Federal Student Aid



NTT DATA INC Moderator: Christal SimmsSeptember 25, 20183:00 pm CTCoordinator:Welcome and thank you for standing by.Today’s call is being recorded. If you have any objections you may disconnect at this time.All participants are in a listen only mode for the duration of today’s call. Should you need any assistance throughout the call please press star 0.I would now like to turn the call over to your host, Ms. Ashley Harris. You may begin, thank you, ma’am.Ashley Harris:Hi. Thank you so much. This is Ashley Harris with the Office of Federal Student Aid. Today’s webinar is on the FAFSA process specifically on filling out the FAFSA Form.So I think many of you on the call today are preparing for the October 1 launch of the new FAFSA. So I just really wanted to give you all some helpful tips and, you know, some ideas on how to prepare. That way ideally October 1st goes as seamlessly as possible.So this webinar just to clarify is directed to parents and students. This is just another resource for you all. If there are any college access professionals on the call who are looking for resources I definitely recommend that you visit the Financial Aid Toolkit. That’s financialaidtoolkit. for resources for your outreach efforts.Also if any of you have any technical issues during the call if you look at the top of your screen you’ll see a Raise Hand feature. We have technical support on standby so you can get help if you run into any issues.One of the cool things about our webinar is that we have a live Q&A chat forum. So on the right hand side of your screen you’ll see a Q&A chat box. We have about two or three people on standby to answer your questions so feel free to send those into us. And we’ll do our very best to answer all of your questions today.So to get us started, again this is Ashley here at the Office of Federal Student Aid so we’re a part of the U.S. Department of Education. And we provide more than $120 billion in federal grants, loans and work study funds each year to help you pay for college or for your school.The agenda for today this is based off of content from our web site . Again that’s . That is our web site for you all, for parents and students. And it is a trusted resource and it’s really the only place that we recommend you go to for information on federal financial aid to help you pay for school.So to get us started I’m going to briefly go over some information on the FSA ID process, what documents you need to gather in order to fill out your FAFSA Form and apply for financial aid, where do you go to get help, starting the form itself and providing your basic personal information and what that entails, listing colleges and/or career schools on the form, determining your dependency status, reporting your parents’ information, providing financial information, signing and submitting the FAFSA Form, taking the next steps and then a piece at the end for Q&A.So it looks like a lot but we’re just going to go over a little bit here and there within each section. And I’ll be pointing you all to some resources so for example if you mostly have questions about listing colleges and career schools, you’ll see some references specific to that section in just a little bit.So first section, creating an FSA ID, so if you aren’t familiar with it already, the FSA ID is basically your User Name and Password that you use to log into certain U.S. Department of Education web sites. It’s really important to note that this is your legal signature. And it shouldn’t be created or used by anyone other than you.So if you’re a student that means, you know, not even sharing that with a parent, a friend, a school official. Again that’s your legal signature so you want to keep that information safe.You’ll use this Password and User Name every year when you fill out the FAFSA Forms but also for the lifetime of your federal student loans.So there are nine primary steps in creating an FSA ID. First, you’re going to enter your email address, create a User Name then create a Password. Enter your name, date of birth and Social Security Number.Enter your local phone number and the next step is to set up four challenge questions. You then read and accept the terms, verify your mobile phone number and verify your email address.And just one thing I wanted to note is that an email address and a mobile phone number cannot be used with more than one FSA ID. So if you as a student share an email address with someone else like your parent, only one of you will be able to use that email address to create an FSA ID. And this also applies to a mobile phone number.So what should you know about the FSA ID? First thing, again it allows you, parents and students to identify yourselves electronically when accessing our web sites. It’s a User Name and Password. It’s not assigned to you. It’s something that you create.This is really important. Having an FSA ID is the fastest way to sign and submit your FAFSA Form online. It’s also required for things like exit and entrance counseling, checking your student loan balances and applying for one of our income driven repayment plans.If you don’t have an FSA ID already you can go to fsaid. and create on today.Who needs an FSA ID? So if you are a student, if you are a borrower taking out some federal student loans or if you’re a parent. If you fit into one of those three categories you are someone who needs an FSA ID.Fast Facts, so while you can get your FSA ID as you’re completing the FAFSA Form, we definitely recommend you get it ahead of time and use it to begin your FAFSA Form on because it cuts down on errors and delay.So if you have any free time this weekend, we know Monday is October 1st. I’d recommend taking five or ten minutes maybe in the morning after you’ve had your coffee, to go ahead and get set up with an FSA ID.When you create that FSA ID certain information including your name, Social Security Number and date of birth, will automatically load into your application. The student is the one applying for financial aid so make sure when you’re entering in your FSA ID where it says