New York State is rolling out a new scholarship based on income and financial need. It’s for any New Yorker, but foster youth fit the bill perfectly!
This first-of-its-kind in the nation plan will be phased in over three years, beginning for New Yorkers making up to $100,000 annually in the fall of 2017, increasing to $110,000 in 2018, and reaching $125,000 in 2019.
To find out more, click here.
WHAT IS THE FAFSA?
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the gateway receiving to the Pell Grant (up to $5810 for the 2017-18 school year), work-study, and student loans. Schools and scholarships also use the information from the FAFSA when awarding need-based grants. Because these scholarships are often awarded first-come, first-served, it is important to complete the FAFSA as soon as possible every year.
What is a grant? – Money you don’t have to pay back
What is work-study? – Money you earn by working an on-campus job
What is a loan? – Money you have to pay back after you leave school
| Application Opens | Application Closes* | |
| 2016-17 | 1/1/2016 | 6/30/2017 |
| 2017-18 | 10/1/2016 | 6/30/2018 |
* Visit https://fafsa.ed.gov/deadlines.htm to find your state’s FAFSA deadline.
WHY SHOULD I COMPLETE THE FAFSA?
HOW DO I COMPLETE THE FAFSA?
Gather your information
To be eligible for federal financial aid, young men over the age of 18 must be registered for the Selective Service.
To find out more, visit: https://www.sss.gov/Registration-Info.
Obtain a Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID
You must have an FSA ID to complete an online FAFSA. This unique user name and password will enable you to access your FAFSA now and in subsequent years, as well as other federal student aid information such as your loan balance and repayment schedule should you have one.
Creating an FSA ID is quick and easy – visit https://fsaid.ed.gov/npas/index.htm and it should take less than 10 minutes. Once you have created your ID, be SURE to keep the information someplace safe from where you will be able to retrieve it later.
Completing the FAFSA; what you need to know
Go to www.fafsa.ed.gov and log in using your FSA ID. You will be prompted to start a new application or revise a current one, and you can select 2016-17 or 2017-18. After that, follow the directions.
Independent Status
As a foster youth, you are considered an Independent Student. What this means, is that you do not have to submit your parents’ (or foster parents’) tax return and therefore your eligibility for federal financial aid is not based on their income. As a foster youth, your Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) is generally ZERO, unless you personally have an annual income of over $10,300 and have to file a federal tax return.
Ask your caseworker or agency to provide you with a Foster Care Letter, which should state the dates and jurisdiction of your time in care and may also list the programs (ETV, independent living services etc.) for which you are eligible.
Taxes
Both the 2016-17 and the 2017-18 FAFSA ask for your 2015 tax information.
What if I didn’t file a federal tax return in 2015?
What is the IRS Data Retrieval Tool?
The FAFSA is linked to the IRS, and information from your tax return can be automatically uploaded from the IRS to your FAFSA using the IRS DRT. This is the best way to make sure your information is correct, and if your FAFSA is selected for verification (see below) you will NOT need to provide your school with a physical copy of your tax return. Information uploaded via the IRS DRT is considered verified by the federal government.
If you use the IRS DRT, do NOT change any of the uploaded information or it will flag you for verification and you will have to provide a physical copy of your tax return to your school.
I filed a federal tax return in 2015 – can I use the IRS DRT?
You can use the DRT UNLESS you filed your 2015 tax return
How do I use the IRS DRT?
What if my income has changed significantly since 2015?
Once you have submitted your FAFSA, you can talk to your financial aid office and they can assess your situation and make adjustments.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
The Student Aid Report (SAR)
If you sign your FAFSA with your FSA ID, you will receive an email from FederalStudentAidFAFSA@cpsemail.ed.gov within three to five days. This email will give you instructions on how to access your SAR online.
The SAR will show your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) in the upper right-hand corner. As a foster or former foster youth, your EFC should be ZERO. The SAR includes a summary of the information in the FAFSA, and your school will use it to determine your eligibility for financial aid. Make sure the information is all correct; if it is not, go back to www.fafsa.gov, enter with your FSA ID, and make the necessary changes.
Verification
If there is an asterisk (*) next to the Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) on your Student Aid Report (SAR), your FAFSA has been selected for verification.
What is verification? Verification is the process used to confirm that the data reported on your FAFSA is correct. About one-third of all FAFSAs are selected for verification by the Department of Education, based on tax and personal information. Schools may select additional FAFSAs for verification.
Will my school tell me if my FAFSA has been selected for verification? Your school’s financial aid office will reach out to you through your online student account to request further information. Be sure to check your school email every day for this and any other important notices they may send you.
What do I do next?
Your Financial Aid Package
Your financial aid package is the combination of all grants and scholarships you receive, along with all loans you are offered. The total amount is based on your school’s cost of attendance (COA) and your Estimated Family Contribution (EFC).
Cost of Attendance – the total estimated cost of attending your college, including tuition, fees, books and supplies, and room and board. It is a general figure, not individually calculated for each student, but if you have special circumstances – for example a dependent child or a disability requiring specialized equipment – your financial aid office may be able to make adjustments to the total cost.
Review your financial aid package carefully. If you have questions, visit your financial aid office or make an appointment to speak with your ETV coordinator.
Just because you are offered loans does not mean you have to accept them. In many instances Pell, the Education and Training Voucher (ETV) and other scholarships and/or state or county resources may be enough to support a student with a realistic personal budget. Again, your ETV coordinator is very happy to discuss this with you.
In summary –
This document was developed by a focus group, and much of the information is directly quoted from what young people said.
Talking with Young People about Finances
Here is the FC2S Budget Form which our ETV coordinators use when talking with students about their budgets.
