gave out COVID relief funds, many times it only went to students who had filed the FAFSA. It doesn't hurt to fill it out!

The FAFSA will open on October 1st for the 2023-2024 school year. This it the form our seniors will fill out. Please note that you do NOT have to complete the FAFSA on October 1st. I have found that sometimes the system can overload and parents get frustrated because they get booted out. I suggest you work on gathering your materials and start filling it out a few days after it opens. It is not as awful as many of us remember from our college days. I find that if you prepare and have materials ready, you can fill the form out in less than 30 minutes.

MRS. ESSIG TIP: During the stress of college applications, this is something the parents/guardians can help check off the list. With a little bit a prep, the FAFSA honestly isn't that bad! Just do it!

The FAFSA can be found by going to https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa. The FAFSA does NOT cost money to fill out. Never pay money to fill out the FAFSA so be sure you are at the correct website. Watch this helpful video to explain the FAFSA process.

Four types of financial aid:

1. Scholarships - merit based aid

2. Grants - need based aid

3. Student employment (federal work-study) - need based aid

4. Loans - need based aid and non-need based aid

Four sources of financial aid:

1. Federal government

2. State government

3. College or university

4. Private sources - organizations and companies

Watch this video to learn more.

Prior to filling out your FAFSA, the student and the parent will each need to create a Federal Student Aid ID (FSA ID). Students and parents will create a separate FSA ID, usernames and passwords are not shared. Record the FSA ID information on Step One of the FSA ID and FAFSA Worksheet.

You may also find it helpful to view this tutorial:

• How to Create an FSA ID video to learn the steps necessary in creating the FSA ID.

PREP IS KEY! If you take the time to gather the materials listed below, filling out the FAFSA will be a breeze! Do NOT MISS THIS IMPORTANT STEP! I promise you that you will get frustrated if you aren't prepared.

Apply for financial aid using the tax information filed in April 2022 which is the 2021 Tax Year. Students (and parents if the student is considered dependent) will need the following information:

Student Information

• Your FSA ID (create an account at Federal Student Aid ID (FSA ID)

• Your Social Security number

• Your driver’s license number (if you have one)

• Your alien registration or permanent resident card (if you are not a U.S. Citizen)

• *Your prior year W-2 forms, 1099, Schedule C, and other records of money earned

• *Your (and you’re spouse’s, if you are married) prior year Federal Income Tax Return (Federal 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ) OR a Foreign Tax Return, Tax Return from Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Federal States of Micronesia, or Palau. The preferred method is uploading your tax information using the Data Retrieval Tool embedded in the FAFSA.

• Your current bank account balances as of the date you’re filing the FAFSA

• Your prior year untaxed income records

• Your current business and investment mortgage information, business and farm records, stock, bond and other investment records

If you can answer “YES” to any of the following you do NOT have to include Parent Information:

• I turned 24 before January 1 of this year

• I am married

• I am serving in active duty or am a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces

• I have children or dependents for whom I provide more than 51% financial support

• I am an emancipated minor or I have a legal guardian who is not my parent

• I have been declared a homeless or unaccompanied youth

• After I turned 13 years old I was orphaned, in foster care, or a ward of the court

If you cannot answer “YES” to one of the above statements, you are considered a dependent student and will need to include parent/step-parent information on the FAFSA.

Parent Information

• Parent FSA ID (create an account at Federal Student Aid ID (FSA ID)

• *Parent prior year Federal Income Tax Return (Federal 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ) OR a Foreign Tax Return, Tax Return from Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Federal States of Micronesia, or Palau. The preferred method is uploading your tax information using the Data Retrieval Tool embedded in the FAFSA.

• *Parent prior year W2s, 1099, Schedule C, and other records of money earned

• Parent prior year untaxed income records

• Parent current bank account balances as of the FAFSA filing date

• Parent current business and investment mortgage information, business and farm records, stock, bond and other investment records

This list provided by Oakland University's Financial Aid Office. Click below for a printable version.

