Studentaid.gov



PSC-ED-FSA-TISD

Moderator: Christal Simms

November 16, 2017

2:00 pm CT

Coordinator: Welcome and thank you for standing by.

At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode.

As a reminder, this call is recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this point.

Now, I will turn the meeting over to your host, Maisha Challenger.

You may begin.

Maisha Challenger: Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. We are so excited that you are able to join us for our Webinar, get your questions answered about financial aid in the FAFSA form.

We know that the financial aid process can be a little daunting for some. But we want to try to let you know that the process is probably not as hard as you think. And today, what we want to do is give you the floor. This is about you all that are out there, students and parents that may have questions about the financial aid process.

So, again, my name is Maisha Challenger. I’m an Awareness and Outreach specialist at the US Department of Education in the Office of Federal Student Aid. And so today, what we want to do is, again, help you understand and help you work through the process and make it as seamless as possible based on some of your questions and also sharing some information with you to help make the process a lot easier.

So today, what we’re going to do is just talk briefly about the FAFSA to get you all thinking about maybe some questions that you might have. You may already have some questions in your mind. But, again, because it is a process as far as the financial aid journey from beginning to end, there may be other questions that maybe based on the information you get today that you may have.

We want to talk a little bit about some myths and facts regarding the financial aid process in the FAFSA and then what an FSA ID is as part of the process. We want to give you some helpful online resources. And then after we go through those PowerPoint presentations, then we want to give you an open forum for Q&A.

Myself, along with my colleagues, (Joanne Heimes) and Mr. James Copeland, will answer your questions after the PowerPoint slides. So, again, this is a forum for you all to start asking question.

Just as a footnote, our PowerPoint presentation is located in the top left-hand corner. And again, there is a Q&A log. Some of my other colleagues are online waiting to answer your questions. So if you have questions now, please ask them and we will answer them. And then we will talk about some of those questions a little bit later. Okay?

So, what does FAFSA stand for? A lot of people hear about the application. They’re like it’s FAFSA, but what does it really stand for? It stands for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The Federal Government has $120 billion for individuals that want to pursue postsecondary education. And it doesn’t have to be a four-year school. It can be a two-year school. It can be a vocational school, a trade school. There’s financial aid available to eligible individuals.

So we want people to know that it is a free application. The Web site is . That’s what you want to go to in order to fill out the application. Okay? So it is a free application at no charge to you.

So when is the FAFSA available? The 2018-19 FAFSA is available right now. It is important to understand that for you high school seniors or any students that are wanting to go to school starting fall of 2018, you can fill out the FAFSA right now.

And I want to talk a little bit about some myths and facts about the FAFSA because there have been some changes that people need to be aware of.

Again, as I present this information, if you guys have any questions, please use the Q&A chat box. And we will have individuals standing by to answer your questions.

So here is a myth versus a fact. The FAFSA launch January 1st every year. That is actually a myth. The FAFSA is now available October 1st. So I just showed you a slide that said the 2018-19 FAFSA is available. But what some of you don’t know is that the FAFSA is now available October 1st. What we did is we gave individuals more time to fill out the FAFSA. So again, it used to launch January 1st starting with the ’17-’18 cycle. But now moving forward, it is now the ’18-’19 FAFSA - this particular cycle along with future cycles will now start October 1st.

Here’s another myth. You don’t have to file a FAFSA every year.

Fact. You have to file your FAFSA every year you’re in school. So you start the process as a high school senior. And then every year you are in college, you are filling out the FAFSA form. So it’s not a one-time deal. If you don’t submit a FAFSA, you definitely can’t get Federal Student Aid.

So, again, I mentioned that $120 billion. There are three programs that we offer as - from the Federal Government -- grant, which are money that does not have to be repaid; loan which is money that has to be repaid; and then work study where you can work part-time to pay off your college expenses.

So, again, you have to fill out the FAFSA every year. And you want to do that because every year, you may get a different amount of financial aid from your school.

Here’s another fact. I’m sorry. Here’s another myth. If you support yourself, you don’t have to include your parents’ information on your FAFSA form. The fact is you may have to include your parents’ information after all, because even if you live on your own and support yourself and file your own taxes, you may be considered a Dependent student. On the FAFSA form, you’re either considered Independent or Dependent. If you were dependent upon your biological or adopted parents, you usually are considered “Dependent” for FAFSA purposes. And we need your parents’ information.

However, there is some criteria that does deem a student Independent. They may be homeless. They may be 24 years or older. They may be an emancipated minor. They may be in foster care. They may be under legal guardianship. So one of those - any one of those criteria will make you independent for FAFSA purposes. And usually the school will let you know if you’re considered independent and ask for supporting documentation.

So just because you live on your own does not necessarily mean that you are considered independent. And you may still need your parents’ information. The school will definitely let you know.

So, when you fill out the FAFSA application, in order to actually complete the application, you need an FSA ID. The FSA ID is a username and password combination. You need to actually sign your FAFSA form online. There’s something we used to use years ago called the PIN. And the PIN has been replaced by FSA ID.

