- Welcome to the Rollins College Financial Aid Video Series, where
we break down the most asked questions about affording a college education.
Financial aid from a college is all the money provided to students and families
to help them pay for their degree program. Financial aid includes
all the different types of funding a student may receive, whether that's based on financial need
or academic merit, and whether it's gift aid or self-help aid, and we'll
get into those details a little bit later. Financial aid can come from various sources,
including educational institutions, which is the college themselves, state government, the
federal government, private donors, and private lenders. So you really should explore all the
different types and sources of financial aid to maximize the aid that could be available to you.
There are two large categories of financial aid to help pay for college. There's gift aid and
self-help aid. Gift aid includes all the awards and programs that you won't have to pay back,
including scholarships and grants. Scholarships are awarded based on academic merit, talent,
or achievement, known as merit based, and grants are typically awarded according to the level
of financial need a student demonstrates. This kind of award is known as need based. Self-help
aid includes resources that a student earns or has to pay back, and typically are not earned
through merit. There are two kinds of self-help aid: student loans or employment like work-study
programs where you would work a part-time job on campus to help pay for the cost of college.
Financial aid can come from different sources. The first one is your institution. Each college has
their own financial aid programs like scholarships or need-based grants that are privately funded and
awarded to students. Since these are funded by the school, the institution determines the eligibility
and renewal criteria for each. Always ask about the specific awards an institution may have to
offer. The second is state aid. Each state has different avenues for financial aid.
These programs tend to benefit in-state residents to support their educational career. Certain
states have scholarships awarded or special tuition rates. Here in Florida, high-achieving
Florida high school graduates that want to pursue a college degree can take advantage of
The Bright Future Scholarships. Watch our Bright Future-specific videos for more information.
The third is federal aid. Aid from the federal government comes from filing the Free Application
for Federal Student Aid, otherwise known as the FAFSA. Federal aid includes student loans,
need-based grants, and work-study program that allows students to work part-time on campus
and earn funds while attending school. And last,
private sources. There are all kinds of organizations, companies, foundations,
clubs, independent donors, churches, and charity organizations that offer privately
funded scholarships to students. You just need to do some research to find them.
Other private sources include private lenders or banking institutions that offer student loans.
Graduating from college with no debt is ideal, but not always realistic.
Here is some thoughts on how to best prepare for paying for your college education.
For some, student loans will be needed to cover the total cost of your studies. Let's
talk through some tips to borrow very minimally or not at all, depending on your situation.
Prepare early. Start saving before you get to college. Consider prepaid tuition or education
savings plans like a 529 plan, which are college savings plans that have certain tax perks and are
considered as investments. These are offered in all states. Ask your high school or college
financial aid counselors about state, college, and federal grants and scholarships you may apply for.
Meet application deadlines. Some colleges have priority scholarship deadlines as well.
Do well in high school and earn a high GPA. Good grades could earn you scholarship dollars.
Research scholarship opportunities for your field within your institution of choice
and other private avenues and organizations. File the FAFSA even if you think your household
income is too high. Research the cost of the colleges you're considering and make the best
financial decision for your future. Stay close to home. Often as an in-state resident, you'll
get more financial aid opportunities from your state or the benefit of in-state tuition rates.
Live at home if it is possible to save dollars on the cost of room and board.
Study for the SAT or ACT. Often, scoring high in these tests will give you a greater probability of
being awarded a scholarship in certain schools, but keep in mind that many colleges still award
merit scholarships when you apply without test scores. Research private sources for scholarships
by visiting scholarship search engines of trust. You could explore some of our favorites here,
rollins.college/outside-aid. Be sure to watch out for scams. Consider student employment. Work
study income is excluded from the FAFSA and some positions on campus may give you the benefit of
non-monetary compensation, such as room and board at no cost. If student loans are still needed,
make sure you look at them as an investment in your future and your growth. Make sure
you're borrowing from a responsible and informed perspective. If you must borrow, always consider
federal student loans first versus private loans. Federal loans will have a lower interest rate than
those you can find with private lenders if you'll be the legal borrower. In addition, make sure to
invest in your career choice for a greater return after graduation. Get involved on campus. Consider
student employment, make time for internships, forge relationships with your professors.
All these things can go a long way in your job prospects after you have completed your degree.
Your parents will play a significant role in the process of funding your education.
Financial aid follows dependency rules that determine whether you need parental information in
order to apply for and receive federal financial aid, and most state financial aid as well.
