Good morning, good afternoon or good evening depending on when you watch this.
My name is Morgan Middleton, and today we'll be presenting on the basics of financial aid,
so let's get started.
So what is financial aid?
When students apply for admission, they're accepted to the university and they complete
a financial aid application, they could be eligible for one of several things.
And the student can see these items on their financial aid offer.
It will detail that they may be eligible for grants.
Grants are generally need-based, and they require no repayment.
Some students may be offered federal work-study, where the student can earn funds by working.
These funds are free, there's no repayment.
The student can see the award amount on their financial aid offer, and they'll see the max
amount of what they're able to earn.
And as the student works, they earn checks which can equal up to that full amount on
their financial aid offer.
Students will also be offered federal student loans which consist of the subsidized and
unsubsidized loans.
Subsidized loans, the government pays for the interest while the student is in school.
Unsubsidized loans, these loans accrue interest while the student is in school, and the new
interest rates for students will be determined each year in July.
Parents can also apply for the Parent Plus loan, the application for parents to apply
for the federal Plus Loan open each year around the first week of May.
And it'll also highlight scholarships on their financial aid offer.
Scholarships consist of merit-based and also need-based scholarships.
Now, of course these funds are free and require no repayment.
So when applying for financial aid, students are recommended to first acquire their FSA
ID.
FSA stands for the federal student aid ID and password.
It used to be a four-digit PIN number, but now they've moved to this for more secure
process of being able to complete the FAFSA.
Both the student and the parent must have an FSA ID to successfully complete the FAFSA.
They can acquire this at the website studentaid.gov.
The email address is recommended that the student use one where they can easily access
it.
Many students may use their high school email address which they may not have access to,
so it's recommended that they use an email address that they check often.
The student and the parent make sure they want to remember their username and password.
It's not suggested that they share this information, and also they can register their cell phone
numbers so in case they forget their student ID or their federal student ID, they can use
their cell phone number to also gain access to complete the FAFSA in other websites.
This information is used to submit your electronic signature, so when a student completes the
FAFSA and they get where they have to electronically sign it, they can use their acquired FSA ID
and password to complete that process.
And of course, the FAFSA has to be applied for each and every year.
Students who borrow loans are able to complete what is called a promissory note and entrance
counseling, which is required for first-time borrowers.
In addition to any parent that happens to apply and be approved for the Parent Plus
Loan, they will need their FSA ID in order to complete that process.
Once the FSA ID has been acquired, the student is recommended to complete the FAFSA.
FAFSA stands for the free application for federal student aid, and the student can complete
the FAFSA for the upcoming school year, 2021, at studentaid.gov.
The FAFSA is free, so you shouldn't have to pay any type of completion or submission fees
to make sure this gets completed.
It is free.
At NC State, students can apply as early as October 1st, and our institutional grant deadline
is March the 1st.
Students are awarded on a first come, first served basis.
As the student is completing the FAFSA, they can enter our institutional school code which
is 002972.
Each school has their own code.
That is the one for NC State.
Parents and students that have filed taxes are recommended to use the data retrieval
tool which is based on prior prior year tax data.
So for the 2020-2021 FAFSA, it's required that parents and students use 2018 tax information,
they go back two years.
If a student once the FAFSA is complete and they've been accepted, if they're selected
for a review process called verification, they're recommended to submit those documents
as soon as possible before we can award financial aid.
And also please contact your financial aid counselor if you have any
questions or if any unique circumstances arise, if there have been any changes in your parents
income.
When a school is required to gather additional documentation to verify if the FAFSA information
is accurate, that is all part of the verification process.
Such items that may be requested may include a tax return transcript and/or tax returns,
W-2s and the verification worksheet.
In many cases, students will be notified if they're selected for verification by receiving
documentation from NC State University either by mail or a notification by email.
So please check both forms to make sure that you received proper notice if we require additional
information.
Whatever documents are asked for, they must be submitted as soon as possible.
Students will not be awarded financial aid unless the verification process is complete.
It is recommended that the student complete the data retrieval tool, and there is a way
for the student to complete this when they complete the FAFSA.
So if your FAFSA was already submitted, and you're notified that you have to go through
verification, you can actually log back onto the FAFSA and indicate that you want to make
a correction in order to use the data retrieval tool.
It is secure, so no income is shown when the data retrieval tool is used.
It is accurate because its information is pulled directly from the IRS.
And again, if the student is selected for verification, in many cases the Financial
Aid Office will not ask for copies of tax transcripts or tax returns.
Unfortunately, if the parent or student is not eligible, if taxes were filed married
filing separately.
If you're unable to use the data retrieval tool, some just may choose not to use it,
then the student and/or parent can go online and request a tax transcript to be sent to
them.
Or again, you can provide a signed copy of the 2018 1040 tax returns.
There are specific pages that we ask for, so if you have any questions please contact
our office.
This is just some information from the studentaid.gov website that gives some details on how to
use the data retrieval tool.
Again, you can log into the FAFSA, they'll ask some specific questions.
We want to note too, it's going to ask also for the address that was used based on the
last time the parent or student filed taxes.
Please be sure to use the address that's on the most recent tax return, so in this case,
for FAFSA, if they're asking for 2018 tax information, use the address that's on the
2018 tax returns, even if you've moved since then, use the address that's on that year
tax return.
If not, the data retrieval tool may not work for you.