The parent needs an FSA ID that’s filling out the FAFSA form and the student. The parent is not supposed to create the FSA ID for the child and the student should not be creating an FSA ID for the parent.

Again, the FSA ID is something you can create right away once you are completing the FAFSA form. So if you’re filling out the FAFSA and you haven’t created your FSA ID, don’t worry. You can do it right then and there.

There is a Social Security verification. It takes one to three days. But you don’t have to wait on that to submit your FAFSA. Your FAFSA can be submitted right away.

So it’s really important to understand that this FSA ID is critical in order to sign your FAFSA application.

So again as I mentioned, it is a legal signature and shouldn’t be created or used by anyone other than you.

So where can you go to get more information about the FAFSA in the financial aid process? is our home page where there’s lots of really, really great information in the financial aid process from beginning to end.

Here as you can see is a screenshot that you can - this screenshot shows you how to prepare for college, the type of aid, who gets aid, what the FAFSA is, and then even after if you take out loans, repaying your loans. Okay?

So, again, it’s really important to understand that even though some people are like, “Oh, it’s such a hard process,” we give you some really great information to help guide you through that process as you embark upon college in the financial aid process every year in school. is a wonderful Web site for you, students and parents, to get more information.

So, there’re some helpful online tools that I think would really help you all out as well. Again, if you want to download this presentation in the top left-hand corner, click on “Get Your Questions Answered.” And there are hyperlinks that we have that’ll really help. One of the online tools that are really helpful are Eight Steps to Filling Out the FAFSA Form, What Are Some Critical Steps that You Need? Student demographic information, parents’ information, tax information.

One of the critical key components of filling out your FAFSA is tax information from both the student and the parent. So again, it’s really, really important to understand that.

I neglected to mention earlier about tax information. For the ’18-’19 FAFSA, the tax information needs to be from the year 2016. What used to happen previously is that when you filled out a FAFSA, you would get information from the prior year. So if it was ’18-’19, it would be for ’17. But what we did because a lot of times people said, “Well, you know what, if it came out in January, I haven’t filed my taxes yet, I don’t know what information to pt.” And so what we did was we eliminated the year prior and said for ’18-’19, you’ll use 2016’s information. That way, that information has already been filed and you can just use that information on the FAFSA form.

So, again, if you click on the link that says, “More Information,” there are eight steps to filling out a FAFSA.

So, FSA ID, we just talked about that. That’s the username and password. There are a lot of myths about the FSA ID. I wonder out there if you guys - has anyone ever - has anyone filled out their FAFSA or created an FSA ID? Maybe you tell me. Was it an easy process? Was it difficult?

There are nine myths about FSA ID that I think are very critical for you, high school seniors if you haven’t completed the FAFSA yet and want more information about how to create an FSA ID. Or moving forward, you know, understanding the process and things that you need to look out for when you create the FSA ID.

And then there is another great tool, “12 Common FAFSA Mistake.” As you all can imagine, the FAFSA is an application, and it does take some time. It’s a lot quicker than it used to be and it is electronic. But a lot of people make, you know, simple mistakes. And that’s understandable. But in order to maybe helpfully avoid making those mistakes, we have a great tool, “12 Common FAFSA Mistakes.” Not completing the form; not filing the FAFSA form by the deadline. It’s important to understand that there are some state deadlines and - that you may need to pay attention to when you’re filling out the FAFSA. So you want to know what your state deadline is when it comes to state aid. There’s federal aid, there’s state aid, and then there’s institutional aid and then scholarships.

So be mindful of the deadlines in order to figure out how you can take advantage of all the money that is out there to help students go to schools.

So 12 Common FAFSA Mistakes is another great tool, if you click on the link, that’ll help you in this financial aid process.

And then Am I Independent or Dependent on the FAFSA? I talked a little bit about that earlier regarding what category you fall under - when you were completing the FAFSA form. And again, it’s really important to figure out where you fall. And maybe you don’t know where you fall. Maybe you have parents, but you haven’t spoken to them or you don’t have a relationship with them. That’s where you might want to speak or call the Financial Aid office so they can let you know what category you fall under. There is something called special circumstances where the school will still award aid despite not having parental information. However, every circumstance is not a special circumstance. And that’s where the school will let you know.

So again, these are critical components when trying to figure out the FAFSA process. And this can really help you out.

So, social media is really, really, really important. And we have a lot of great social media tools to help. We have a Facebook page. We have a Twitter page. And we have YouTube video. I really encourage you all to check out all of our online pages because Facebook, we’ve got wonderful graphics and you can ask questions. And then we usually answer questions based on various topics. And so if you have a question about loans or who’s my parent when I fill out the FAFSA, there’s great information that is out there for you.

And then we tweet. We have something called Twitter Office Hours which is every last Wednesday of the month. And we encourage you to go to fafsa and figure out what information will be helpful to you.