enter your or the student’s FSA ID that you’re entering your information and not your parents.Try these resources. So we have a real cool Fact Sheet on creating and using the FSA ID. It explains what an FSA ID is. How you get one and what you use it for. It also includes some top tips for using it.We also have a How to Create your FSA ID video. So if you’re like me and you’re a visual person like the videos really help me understand new concepts and steps on different things, so you have that as a resource available to you.And then at the very bottom of the screen I included a link to our web site where you can find out more information on the FSA ID and even create one now.Gathering the documents needed to apply. So what you’ll need is an FSA ID which we just went over, a Social Security Number, Alien Registration Number if applicable, cash, savings and checking account balances, information on cash, savings and checking account balances. This also includes things like your investments, stocks and bonds and real estate. Although for real estate terms we don’t include the home that you live in; any business and farm assets and information from your parents if you’re a dependent student.We also ask that you get together any records of untaxed income and, you know, again federal tax information or tax returns. It’s also important to note that eligible applicants will be able to transfer or import this information into their FAFSA Form from the IRS.And lastly it’s really important that you keep these records. Definitely make copies of them as you may need them again. And make sure to not mail these records to us.So if you have additional questions on what documents you should gather this weekend in order to prepare to fill out the form, we have a helpful blogpost on seven things you need to do before you fill out the form. We also have a Providing Financial Information Section on . That explains how you automatically transfer your tax information using the IRS DRT. It also includes some helpful FAQs.Now the first link that I put up the blogpost, we do have some that were just posted within the last couple days. So if you’re interested in checking those out you can go to blog.. If you’re a parent listening now we even have a blogpost that was a parents’ guide and how you as a parent can prepare to fill out the FAFSA Form with your child.Next section is getting help. So if you need help filling out the FAFSA Form you can use these free tools. There’ll be a blue and white question mark icon next to a FAFSA question that you can use to view a tool tip that provides some extra information on how to answer that specific question.At the bottom of the tool tip you can select more help. You’ll see a more help link for additional information. By selecting the Help button at the bottom of the tool tip to reach the Help Page you can browse some FAQs we have there. Search for more information or click the Contact Us button.Once you click Contact Us you’ll have the option of emailing us with your questions or during business hours we have a chat feature in English and Spanish that can provide you with some live technical support.And the last step would be depending on your situation, contact your Financial Aid Office at the college or career school that you plan to attend.So really I would say your best bet if you run into any issues while you’re filling out the form is to click on that blue and white question mark just because the wording that we have drafted is designed to help you with that specific question that you’re on.So here’s a screenshot of the FAFSA Help Page. So at the top you’ll see some trending questions. So right now it looks like there are questions about well I submitted my FAFSA Form, what happens next? How do I add a school? What if I forgot my FSA ID User Name and Password? That happens quite frequently so that’s why it’s a trending question at the top.And also why do I have to submit my 2016 tax and information – tax and income information on my 2018-‘19 FAFSA?You’ll see at the bottom left browse FAQs and then also a Get Started Section.It’s also important to note that the FAFSA Form is a free form. You should not have to pay to complete it. So if a web site asks you to pay to fill it out you’re not dealing with the official FAFSA site. Remember this is a government application so that’s why it’s on a .gov site which is .Starting your FAFSA Form and providing your basic personal information. So again the ’19-’20 FAFSA Form will be available October 1st. That form is for students going to college from July 1, 2019 all the way through June 30th of 2020.You have a few ways – there are a few ways that you can fill out the form. You can go for example on and apply online. That’s definitely what I recommend. It’s the easiest way to do it.But we also do have an option where you can complete it on a PDF. You can request a printout of the PDF by calling us at 1-800-4-FED-AID.Now another thing to note and some of you may heard – may have already heard. We just released a beta version of a mobile App. It’s called myStudentAid Mobile App.And typically to impact on students and families so it’s really going to make the FAFSA Form accessible for you all through a mobile device, goes through the App in . It provides you with improved options for completing the form.So the cool thing is the mobile App’s ability to customize and screen but it displays based on a user’s role. It provides you with improved user experience. So for example if you download the App you’ll see an option for you to click whether you’re the student, whether you’re the parent and that sort of helps guide your user experience while you fill out the form on the App.Also you’ll have the ability to switch between a mobile device and a desktop or laptop while completing the FAFSA Form.There’s also a refresh going on of the design which will create uniformity and also standardization of the FAFSA Form online whether it’s viewed on a mobile device, laptop or desktop.So again you – I definitely recommend if you’re a desktop person you can go to to fill it