Here are some documents from the federal government and TurboTax to help you help your student understand FAFSA.
Unique_Situations_Tip_Sheet_2016-17 – includes questions that pertain to your student as a foster youth
Guide to Tax Form 1098 – this information from TurboTax discusses the tax form sent out by colleges and other educational institutions
fafsa-changes-17-18 – this document from the US Department of Education talks about the “Prior Prior” year changes to the FAFSA for 2017-18. Learn about it in advance!
The FSA ID – the old FAFSA PIN is gone – now, applicants use an “FSA ID.” Find out what it is, how to get one and what it’s used for on this document.
FAFSA deadlines – this document is for 2015-16; however, in reviewing the current year every date is the same as last year – just replace “2015” with “2016.”
Student loan repayment – a good document for your graduating seniors and for anyone who is planning their future.
Coach Christine sent us this article from Inside Higher Ed. It’s about professors texting their students, but it pertains to our ASP students as well – note, particularly, the paragraph printed in red. Interesting!
The Desire Path of Texting • September 18, 2015 • Karen Costa
I have been actively texting my students for almost a year with great success. I’ve wanted to text them since I started my first professional position in higher education, nine years ago, but resistance to texting has been persistent. We are talking, after all, about much more than punching some letters into a phone. If Raymond Carver was writing this story, he’d title it, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Texting.”
Marshall McLuhan famously argued that the medium is the message. He considered our communication channels to be an “extension of ourselves.” In other words, when we talk about texting, we are talking about much more. We are talking about ourselves: our hopes, our fears, our pasts and our futures. In short, the texting conversation that is (or isn’t) taking place on our campuses touches the core of how we walk through this world.
In the past years, I’ve identified two tracks of texting holdouts, or people who are hesitant to add “type of faculty who texts her students” to their respective definition of self:
1. People who don’t text, period. These folks are genuinely — and legitimately — concerned about giving up a part of their minds and selves to texting technology.
2. People who text in other realms but who think that texting their students crosses a professional boundary. They believe that email is more professional and that texting will send a (negative) message of informality to their students.
To my anti-texting colleagues: we hear you. Your concerns are valid and important. But in the name of student and faculty success, we have to move forward to pave a new path.
The most recent data shows most teens own smartphones and of those who do, texting is the most popular way to communicate with close friends. (But I’m not their friend, you’re thinking. No, you aren’t. But so what, I ask. If you want to catch a fish, you go where they’re biting, don’t you?) Texting is growing quickly among adults, too. Like it or not, it’s the new normal.
I read with wonder a recent Inside Higher Ed article bemoaning the lack of student use of college email. It reminded me of an empty Blockbuster video store. If we want to communicate with our students, we have to align our mediums with theirs.
What does this all point to? Our students are forming a desire path.
The concept of a desire path comes from design theory. Have you ever been in a park and noticed a dirt path that veers off the paved one? Park visitors have essentially voted with their feet or their bikes. They’ve said they’ve found a better alternative to the designers’ plans. Some designers actually wait for desire paths to form and then pave the organically preferred route. Research on communication channels shows an overwhelming desire path of texting emerging in the park of higher education. The question is, will we pave it?
We should, for a number of reasons. We should:
Use Texting to Address Inequalities. Research has found that African-American students text at even higher rates than white students. If dealing with racial disparities in student success is a concern on your campus, disseminate this data to faculty members and discuss how you can use texting to connect with diverse populations. Survey your own students about texting access and preferences.
Nudge During Gaps. Most of our campuses have become data informed enough to have identified periods of disengagement among our students. Do your faculty members notice class sizes dip during the week after spring break? Consider texting over break to keep students connected. In your online courses, student log-in tends to peak immediately before due dates. Do your online courses hear crickets on Monday? Work with the faculty to develop automated Monday motivation texts to keep students engaged.
Harness the Immediacy and Intimacy of the Texting Medium. Nancy Lublin, CEO of DoSomething, made a compelling case for texting in a recent TED talk. In addition to affirming the high texting rates among urban and minority youth, she points to the 100 percent open rate of texting. Students will read every text that you send. Can you say the same for email? Teach faculty to develop professional and caring texts to send to struggling students. Students might avoid opening emails from professors due to a natural fear of authority figures. Texting is different. The supportive message will be received.
Help Teach Limits. There are a host of concerns related to screen (over)usage both inside and outside higher education. As you pave the texting desire path on your own campus, provide faculty members and students with resources to set boundaries with their electronic devices and to manage their time accordingly. Better yet, go one step farther and introduce conversations on mindfulness and meditation as antidotes to hyperconnectedness.
Remember Faculty Success. We speak so passionately about student success that faculty success is often an afterthought, yet the two are intricately intertwined. Give faculty resources to support their texting plans. Provide quality, paid professional development to both full-time and part-time faculty to teach them how, when and why to text. Communicate to faculty members that texting is often a highly efficient alternative to email that has more benefits than costs.
Texting unquestionably pushes people’s buttons, for better or for worse. Pun intended. We can stubbornly stay on our paved path of email, letters and phone calls, or we can start proactively pushing buttons in the name of student and faculty success.
Click HERE for a great TED talk you might want to share with your student. It’s all about what it really means to be articulate.
Here’s a brand new document to help your student understand education loans – it’s never too soon to figure out how NOT to take them!
Welcome to the new Academic Success Coaching Program website.
This is a site just for you as coaches, providing information to help you work with your students. Currently, it has three main areas –
We plan to add
This is your website. Please do not share the link with your students or other individuals, although you are welcome to share any information that is posted here.
We welcome your comments and suggestions, and to use a phrase we actually just learned today, we’re all about CQI – continuous quality improvement!
Again, welcome to your website.
Shelley, Pat and tina