And then we also have YouTube videos. Our YouTube videos are really great and talk about the various aspects of a financial aid process. It gives an overview of the financial aid programs, what happens after you submit the FAFSA, what is the next step, what do you need to do, do you need to follow up with the financial aid office, how do you decide which school, what information do you get from the school once you’ve completed the FAFSA. We have lots of great videos about that information that we know can help you.

And then Webinars, we, the Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid provide Webinar in - for some of you out there. Some parents may have some loans. We have a Webinar coming up on November 30th entitled, “How to Avoid Loans Scam.” Okay? And so borrowers have received information or maybe you’ve heard that there are phone calls they get where people are not being honest about information that they’re being given.

So learn how to avoid loan scams and get your questions answered. We are conducting this Webinar, Federal Student Aid with the Federal Trade Commission. So we really encourage you all. You can click on that link to register to get more information. Remember, the financial aid process starts with filling out the form. And you may have to pick out loans when you are applying to school. The reality is school costs are going up and increasing by the minute. And so we want financial aid to try to cover some of those costs. And loans are a form of financial aid. And so what you want to do is once you have finished school and you have to pay back loans, we want you to avoid any loan scams that may occur.

So, again, if you’d like to take part in this Webinar, please click on the link below to register.

And then we have a 1-800 number. Our 1-800 number is really great resource for students and parents if you have any questions about the financial aid process. Maybe you’re filling out the FAFSA application and you’re stuck on a question. The really great thing about the FAFSA application is there’s a box called “Help and Hint.” And as you’re completing the form, you are given information to help you answer the question. And so you’re wondering, what does homeless mean for FAFSA purposes? We give you a definition of what that means. Or you’re not sure whose parent, as we mentioned earlier, do you put on the form, how do I create my FSA ID.

So 1-800-4-FED-AID, 1-800-433-3243 is the number that you can call. Monday through Friday, Saturday and Sunday we have hours. Also, it’s really important to understand that we have individuals answering in English and in Spanish. So we want to try to provide as much information as possible to our customers so that they feel more comfortable with the FAFSA process.

So, I kind of wanted to just kind of go through what is happening as far as the financial aid process. And so now, what I’d like to do is have my colleagues join in with m, Mrs. (Joanne Heimes) and Mr. James Copeland, to answer some of your questions. I went through some of the material and some information that I thought would help. But maybe some of you all have specific unique questions that you would like to share. So, again, we have colleagues answering questions. But what we want to do is read out loud some of the questions that you all may have for us.

So let me start off with one of the questions actually that some of you might have. And this is just a generic question regarding who is my parent. So what we like to do - and this is just a general question…

((Crosstalk))

Maisha Challenger: …is what we like to do is who’s my parent when filling out the FAFSA. So if your parents are divorced or separated, it’s the parent that you’ve lived with the most when it’s time to actually fill out the FAFSA. So if I’ve lived with mom and from the majority of the year, your mom is the one who’s providing the most financial support if they are divorced and separated. However, if your parents are divorced and separated and you split time equally between both parents, it’s the parent that you provided the most support to that you would put down on the FAFSA.

So a lot of times, we’ll get questions, “Well, don’t you put down the parent who (claims) you on their taxes.” That is not necessarily an indicator of who you put down on the FAFSA form. By default, you put down, if your parents are divorced and separated, the parent that you’ve lived with the most. And then if you split time equally, it’s the parent that has provided the most support.

If your parents are remarried and you have a stepmom or stepdad, both parents’ information does need to be put on the FAFSA form.

So again, that’s just a question I know we get a lot regarding financial aid and who is the parent.

I want to turn it over to my colleague, (Joanne Heimes) who also wants to answer some of your questions.

(Joanne)?

(Joanne Heimes): Thank you, Maisha.

Can you hear me?

So one of the questions that we received is what if - let’s see. Let me go back up. Can a student use their Alien Registration number to create an FSA ID?

So foreign-born people, if they immigrate to the United States and they qualify, they may receive an Alien Registration number. This is different than a Social Security Number. They are issued by different agencies. So, no, for the FSA ID, it requires the Social Security Number. So the Alien Registration Number will not be used in place of the Social Security Number. The Alien Registration number will be used if the student is an eligible noncitizen. And the FAFSA will ask for the Alien Registration number.

Thank you very much for that question.

The next question will be answered by Dr. Copeland.

Dr. Copeland, are you on?

Dr. James Copeland: Yes, I’m on, (Joanne). Thank you for that.

We have a lot of great questions coming in. And this is fantastic.

One of the questions we have here, we have, how do we know which programs are considered eligible? Well, one of the first things that happens is when you, the applicant, filled out the FAFSA and once it’s been processed before you leave the site, what you get is a confirmation notice. Basically that confirmation notice tells you what you’re eligible for. So that’s Federal Student Aid telling you, the applicant, what you’re actually eligible for. But, remember the keyword, “eligible.” It does not say that you will definitely get that because you could get that and a lot more or you could get slightly less.