With regards to the cost of attendance, this information is found on our website at NC
State.
You can log onto ncsu.edu.
You can type in the words cost of attendance or "COA" and that should take you to our updated
cost for the upcoming 2020-2021 school year.
In the cost of attendance, it highlights the list of expenses that a student could pay
for in one year.
And in that same category you'll see a section for North Carolina residents and for out-of-state
residents.
The stark difference between NC residents and out-of-state residents, of course is the
tuition and fees.
But again, this is an estimate of what a family could pay for in one year, that's why we call
it the estimated cost of attendance.
So once the FAFSA is complete, all parent/student information and data has been entered, that
family will be given what's called an expected family contribution or EFC number.
Financial aid offices will use this information to measure the family's financial strength.
It does not mean though that's what the family would have to pay for.
It's part of a formula to determine how much financial need a student has.
So once you receive your award offer from NC State, you may compare it.
Many students compare their award notice or award offers from different schools.
So NC State may have offered this student this much.
Another school may have offered a student a different amount.
It's not because of the difference in the family contribution number, it's really because
of the difference in the cost of attendance.
The cost of attendance varies from school to school, but this family contribution number
stays the same, no matter what school the student can go to.
Also, this number changes from year to year.
So what a family's contribution number may be this year will be different based on tax
information and other data that's entered on the subsequent year for the FAFSA.
Things can occur such as a family may have two students in college.
One student may graduate this year, so on next year's FAFSA, that family contribution
number may be higher because the family may have just put one student through college.
So just know that this number can change, and it could impact what your student may
qualify for.
This is the formula that schools use to determine a student's financial need.
So again, the cost of attendance does vary by institution, the family contribution number
is the same regardless of school, and the financial need will vary based on the cost
of attendance.
So again, each year, if that student possesses financial need, that's how they can qualify
for need-based grants.
Anytime a student's family contribution number is higher than the cost of attendance, they
will possess no financial need and therefore not qualify for institutional grants.
Now again, going back to what we talked about with scholarships, it's possible that a student
could qualify for a merit-based scholarship because they don't have to possess financial
need in order to qualify.
So for those students that are applying for need-based scholarships that they have no
need, unfortunately they will not be eligible.
So what is the financial aid offer?
So once the FAFSA's complete, the offices will issue an offer statement to that student,
and it'll highlight the summary of aid offered.
It'll indicate the summary of estimated cost, so we talked about the cost of attendance.
In many cases, that information will show on the student's financial aid offer.
What the student and the family want to think about is what is the bottom line cost.
So if I'm looking at what the estimated cost of attendance is and I'm subtracting out the
financial aid I've been offered, what is our bottom line?
And I'm not just looking at the aid offered, so there are many things to consider when
you're reviewing an offer when it comes to thinking about what school a student wants
to attend.
And again, you want to look at the total cost of attendance minus the aid offered.
Any questions of course, please contact the financial aid office.
So with scholarships, students are encouraged to apply for everything they can put their
hands on.
They can apply locally, through the high school or through local libraries.
They can go to the College Foundation of North Carolina, or CFNC.org.
They're encouraged to apply nationally, so any scholarships that are offered throughout
the country, and of course, through NC State.
Apply for everything.
So university-wide and college-specific scholarships are offered through Pack ASSIST.
Students can only apply after they've been admitted to the university.
It is a scholarship application portal, where students can apply for scholarships offered
throughout the university including scholarships specific to the college they were admitted
to.
If I'm an undecided major or an undecided student or Exploratory Studies, then I'm only
able to submit the general scholarship application, that's what all students will be encouraged
to do.
If let's say I'm part of the College of Engineering, not only would I submit the general scholarship
application but I could be considered for scholarships in my academic department, and
I may be asked additional questions to determine eligibility for those institutional scholarships
through my college.
Now the current deadline or institutional application date for optimal consideration
is February 15th.
If a student is accepted after that date, they can still apply for scholarships, they
can still submit the general application, and they will still be considered.
They just won't be under the immediate or priority review.
So students can log onto go.ncsu.edu/packassist in order to determine their eligibility, submit
the general application, we encourage students to do it.
As soon as you've been accepted, go online and submit the application.
And students can apply for these scholarships annually, so it's open to incoming freshmen
but also, if I'm a continuing student, a sophomore, junior or even a senior, then I can still
submit the general application and be considered for scholarships.
15:17-16:13 So continuing our discussion on scholarships, students after they've completed
their first semester can apply for what's called the Caldwell Fellowship.
The student must possess a fall semester GPA of at least a 3.25.
Now students can apply for this in their first year.
So for example, if I'm a student that was accepted and started in the spring semester,
well then I wouldn't be able to apply until my second term is over which would've been
fall of that same year.
But again, I'm still in my first year, so I can still apply for this type of fellowship.
Again, that semester GPA must be at least a 3.25.
The award is $8,000, and that is renewable.
For more information, you can visit caldwellfellows.ncsu.edu to apply.
If you have any questions, please contact us.
You can call us by phone at 919-515-NCSU.
You can send an email to studentservices@ncsu.edu or you can visit our website at go.ncsu.edu/financialaid.
And that will conclude our presentation on the basics of financial aid.
Again, my name is Morgan Middletown.
Any questions, please refer to the last slide to contact us or send us an email and we'll
be glad to assist you.
Thanks, have a great day!