FAFSA Checklist

This video is AMAZING! It will walk you through the entire process and answer 99% of your questions.

You can list up to 10 colleges on your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form. Once you receive your Student Aid Report (SAR), you can make your information available to more colleges through one of the options listed below. Each option will allow the college to receive an electronic copy of your SAR, and you’ll also receive an updated SAR.

Option 1: Select “Log In” on the online FAFSA home page and log in to your application. Then, select the “Add/Update Schools” option. Remove some of the colleges listed on your FAFSA form, add the school codes for the new colleges, and submit the corrections for processing.

Option 2: Call the Federal Student Aid Information Center to add the colleges for you. When you call, you must provide the Data Release Number (DRN) from your SAR or “Confirmation” page.

Option 3: If you have a paper SAR, you can replace the colleges listed on the SAR with other colleges and mail the SAR back to us. Note that the paper SAR allows you to change up to four colleges, not all 10.

Note: If there are 10 colleges on your FAFSA form, any new school codes that you add will replace one or more of the school codes already listed. Any college removed from the list won’t have automatic access to new FAFSA information you provide after you've removed that college. However, the college will still have the data you submitted when you listed that college on your FAFSA form. You aren’t deleting your FAFSA information from the college's system.

Information from https://studentaid.gov/help/more-ten-colleges

Students and families looking for help can register for a Virtual College Financial Aid night provided by the Michigan Student Aid Team.

Virtual Financial Aid Nights

1. MI Student Aid

2. Students and Families

3. Virtual Financial Aid Night

Students and families looking for help paying for college are encouraged to register for a Virtual College Financial Aid Night provided by Michigan Department of Treasury’s MI Student Aid team.

Participants will be able to gather information on the following financial aid topics:

• FAFSA application information
• Federal financial aid programs
• State financial aid programs
• Scholarship searching resources

All sessions are free of charge and open to the public. Please register below for the date that works best for you:

October 4, 2022 - 6:30 p.m.

October 11, 2022 - 6:30 p.m.

October 18, 2022 - 6:30 p.m.

October 25, 2022 - 6:30 p.m.

November 1, 2022 - 6:30 p.m.

November 15, 2022 - 6:30 p.m.

November 22, 2022 - 6:30 p.m.

November 29, 2022 - 6:30 p.m.

We look forward to your participation!

Financial Aid Events

uAspire hosts free virtual events to walk students and families through the financial aid process and applications, provide resources and guidance, and answer questions.

Sign up today! Each session is one hour.

FAFSA Walkthrough

Get an overview of the FAFSA, the application required by all colleges nationwide in order to receive federal financial aid.

Mon, Oct 3 3 PM ET / 12 PM PT

Tue, Oct 25 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT

Wed, Nov 2 6 PM ET / 3 PM PT

Mon, Nov 7 4 PM ET / 1 PM PT

Wed, Dec 7 5 PM ET / 2 PM PT

Register for FAFSA Walkthrough

Scholarship Basics and Tips

Learn about the different types of scholarships, where to find them, and how to apply.

Thu, Sep 29 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT

Tue, Oct 11 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT

Thu, Dec 1 6 PM ET / 3 PM PT

Register for Scholarships event

CSS Profile Walkthrough

This financial aid form is required by some private colleges and universities to apply for student grants and college financial aid.

Tue, Oct 18 6 PM ET / 3 PM PT

Thu, Oct 27 3 PM ET / 12 PM PT

Thu, Nov 17 5 PM ET / 2 PM PT

Tue, Dec 13 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT

Register for CSS Profile Walkthrough

FAFSA Small Group Workshops are available year round to allow multiple students and their parents (when applicable) to get help completing the FAFSA; private breakout rooms are utilized if you have a personal question or need to share your screen privately.