The one thing to remember is once the FAFSA is filled out, we send you, the student, a Student Aid Report and we also send a (LICAN) report to the colleges that you entered on your FAFSA application. What you have to also realize is that the colleges are the ones who make the package available to you. They receive your information and they marry it out with all the information that you entered into the FAFSA application. And then the school determines which aid they’re going to offer you and hold award package. And that award package can be diversified, okay? You can have some grants in there. You can have some loans in there. You can have some Federal Education Supplemental Opportunity Grants in there. So it’s just a very diverse award package.

So just keep that in mind that once you receive your confirmation letter online, remember, the keyword is “eligible.” That’s what you’re receiving on the confirmation notice. But once all the information goes forward to the colleges that you have chosen, those colleges will make the decision on what they’re going to award you if you decide to attend that specific college.

Thanks for that question. Excellent question.

Maisha?

Maisha Challenger: Thank you, James.

So another question that we get is, who qualifies for federal financial aid? And so a lot of times, people wonder, “Well, when I saw the FAFSA application, am I a US citizen - and we have a category called “Eligible Noncitizen.” And so who is an eligible noncitizen? Obviously, if you are a US citizen, then you do qualify for federal financial aid. However, we have a list of individuals called Eligible Noncitizens. And those individuals are people - are individuals who come from - who were identified as a US national, may be with us under permanent resident, may be a refugee, asylum-granted, Cuban-Haitian entrant, or they may be here on a specific Visa.

If you go to , we have a list of all the individuals who are eligible noncitizen. So if they’re not a US citizen, they’re an eligible noncitizen and they still do qualify for federal financial aid. There may be also individuals who qualify or classify as a eligible noncitizen as a T nonimmigrant, under T nonimmigrant status. There’s a whole list. So it’s important to understand that even though you’re not a US citizen, you may still qualify for Federal Student Aid under the category of Eligible Noncitizen.

We get a lot of information about undocumented students and DACA students. Unfortunately at this time, DACA students and - DACA students/undocumented students do not qualify for federal financial aid. However, they may qualify for state aid or in-state tuition from a particular college or university. And so it’s really important - even private scholarships. So I would encourage students and parents that if there is an undocumented student that wants to apply for federal financial aid, check with the financial aid office and see if there’s aid available at the school for undocumented students.

I’m going to turn it back over to my colleague, (Joanne).

(Joanne)?

(Joanne Heimes): Thank you, Maisha.

Another question that we have that came in here is, what if the student or the parent no long (have) access to the e-mail that they used when they created the FSA ID?

That’s a great question. So the student should log in with the username and password and then they can update their contact information. So if they log into their FSA ID with their username and password, their FSA ID content and contact information, they will have the fields there to update. So they can update their e-mail address, their physical address and their phone number.

So that’s how you can update the e-mail address for - or for the FSA ID.

Thank you for that question.

Dr. Copeland?

Dr. James Copeland: Yes, (Joanne). Thank you so much for that tradeoff.

We have some really great questions coming in. Another question we have of concern is this, do you have to declare the college choice on your FAFSA? Well, ladies and gentlemen, you do not. Actually, what you’re doing, just keep in mind, you can list up to ten schools at a time on the FAFSA application. So all of the schools you’re applying to and select on the FAFSA receive the information that you provided on the FAFSA application. Then of course the financial aid office that the schools that you apply to will then go ahead and review your application and make a decision as far as the award package they’re going to offer.

Now keep in mind that the colleges may require some additional information. So that’s one of the reasons why we ask you to provide your e-mail address. You really need to stay on top of managing the information and meeting deadlines as they come in and out. Remember, college application time is a very hot season. So when the college asks you for information, make sure you provide that information back.

Also in some cases, colleges also want you to fill out an application. But again, just be aware that you can choose whichever college you decide to go to. You can enter up to ten. Once your application is processed on our Web site, you can go back in and enter ten more and take the other ten that you previously put in out. Okay? But they’re still in the pipeline. So by adding another ten, what you’re doing is just expanding your options. That’s all you’re doing. But you can later make the decision on what college that you want to attend.

Thank you for that question.

Maisha, I’ll pass it onto you.

Maisha Challenger: Thank you, James.

So earlier I was talking about filling out the FAFSA. And then what happens once you fill out the FAFSA?

So, obviously, my colleague James just mentioned that you can put up to ten schools at a time. And if you have an 11th or 12th or an additional set of schools, once you’ve submitted the application, you can go back and change out the original ones and add new ones. And that’ll work for you. But then how do you know what type of financial aid that you’re going to receive from the schools?

So a lot of times, what happens is once you’ve completed your FAFSA application, you send that information to the school. The school will use the information that you put on the FAFSA application and then send out the information, the award letter to the students.