If you're considered a dependent student, you'll need parental information for aid applications,
including FAFSA. This is true, even if your parent or legal guardian will not contribute monetarily
towards your education. As a dependent student, your parents' information must be included when
you file your FAFSA to receive aid. Make sure your parents create a personal login to the Department
of Education site. This login is called FSA ID and requires a social security number. Once they're in
the FAFSA form, they'll be able to import their tax information directly from the IRS in most
cases. If this is not possible, your parents will need to have access to their 1040 tax returns,
W-2's, or 1099s. Students with parents who are citizens of countries other than the United States
may still file FAFSA with their personal and financial information, and parents who are non-US
citizens will have the option of mailing the signature page of FAFSA directly to the Department
of Education in lieu of submitting the form with the FSA ID that requires a social security number.
There are several factors that determine your eligibility for financial aid,
including your Expected Family Contribution, or EFC, determined by FAFSA, your grade
level in college, meaning whether you're entering your first year of college or last,
your enrollment status, which means whether you are full-time or part-time student,
how many credits you are taking, and whether you're seeking a degree or not,
and the cost of attendance of the school you will be attending. Determining how much need-based
financial aid you're eligible for starts with the cost of attendance of the school you're
considering. Your chosen college will take your Expected Family Contribution, or EFC,
and subtract it from the cost of attendance to arrive at your total financial need. Remember,
your EFC stays the same, regardless of your school of choice, but the cost of attendance varies from
school to school. Your total level of financial need will help financial aid counselors determine
what need-based programs you may be eligible for. To determine how much non-need-based aid
you still require such as private, federal, and parent loans, colleges will subtract all aid you
may receive from the cost of attendance. Other non-need-based aid, including scholarships and
grants, are based on your merit or accomplishments such as test scores and high school GPA. See our
other video that discusses this further. Lastly, some college financial aid programs may consider
a combination of your level of financial need in addition to your merit. Some schools may also
use the College Scholarship Service Profile in addition to your Expected Family Contribution as
determined by FAFSA, to arrive at your financial aid package. The CSS profile isn't required of all
colleges, but it's used to apply for non-federal financial aid. In the end, it is likely that your
financial aid offers from colleges will have a combination of different types of awards and
programs. Be sure to sit down with a financial aid counselor at your school of choice and
inquire about the eligibility criteria for each to further understand how your aid was determined.
We highly recommend using the net price calculator of any colleges you're considering.
This is a tool to help you understand how much you specifically will pay for your college years.
Net price refers to the amount a student will pay at their college choice for a single academic year
after considering the scholarships and grants they might be eligible for.
In other words, this will be the out-of-pocket cost for a family at a particular institution.
All colleges and universities are required to provide a net price calculator for prospective
students. You may find the net price calculator of your prospective school
on their websites. The net price calculator allows prospective students to enter personal, academic,
and financial information about themselves so that an estimate is generated of how much financial aid
you may receive at a particular college. This helps students have an estimated net price or
an estimated figure of how much it will cost them out of pocket to attend their school of choice.
Keep in mind the net price calculator is as good as the information you provide and should be
treated as an estimate only. The more accurate the information you provide, the more accurate
your estimate will be. The net price calculator is mostly encouraged for juniors in high school who
are looking at a variety of schools. Seniors in high school are encouraged to file FAFSA instead,
which opens on each October 1st, prior to their intended first year of college.
Filing a FAFSA will help them receive financial aid offers promptly from schools they apply for
as opposed to an estimate from the net price calculator.
When you file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA,
the form will calculate something known as EFC, or Expected Family Contribution.
This number will be communicated to you via your Student Aid Report, or SAR. Expected
Family Contribution is an index used to measure a family's financial strength. This is the amount
that the Department of Education decides a family can set aside towards education on an annual
basis, according to the tax information reported on the FAFSA. The EFC is made of two components:
parent contribution and student contribution. This includes both the parent income and assets,
as well as the student income and assets as entered on the FAFSA. The EFC is calculated using
this data from FAFSA and a federal formula known as the EFC formula. If the EFC is low or zero,
it means the family has great financial need. If the EFC is high, it means the family has enough
resources to set aside towards education. The Expected Family Contribution does not indicate how
much you'll need to pay at a given institution. It simply is an indicator of financial need. It
is also important to note that the EFC stays the same, regardless of which college you ultimately
attend. Watch our other financial aid videos to get all of your college aid questions answered
and if you have any remaining questions, please reach out to our team at finaid@rollins.edu.