out. If need be, you can print it off on the PDF and fill it out that way or now you have the option to fill it out on the App on your mobile device if you’re on the go.Fast Facts, so if you’re starting the application for the first time, go to and select Start Here. As you begin keep the following in mind. Your name and Social Security Number must match what’s on your Social Security Card. Follow this tip to avoid getting a notice that your information doesn’t match the Social Security Administration’s records or your FSA ID Account.So it’s really, really important that you make sure all that information matches. Sometimes we can be in a rush to hurry up and fill the form out and get it submitted. But by doing that and not paying attention even if there’s – it’s one number off or a letter off in your name, it can really delay the process if everything doesn’t align.If you’re concerned about providing your personal information on the login page you can choose a virtual keyboard option for additional security.Near the beginning of the application you’ll create a safe key which is a temporary password that you’ll use if you start your FAFSA Form. Save it without finishing it. Then want to go open it again later to finish.If you’re applying for a summer session it’s really important that you contact the Financial Aid Office at your college to find out what school year you should select when you complete your FAFSA Form.Listing colleges and/or career schools, while completing the FAFSA Form, you must list at least one school to receive your information. The schools you list will use your FAFSA information to determine the types and amounts of aid you may receive. You can use the Federal School Code Search to find the colleges you’re interested in and including on your FAFSA Form.For purposes of Federal Student Aid it doesn’t matter the order that you list the schools. However it’s important to note that in order to be considered for state aid some states may require you to list schools in a particular order. For example you might need to list a state school first. To find out whether your state has a requirement for the order in which you list schools on your FAFSA Form you can click that second hyperlink on your screen.You can list up to ten schools on or up to four schools on a paper FAFSA Form. You can also add more schools to your FAFSA Form later. Schools you list on the application will automatically receive your FAFSA results electronically.I will say this too that even though you must list at least one school we definitely recommend you list all of the ones you’re considering applying to. Maybe you haven’t officially got the admission’s acceptance letter in yet. But that’s okay. We still recommend that you list that school on the form.So if you’re in the process of developing a list of schools to apply for or even to go visit or if you’re just looking for some general information on them we have a really cool resource called the College Scorecard. So I included a screenshot here. You can search by programs and degrees, search by location, maybe even size so if you know that you would rather go to a small school versus a bigger one or maybe one in a more rural area, you can use the filter features to help narrow down your search.Determining your dependency status, this is probably one of the most frequently asked questions that we get at FSA regarding dependency status and how that’s determined.So your dependency status determines whose information you must report on the FAFSA Form. If you’re a dependent student you’ll report your and your parent’s information. If you’re an independent student you will report your own information and if you’re married your spouse’s.The Federal Student Aid Programs are based on the concept that it is primarily your and your family’s responsibility to pay for your education. A dependent student is assumed to have the support of parents so the parents’ information has to be assessed along with the student’s in order to get a full picture of your family’s financial strength.If you’re a dependent student it doesn’t mean that necessarily that your parents are required to pay anything towards your education. This is just a way of looking at everyone in a consistent manner.If you have additional questions about determining whether you’re dependent or independent, we have a Fact Sheet available. And it shows you, it’s a little blurry on here but it will show you when you click the link all of the questions that we use to determine your dependency status.So also I just wanted to note that the questions change just slightly from one year’s application to the next years. For instance the 2018 and ‘19 FAFSA Form asks whether you’re born before January 1, 1995 while the 2019 and 2020 FAFSA Form which comes out on Monday, October 1st you’ll see that that form will ask you whether you were born before January 1st of 1996 but generally though the questions that you see here and on the Fact Sheet stay relatively the same.Reporting parents’ information, if you’re considered a dependent student for FAFSA purposes you will need to provide information about your legal parents on the application. A legal parent is your biological; excuse me, or adoptive parent. It can also be a legal guardian as determined by the state so for example if a parent is listed on your birth certificate. If you have a step parent currently married to your legal parent you generally also must provide information about him or her.The following people are not your parents unless they have legally adopted you. This includes a widowed step parent, grandparent, foster parent, legal guardian or a brother or sister, aunts and uncles.Because we get a lot of questions about who is my parent when I fill out the FAFSA Form we developed a really cool infographic which you can see on the screen now. It explains how to figure out which parents’ information to include depending on your family’s situation.This is a really great resource. Again if you’re a visual person you can glance through it to see whose information you should include