So what you need to do as students and parent is be very diligent about looking for whether it’s an e-mail address or whether it’s the school’s Web portal, looking out for the financial aid information from the school. Because a lot of times, students and parents were like, “I applied. So now what do I do?” And there’re some follow-ups that I encourage you all to do. Each school should - each school, once you completed the FAFSA application, should give you all - should respond to you all with the potential financial aid applications, financial aid award letter to the school.

If you haven’t heard from the school, I would suggest that after you fill out the FAFSA - so let’s say you fill out the FAFSA today. You shouldn’t let months go by if you haven’t heard from them. You know, each school, as I said, takes a different amount of time to respond to the students. So it’s been a month and you haven’t received anything via Web portal or an e-mail telling you where to look for your financial aid award information. Follow up with the financial aid office at the school. I’d like to tell people that the financial aid office are the ones that actually provide the award letter information. They’re the ones that actually are going to award the student. So you need to become best friends with the financial aid office, both the student and the parent.

So if you haven’t received any information from the school, follow up with the school regarding the financial aid award letter because at the end of the day, that information is basically one of the major determinations as to where you want to go to school. So it’s really important for students and the parent to talk to their student that the student provided their e-mail address on the FAFSA application, making sure they look in that e-mail to see if they receive something because nine out of ten times, most of the time they receive information that they don’t realize because they’re not looking for it.

So it’s important that once you have completed the FAFSA application, follow up or look for the award letter via Web portal on the school’s Web site or remember to look to the e-mail that you use. Look and make sure you haven’t received something. If you haven’t, follow up with the school so you can figure out what type of financial aid information or award you will receive.

(Joanne), I’m going to turn it back over to you.

(Joanne Heimes): Thank you, Maisha.

Okay. The next question we have here is if a student answers yes to Question Number 53 and was adopted after the age of 13, are they still considered independent? Do they need to submit information about their adopted parents?

And the answer is if the student answers yes to Question 53 that asks at any time since you turned age 13, were both your parents deceased? Were you in foster care or were you a dependent or ward of the court? Then the student is considered an independent student. However, the financial aid administrator at the school, at the college or at the university may require for the student to provide other proof that they were in foster care or that they were a dependent or ward of the court.

Thank you for the question.

Dr. Copeland?

Dr. James Copeland: Thank you, (Joanne). I appreciate that.

Okay. The questions are steadily pouring in.

Okay. We have a question coming from a parent. I have a student who will or cannot pay for college. Will it be beneficial for her to use her parent’s information on the application and be an independent student?

Well, as my colleague Maisha covered earlier, in order for any student to be independent, they must have - or qualify as a certain criteria. And that criteria is if they are married, if they are active duty in the military, if they have a dependent or a child themselves that they are supporting, providing certain percentage of that support, also if they are in foster care and they’re not in the care of their parents, let’s say the parents are deceased, so it’s very, very forthright and plain. And that is if they are 24 years of age or older, then they can qualify as an independent student. But, otherwise, they would have to be dependent and may require their parent’s information.

And I know a lot of times out there we have students who might reside with a relative, a grandmother or something like that. But the mother - or the parents are still involved. In that case, the student cannot use the grandparent’s information nor can they file as an independent student. They still must obtain their parent’s information in order to fill out the FAFSA.

Now, there is one other thing about this. In case they cannot get their parent’s information, they will still be able to fill out the FAFSA, but then that greatly limits what they can receive in terms of the federal programs that are being offered. They would only qualify for unsubsidized loans. And that’s not what we want. We want to make sure that they have the full spectrum and all of the options as far as receiving any type of aid.

So it’s very important to make sure that everyone out there understands you must meet a certain criteria in order to be an independent student. You have to be either be 24 years of age or older, married, active duty in the military, have a dependent themselves, in foster care or - and let’s say that the parents have - were deceased or they may be away where they cannot come out, and that needs to be documented or if it’s ordered by the court. So you have to be very, very careful of this. And unfortunately, grandma and granddaddy, they simply cannot use their information on the FAFSA application.

So we just want to be clear on that, okay. There are some considerations that you must take and keep in mind when you’re filling out the FAFSA application.

Thank you for that question.

Maisha?

Maisha Challenger: Thanks, James.

So one of the questions that I have here from (Susan) is what if my student does not remember their username and password and does not have access to the original e-mail when they signed up for FSA ID?

So as I mentioned earlier, your FSA ID is the username and password. You put down your Social Security name, some profile information, your full name. There’s challenge questions to create the username and password. You can use an e-mail to create your FSA ID. And the e-mail was optional. A lot of people think you need the e-mail. Well, let’s say you forgot your username. And some people like, “Oh I’ve got to reset it.” No worries. You can retrieve your username and password. If you have an e-mail address, a secure code is sent to the e-mail.

But let’s say you don’t put down the e-mail address. No worries. I remember I mentioned that there are challenge questions that you’re asked. Those challenge questions could be anything like what’s your favorite hobby, what’s your favorite color. Once you answer those challenge questions, you can then retrieve your information. So even if you don’t have an e-mail address, don’t worry. You can still retrieve your FSA ID username and password information. We like to give a couple of different options as it relates to retrieving the information for your FSA ID.