• Register for October 5, 2022 at 6:30 PM with Carrie
• Register for October 18, 2022 at 6:00 PM with Carrie
• Register for October 19, 2022 at 6:00 PM with Carrie
• Register for October 20, 2022 at 6:00 PM with Carrie
• Register for October 25, 2022 at 7:00 PM with Carrie
• Register for October 26, 2022 at 6:30 PM with Carrie
• Register for November 1, 2022 at 6:30 PM with Carrie
• Register for November 2, 2022 at 6:30 PM with Carrie
• Register for November 15, 2022 at 5:00 PM with Carrie
• Register for November 16, 2022 at 6:00 PM with Carrie
• Register for November 21, 2022 at 6:30 PM with Carrie
• Register for November 22, 2022 at 6:30 PM with Carrie
• Register for November 28, 2022 at 7:00 PM with Carrie
• Register for November 29, 2022 at 6:00 PM with Carrie
• Register for November 30, 2022 at 6:00 PM with Carrie
• Register for December 19, 2022 at 6:00 PM with Carrie
• Register for January 17, 2023 at 7:00 PM with Carrie

Never hesitate to reach out to the FAFSA Help Center! They are here to help!

https://studentaid.gov/help-center/contact

Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC)

Live Chat

1-800-433-3243

Email

Hours of Operation

Monday–Friday: 8 a.m.–11 p.m. Eastern time (ET)

Saturday–Sunday: 11 a.m.–5 p.m. ET

Closed on federal holidays; June 19 and 20, in observance of Juneteenth; the day after Thanksgiving; and Dec. 24 and 26.

Open on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and President’s Day.

If you submitted your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online using FAFSA on the Web, then the U.S. Department of Education will process your application within 3-5 days. If you submitted a paper FAFSA, your application will be processed within 7-10 days.

Once your application is processed, you will receive a copy of your Student Aid Report (SAR), which summarizes the information you provided on your FAFSA. Review your SAR and make sure all of the information is complete and accurate.

If there is any missing or incorrect information, then you should complete or correct your FAFSA as soon as possible.

Your SAR will include your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The EFC determines your eligibility for a Federal Pell Grant, and the college uses the EFC to assess your eligibility for other federal and nonfederal student aid.

Once your FAFSA is processed by Federal Student Aid, your SAR is sent to the colleges that you listed on your FAFSA. Each college will use the information on your SAR to determine your eligibility for federal and nonfederal student aid. The colleges you listed are responsible for creating your award package and disbursing your financial aid. However, listing a college on your FAFSA is generally not sufficient to receive aid at that college, as most colleges do not create award packages for every applicant who lists the college on a FAFSA.

You should contact the financial aid office at the college you plan to attend to find out if there are additional requirements for receiving financial aid and to learn more about the process of applying for aid at that college.

Information from https://studentaid.gov/help/after-fafsa

After the FAFSA is Complete

Most times you will need to check your student portal with each college to find your Financial Aid Report. If you have questions, never hesitate to call the Financial Aid office at the college in which you are applying. They are the experts and are there to help you!

After you submit your FAFSA, it's important to make sure you continue tending to your financial aid process by engaging in the following:

• Review the Student Aid Report once the FAFSA has been processed (link delivered via student's email)
• Create a MISSG Student Portal account with the State of Michigan to access additional opportunities

MRS ESSIG TIP: Most colleges will start sending out their financial aid packages around January. You should check your student portal from the college as most times this is where you will find it. Reach out the college financial aid office if you want to know more about their timeline.

Oakland University offers two workshops to help students and their families understand and evaluate the financial aid offers a student may receive from multiple colleges and universities. Download the Financial Aid Offer Evaluation worksheet and use the Net Price Calculator or Estimated Cost of Attendance provided by each school you're considering attending. Visit the Net Price Calculator Center to find the link to every school's NPC.

MRS.ESSIG TIP: We plan to offer a workshop during advisory teaching students how to understand their award letters and how to compare offers. More information to follow.

A school aid offer (sometimes called an award letter) tells you what financial aid you can receive at a particular college or career school.

If you’ve applied to several schools, be sure to compare aid offers to see which school will be the most affordable.