or you can also go to the link on the screen to access our web site for more information.Providing financial information, the FAFSA Form asks for financial information including information from tax forms and balances of savings and checking accounts. The 2019-‘20 FAFSA Form, which will be available October 1st, this Monday, will ask for 2017 tax information. The IRS Data Retrieval Tool, also known as the IRS DRT automatically transfers tax information into the FAFSA Form. Be sure to consider this option if it is offered to you. It definitely makes the process a lot faster.There are a few scenarios though in which students and parents are ineligible to use the IRS DRT. This includes the student or parent is married and either the student or parent or his or her spouse filed as married filing separately. They filed as head of household. The parent’s marital status is unmarried and both legal parents living together or if the student or parent filed Puerto Rican or foreign tax return.If you don’t fall into any of those categories again we definitely recommend that you use the IRS DRT to automatically transfer your tax information over (this area).We love infographics here so we have another one available to you to use as a resource. Its simple steps to transfer tax information into your FAFSA Form. And it explains how to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool or the IRS DRT to transfer tax information into the FAFSA Form. So you’ll see here it breaks it down into six steps. And then also it has a link to our web site, irsdrt for more information on that.Signing and submitting the FAFSA Form.And I see a couple of you mentioned that the link didn’t work. If it doesn’t, just go to our web site . For that particular resource it’ll be under irsdrt.So signing and submitting the FAFSA Form. Couple things that I wanted to point out. Be sure to sign with your FSA ID which is your User Name and Password. So your FAFSA Form will be processed as quickly as possible.Once you see your information on the confirmation page you’ll know that you successfully submitted your FAFSA Form. If you provided an email address on the form you’ll automatically receive the confirmation page via email.When you fill out the FAFSA Form you’re also automatically applying for certain state financial aid. In some cases the state requires an additional application in order to determine your eligibility for state aid.There are some states that have a partnership with our office that allows you to transfer your information directly into your state aid application. So if you see a link from your FAFSA Confirmation Page to your State Financial Aid Application you definitely should select that.Your confirmation page offers the option for the parent information in your FAFSA Form to be transferred automatically into another student’s application. So if you have a sibling who needs to fill out a FAFSA Form or if you’re a parent with multiple future college going students, be sure to select this option when you see that confirmation page.Taking the next steps, we have another resource here. After the FAFSA what happens next? This video explains what happens and what the additional steps are after you submit your FAFSA Form. There are a few other steps that you do need to take in order to receive financial aid. This is one of our whole YouTube videos that we have available so you have the link right there on the screen.And then also for additional information, I included the specific page on our web site that will go over the next steps that you need to take.We also have a Digital Engagement Team that manages our social media account. So if you are social media savvy and you want to submit a question to us through Facebook for example or even Twitter, here are links to our pages and I definitely recommend that you follow our account. That’s where you’ll hear important updates about when the FAFSA Form is coming out, what you should do to prepare, helpful tips and we also include a lot of links to our different blogposts for example.So like earlier I mentioned the blogpost geared for parents. That’s something for example that we share on our Facebook page. And then lastly we do have that YouTube account. It’s federalstudentaid. And you can see a list of our videos there.And I know there are a handful of college access providers that are also on the call today. You can go to our YouTube page and there’s a way that you can embed one of our videos onto your organization’s web site for example or share with parents and students.And so as we approach the end of the presentation I just have a couple more slides left. Again we have a couple people on standby ready to answer your questions. So feel free to submit those if you have any.We do have our Federal Student Aid Information Center. If you have a question you can go to this page in order to search for any frequently asked questions. If you look on the right hand side there’s a feature where you can email us. So you – it’s not the most – it’s not as quick as getting an answer through the chat. But it is another way you can reach out.The second item, chat with us, you can ask a live agent your question via web chat.And then you can also give us a call. So our number is 1-800-4-FED-AID. Again that’s 1-800-4-FED-AID. And we have staff members that speak English and Spanish so if Spanish is your preferred language you can still give us a call.And also again for those college access providers that are listening in today this is also a resource for you as well.Q&A Section, so while I wait to see if there are any other questions here, again if you’re a student or parent, is where you can go for resources. resources, that has a cumulative list of everything from Fact Sheets, videos, even archived webinars. We do a handful of webinars throughout the year.If you look in the bottom left hand corner of your screen you’ll see a section that says web links. So one of the links I wanted to include for you all is a link to our announcement about the FAFSA Mobile Option. So you can click that to get more information.And