With the PIN, which was an issue before, people had to keep resetting it and, you know, they duplicated it. And you are locked out if you try for three unsuccessful attempts to - for your username and password. A lot of times people are typing very fast or there’s an issue with it. But again, you can provide an e-mail. But if you don’t, you can use the challenge questions to retrieve your username and password.

I hope that helps.

(Joanne), I’m going to turn it back over to you.

(Joanne Heimes): Thank you.

Now here’s one of my favorite questions about financial aid for graduate students. The first question about that is, is there Federal Student Aid for graduate students? For example, somebody pursuing a PhD, a JD or a Master’s Degree. And what type of aid is available?

Well, there is financial aid available. But if the question was in regards to grants specifically like Federal Pell grants, no, Federal Pell grants are for undergraduate students. However, yes, there is financial aid available for graduate students. And the type of financial aid is listed on our Web site. But basically the type of financial aid that it offers depends on the program in the school.

So look at your school’s financial aid Web site. The FAFSA will still be the first step to applying for that financial aid for scholarships, for any type of assistance that will come directly from the school. And that’s the same for doctorate programs.

So, yes, go into and then there’s a link in our Web site. And you can find it by typing in “graduate professional funding information.”

Thank you very much for that question.

Maisha, I think you can - do you have another question that you can respond to?

Maisha Challenger: Sure. I do, (Joanne).

Are the loans…

((Crosstalk))

Maisha Challenger: Are the loans in the financial aid packages from the accepted college the best loans? Or should students shop around?

So, what we do provide via the FAFSA are federal loans. And there’s something called Direct Stafford Loan. The Direct Stafford Loans come in the form of unsubsidized or subsidized loans. Subsidized loan is where the government pays the interest. And unsubsidized loans are where you are responsible for the interest.

So, again, the school is going to offer you both. Subsidized loans are based on need. Unsubsidized loans are based on cost. So, again, part of the financial aid package comes from what you put down on the FAFSA application. And federal loans are an option. However, there are also other loans available to you in the form of private loan. We have interest rates for our current loans that we do provide to individuals. And again, it’s really important to understand that there are different interest rates because when you talk about - when you’re speaking about loans, most people affiliate loans with debt which is not the case. But at the same time, loans are - have an interest rate.

And so our Direct Loans have interest rates. Our Graduate and PLUS loans for you, parents, out there, you can take out a loan on behalf of the student. Okay? And I believe that rate is 7%. So there are different interest rates. And those rates are current through June 30th of 2018. Okay?

So in case, let’s say, because I think another good point that I want to bring up is a lot of people think that financial aid is going to cover the full cost when it comes to going to school. So let’s say you want to go to a particular college and the cost is $20,000. And when we’re talking about cost, we want you all to understand, both students and parents, because when you’re looking, you’re like, “Oh, you know, tuition is $20,000.” Tuition may be $20,000, but then you got to think about books, supplies, transportation, room and board.

So in reality, the full cost is tuition along with those other line items. So the full cost is almost $30,000. So when you’re looking to receive financial aid, you need aid to cover that full $30,000. And when you’re getting a financial aid award letter, that letter is going to give you what type of federal loan - what type of federal aid you get. And that may be in the form of grants -- remember we said that’s free money, loans would have to be repaid, and then work study. But then you may also get state aid and you may also get institutional aid.

When you add all that up, we said it was $20,000. It really was $30,000. You may only get about 24 - let’s say you get $15,000 in financial assistance. Okay? So there’s still a gap. If you need $30,000, but you’re only receiving $15,000 in financial aid, there’s still a gap of $15,000 in order to attend the school. So I think a lot of times the challenge is people assume that financial aid is always going to cover the full cost and we need people to understand that it’s assistance. And sometimes that does happen which is great. But this is why we’re saying you should definitely apply to different schools because different schools are going to award a different amount of money.

So back to the point of the question, are there other loans? Is it - is one better than the other? I think that what you have to just be mindful of is looking at the cost and as a parent and as a student sitting down and figuring out financially what makes sense for your family. So there are federal loans and there are private loans. And private loans sometimes those have to be paid back right away. Federal loans we do give a grace period. So it really is decision that you all need to make electively as a family.

I’m going to turn it back over to James. Are you able to answer a question?

Dr. James Copeland: Yes I am actually. I was waiting. Thank you, Maisha.

I do have another question here and this is one that we get often. A parent wants to know, I have two children in college starting in fall this year. Do I complete separate FAFSAs? And also is there a separate FSA ID?

Well, for the parent, the parent has to get their FSA ID as well as both of the children independently. They must have their own FSA IDs because when they go into the system and when you fill out the FAFSA, you’re going to have to confirm the information by signing electronically. So you both, the parent and the children, need to have FSA IDs but the parent only needs to get one. The parent can use that one FSA ID for both children. And then, of course, when you’re filling up a FAFSA application, you have to do two individual FAFSAs, okay, because your kids, although they’re all from the same family, okay, simply one maybe going to one school and one might go to other or they may go to the same school, nonetheless, they still need to fill out individual FAFSAs for each student.