If you listed a school on your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form and have been offered admission by that school, the financial aid office at the school will send you an aid offer (often electronically). The offer includes the types and amounts of financial aid you may receive from federal, state, private, and school sources. This combination of aid is your financial aid package.

You might get a tentative aid offer from a school and then find that it changes later. This could happen for a variety of reasons, such as if you indicated that you plan to live on campus when you submitted your FAFSA form but then later decided to live off campus or if you are selected for verification.

Because your financial aid package is created for you and is based on the cost of attending a particular school, your aid amounts will vary from school to school.

Figuring Out Net Price

Follow these easy steps to figure out your net price, or net cost, for each school, and find out which school will be most affordable for you.

• First, find the cost of attendance for your program on the aid offer. If the school doesn’t list the cost of attendance on the aid offer, ask the financial aid office for this figure. Make sure it includes amounts you will pay to the school directly (such as tuition and fees) as well as other costs (such as living expenses, books and supplies, and transportation).

• Next, subtract the grant and scholarship amounts on your aid offer from the cost of attendance amount. Also subtract any savings you have available to put toward your school costs for the school year. The remaining amount is your net or out-of-pocket cost.

• Compare the net costs for the schools you are considering. The net cost is the amount you will have to pay out of your pocket, using earnings from work or loan funds that you borrow.

If you have any questions or don’t understand what’s in your aid offer, contact the financial aid office at the school. It's there to help!

For instance, it’s important to understand what you’re being offered (e.g., which items in the offer are grants and which are loans). You also need to think about which aid to accept.

Also, because your aid offer might include student loans, it’s important for you to compare the amount of debt you would be taking on at the schools you are considering.

If you find that you’ll need to take out a larger amount in private loans at one school than at another, you should pay special attention to the terms and conditions of the private loans so you understand what your obligations would be. Read about federal versus private loans.

Information from https://studentaid.gov/complete-aid-process/comparing-aid-offers

This form is not needed for most colleges. In the state of Michigan, we know that only U of M Ann Arbor, Hillsdale and Olivet requires it. You can click here to see the list: https://profile.collegeboard.org/profile/ppi/participatingInstitutions.aspx

WHAT is the CSS Profile?

The CSS Profile is an online application used by colleges and scholarship programs to award Institutional (their own)aid. (For federal aid you must complete the FAFSA, available Oct. 1 at fafsa.ed.gov.)

WHEN do I complete the CSS Profile?

Most students complete the application in their senior year of high school. Schools may have different deadlines - be sure to check with each school you are applying to.

WHO must complete the CSS Profile?

Check your colleges’ information to determine whether they require the CSS Profile. A list of participating colleges is also found on the CSS Profile Homepage. Some schools may also require divorced or separated parents to complete separate applications.

HOW do I complete the CSS Profile?

You submit the CSS Profile at cssprofile.org. Once you sign in, you will find a list of useful documents, such as your federal tax returns and other financial information that you’ll need to have on hand to complete the application. Help is provided within the application and additional help is available in English and Spanish by chat, phone, or email by clicking “Contact Us” in the application.

WHAT does the CSS Profile Cost?

The CSS Profile is free for domestic undergraduate students whose family income is up to $100,000. The fee for the initial application is $25. Additional reports are $16. Payment may be made via credit or debit card.

Take a minute to project what student loan debt really means for your future. This is Mrs. Essig's favorite tool to allow you to really understand what student loans mean for monthly payments, years of the loan and total interest paid. Take a look!

In a nutshell, do it now! Check this off your to-do list! Every college has different deadlines for consideration of aid. Technically the State of Michigan's deadline is March 1st but I highly suggest you try to have it completed around Thanksgiving if you can. This timeline is typically early enough that you don't miss college opportunities. Certainly, if you fill it out later, it's okay. Just fill it out!

This resource is always a work in progress. If you find other useful tools, please share them with Noelle Essig, College and Career Counselor, at noelle.essig@wbsd.org. We hope you enjoyed this resource!

Special thanks to Oakland University, uAspire, and FSA Student for useful information!