then I also included a link to our resource page specifically to where we store our archived webinars. So if you missed one the other week, and you’re interested in listening to the recording or even viewing the transcript, go ahead and save that link. Again I called it resource-archived webinars. And you can check some of those out.So I’m looking to see if we have any questions. Do you have webinars in Spanish?We typically have webinars in English. But if you do go to that Archived Webinar Section of our page you may find one or two that were archived that were done in Spanish. If you are looking for resources in Spanish, is available in that language as well.So if you go to I believe it is in the top right hand corner. You’ll see there’s an English and Spanish toggle button. So if you just click Spanish you’ll see that the whole site changes into Spanish and you can switch back and forth between the two.Okay, we have a couple more questions coming in. So someone said what is the due date to file the form for my daughter who is a junior?Your daughter will fill out the FAFSA Form her senior year of high school. So she will be a senior next year. She will complete the ’20-’21 FAFSA Form on October 1, 2019.Thank you (Clare). She’s one of the folks on standby answering the question. She also included a helpful link to our web site for more information.And since your daughter is a junior she’s not yet ready to fill out the form. One thing you could check out on our web site is we have a couple college prep checklists. And we break that down by each year so for example you can pull up a checklist of recommended steps that you can take while she’s in 11th grade. And then there’s also a checklist for students in 12th grade as well.There’s also again on something called the FAFSA4caster. So F-A-F-S-A so FAFSA the number 4 and then caster, C-A-S-T-E-R, the FAFSA4caster is posted on our web site and its basically something that you can do if you’re not yet ready to fill out the form.So for example in this case if your daughter’s a junior, you can fill out the FAFSA4caster. You can plug in your information. And it’s a great example on what the process will look like once you’re ready. The form looks identical to the real one. You plug in your information and can see an estimated amount of aid that you can receive.What is the best way to find out if a state has funding available for students that is aligned with the FAFSA? I am specifically interested in the information from the State of Virginia.So thank you (Miesha) for answering that question; state deadlines can be found on the home page. If you scroll down you’ll see a link with a list of those states and the deadlines and then (Miesha) included the URL in her response for you.Someone asked another question. When will the webinars from early September be posted?Great question, I believe they were just posted. If you click on the link to the left you can view them. So again on that Web Link Section it’s in the bottom left hand corner. It says resource archived webinars and you’ll see them posted there.Generally though as a rule of thumb, it takes about two sometimes three weeks to get those posted to the web site.So we have a few more minutes if any of you want to submit additional questions. In the meantime I’m going to post another web link for you all that will direct you to our FAFSA4caster page.Okay so in the bottom left hand corner of your screen I just added that in there for the FAFSA4caster. So again that is a tool that you can use if you’re not yet ready to fill out the official form but still want to get an idea of the process and an estimated amount of aid you can receive.There’s another question. Is there any benefit to getting an FSA ID when the student is younger than a senior?It’s one less step that you have to do on October 1st. And the downside though and this really depends on you and your organization of your passwords is you will remember it if you do it a year or two years in advance let’s say.So it’s really up to you. But as long as you make it, you know, a few days before you’re ready to fill out the form, then I think that, you know, it’ll still speed up the process a good amount. But that’s a really good question.So somebody else asked where the 4cast link is. So again if you look on the bottom left hand corner of your screen it says web links. There’s a link to our announcement about the mobile option. There’s a link to our archived webinars. I know a few of you asked about those. A link to the closed caption information and then the last one on that list is a link to the FAFSA4caster that we mentioned.Okay so we’ll have – I’ll go through. We’ve got one more question left and then we’ll wrap it up.So somebody is asking about the due date to fill out the FAFSA Form. So just to clarify the ’19-’20 FAFSA Form will be available starting October 1, 2018 for high school seniors who will be attending college next fall in 2019.Okay, so again the web links are included in the bottom left hand corner. At the top left hand corner you’ll see an option to download files. So if you do want a copy of the presentation I recommend that you go ahead and click Download Files before the recording ends in just a few seconds.Okay so I know that we covered a lot of material. It’s a lot to take in at once. I know that probably for the first two years I filled out my FAFSA Form I was really overwhelmed. And before I started here I was an advisor at a college. And I think the best piece of advice that someone told me was, you know, you don’t have to know all the answers. You just have to know where to find them.So hopefully today’s webinar helps you feel a little more at ease about the process and especially where you can go for additional resources.And again , that’s our web site. It is a .gov web site so it’s your trusted resource. You never have to pay to join a webinar, to look up any information so we hope that you find that helpful.Thanks so much for joining today and have a great day.END ................
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