Each student also needs to have their own FSA ID as well as the parent needs one FSA ID regardless to how many children the parent may have, okay? You may have five or six children going to college. The parent still only needs that one FSA ID in order to sign all of their children’s FAFSA applications electronically online. So that’s very important. While there may be multiple children in the family attending school, the parent only needs one FSA ID in order to sign electronically the FAFSA application and each child in the family attending college must fill out a separate free application for Federal Student Aid FAFSA in order to see what type of award package that they can get from the school that they have selected to enter and to the application.

Thank you for that question, parent, because there are a lot of parents out there who are confused about that but we just want to make it plain and known.

Maisha, I pass it back over to you.

Maisha Challenger: Thanks, James.

So I appreciate you sharing out information about understanding how many - who needs an FSA ID and then who needs - you need a separate FSA ID or you need to fill out a separate application for each child.

I wanted to talk again about what happens after you fill out the FAFSA because a lot of times people wonder what they put on the form, will that an impact to the type of financial aid that they may or may not receive.

There’s a word that we haven’t talked about that I want to share that regards - that speaks to something called verification. So what happens is on the FAFSA, if you guys remember earlier, you fall under two categories. You’re either independent or dependent.

And so when you are considered to be dependent, you need parental information. However, if you are considered to be independent, and remember I mentioned there’s certain criteria that for FAFSA purposes, you would be considered independent: Homeless, an emancipated minor, in foster care at some point, a veteran, more than 24 years of age where you may be providing support to a child. In this instance, you then would select and there’s questions that you’re asked. You would then select this does apply to you. Once you do that, it says you’re going to be considered independent.

Sometimes - a lot of times when that does happen, the school is going to select you for verification and it’s something where it is very random. The schools decide arbitrarily. But again, you have to be mindful of what you put down on your form because once you do that, the school will ask for supporting documentation and that shouldn’t be a problem again because if that is truly your situation, then you’ll be able to provide documentation to support your case. But I need you all for students and the parents to recognize that when you do fill out the FAFSA and you complete it, there may be other steps in order to - before you can actually receive the financial aid award information.

So a lot of times people like “Oh, I’ve clicked it. I’m finished.” And actually once you’re done with the FAFSA application, you will receive a confirmation page. The confirmation page is just telling you “Congratulations. You’ve filled out your FAFSA.” After you received the confirmation page, there’s something called a SAR, Student Air Report. That is not the award letter but that’s just letting you know “Hey, we’ve received your information. There’s something called an EFC.” I don’t think we’ve talked about that. It’s Expected Family Contribution. That’s an index number.

All of the information that you put on the FAFSA, your parent’s information, household size, who’s going to college, all of that information will then be utilized to create an index number that represents you at the various schools. So that EFC is then generated. And the schools will look at that and determine how much aid you will or won’t receive. But before they can do that, they want to make sure that all the information that you provided is as accurate as possible so that they can then assemble an award package that works for you.

So for you parents and students out there, don’t be alarmed if you receive something in the mail that says “Hey, we want supporting documentation.” The school - it is at the school’s discretion to do that in any circumstance and just provide them supporting documentation and they should be good to go.

(Joanne), I’m going to turn it back over to you. I actually, (Joanne), want to throw out there I mentioned undocumented students earlier but I know that there are a lot of people that wonder about whether they can receive federal financial aid or if they can’t, where else they can go to look for aid for undocumented students. Do you have any information you can provide them?

(Joanne Heimes): Well, let me go to the question that I have. It was specifically about not only undocumented students but specifically undocumented parents of US citizen students. So let me go to see if I can answer your question.

Basically, I advise students to check with their college or university. The college or university that they will be attending will probably tell them, A, what form they need to fill out in order to apply for institutional aid, and B, if they qualify for any state financial aid, and C, if they know of any specific scholarships that are available for undocumented students.

Also a very good tool is the US Department of Labor’s scholarship. So if you go to the US Department of Labor, they have a Web site on there that I think it’s called “Career Search” and they have a list of scholarships and then they - each scholarship has the requirement that - the requirements that are needed from the students in order to apply for that scholarship. So although they do not qualify to receive federal financial aid, there is other financial assistance available and I advise them to talk to the school.

Now let me go to the question that I have from a parent. I am an undocumented parent of a US citizen student. Will my citizenship status affect the eligibility for my student’s or my child’s Federal Student Aid?

And the answer is no. The parent’s citizenship status does not affect the eligibility for Federal Student Aid. In fact, the FAFSA doesn’t even ask about the parent’s status.

Now let me go further into that question because if the student is a dependent student, then FAFSA will be asking the Social Security number of the parent. So in the case of this parent that does not have a Social Security number, how will a dependent student answer the question that asks for their parent’s Social Security number?

So in this case, the parent, the undocumented parent without a Social Security number must enter all zeros where they ask - where the FAFSA asks for the Social Security number. They should never enter the ITIN. They should never enter the internal - the identification for taxpayer ID number. They should never enter that in place of a Social Security number.

Now, when they proceed with the FAFSA and they go on to the error check, before submitting the FAFSA, FAFSA will check for errors and the FAFSA will capture the zeros and will do a little red flag and will ask the FAFSA filer. We found this question and you answered all zeros. Is this correct? Yes. In this case, it is correct. So then you proceed and it asks again and then you proceed again.

Now, the student, because the student is an eligible citizen with a Social Security number, the student should have already filed for an FSA ID. So once the FAFSA is complete and they need to sign the FAFSA, the student is able to sign the FAFSA with their FSA ID. Then when it’s time for the parent to sign for the FAFSA, because the student is a dependent student, at that time, instead of signing with an FSA ID because the parent does not have an FSA ID because they do not have a Social Security number, then what they need to do is print out the signature page of the FAFSA and mail it into us for processing. So that is the process for a US citizen student that has a parent that does not have a Social Security number. Thank you very much for that question.

Maisha?

Maisha Challenger: Thanks, (Joanne).

So we’re winding down a little bit and you guys have had a lot of great questions and I want to thank my colleagues for answering some of the questions for you all as well.

There’s one question regarding the tax information because, again, there’s some really important financial aid information that is used in order to determine how much financial aid the student can receive.

So one of the questions I have is, if you file the FAFSA and your financial situation has changed after the fact, are you able to update information on the FAFSA and will the college be notified?

So remember I mentioned earlier that now the FAFSA comes out October 1st, and so for the ‘18-‘19 FAFSA, that’s one key change. It used to be January. The other key change, as I mentioned, is tax information. We now ask for tax information two years back. So for 2016, so again, let’s say in 2016, which does happen, 2016 you have tax information you’re working. But let’s say in 2017, you weren’t working or your parents weren’t working and there is a significant change in your financial status or any of your financial information, this is where you would contact the financial aid office.

So what I don’t want you all to think is “Well, you know, my situation has changed for ‘18-‘19. I’m going to use 2017’s information.” The FAFSA application is going to ask for 2016 information. Okay? And so it’s really important to understand that we’re going to ask for that.

However, if your information has changed, you can contact the financial aid office and inform them that your financial situation has changed and then provide them with the documents that they need.

You can get more information about that on our Web site regarding if there’s a change in tax information. That’s a great question because we don’t want to assume but for the most part, most people are maybe in the same job and that hasn’t changed. However, there are circumstances where people may have lost their job or there’s a significant financial change in their status. That is where you want to contact the financial aid office. So great question.

(Joanne), I’m going to turn it back over to you.

(Joanne Heimes): Thank you, Maisha.

Okay. This question is, I live with my mom but I pay my own bills and I give her rent money. The college is asking me - oh, the FAFSA asks about the living status at the college. So I guess the question is, should I be dependent or independent? It says, now that I’m working on my undergraduate degree.

So basically, there’s - there can be different answers for your question. It depends on not where you live or who you pay rent to but it depends on the definition of dependency or independent. So it depends on the dependent status of the student. So how do you know if you are dependent or independent?

So basically if the student was born before January 1st of 1995, if the student - so older than 24, if the student has any dependent children that will receive more than half of their support from them during the school year, if the student is married, if the student at any time after the age of 13 had both parents deceased or were in foster care or dependent of the court or adopted or was an emancipated minor or if the student was determined an unaccompanied youth or was homeless, then the student would be an independent student. So they wouldn’t have to add anything about their parent. So if that is the case, you are an independent student. However, if you cannot answer yes to any of those questions, then you still need to add the information or the income of your parents.

Now, which parent do you add? It depends on which one of your parents provides over 50% of the support every year.

So thank you very much for that question. I hope that answered your question. But if that didn’t, then you can go to and then on the upper right, there’s a little search box and then you can just type in “dependency” and it’ll bring you to this page that will help explain more about what the difference is between a dependent and independent student. Thank you.

Maisha?

Maisha Challenger: Thank you, (Joanne), for that.

And so what we’re - what I want to leave you all with today is that you guys all had some great questions. And we appreciate you all joining us.

The FAFSA process is not - I don’t think it’s bad as people think and I’m hoping today you were able to get some information that you can utilize. Again, if you want to download the presentation, it’s in the top left-hand corner.

And then the actual recording for the presentation will be available on in a couple of weeks. And so stay tuned for that.

We want to thank you all for joining us today on our Webinar. Again, we want to be able to help you all as much as we can in this process.

And again, if you have any questions, we hope we’ve answered most of them and we thank you all for joining.

I want to thank my colleagues for answering questions online and (Joanne) and James for helping provide you all with information today.

Thank you all so much and have a great day.

(Joanne Heimes): We do have a survey at the end of our presentation. Thank you.

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