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There are a few general terms and phrases that you should eventually become familiar with when seeking financial aid.
What it costs to go to college obviously depends on the school you elect to attend. It can range from a few thousand or even hundreds of dollars a year, to tens of thousands of dollars depending on the type and location of the institution. In determining the costs of attending, financial aid offices will always consider both your direct and indirect costs for attending school.
Direct costs include those charges imposed by the school, like tuition and fees, and room and board. Indirect costs reflect other necessary costs that need to be paid by the student which are not owed to the school, such as rent for off-campus living, personal expenses that include the need to purchase toiletries, pay for laundry, and also transportation costs to travel to and from school.
Generally, there are five (5) basic components to a student’s cost of attendance. They are:
1) tuition and fees;
2) books and supplies;
3) room and board;
4) personal expenses;
5) transportation costs.
A sixth component may be recognized if a student is borrowing out loans. This involves the recognition that private lenders will deduct fees from a student’s loan, and thus institutions are required (by federal regulation) to impute an estimate on the amount of the deduction in order to enable the student to received in net proceeds what they originally borrowed. Still other costs may be recognized for cause, such as dependent care allowances, necessary medical costs, and greater real costs allowed on individual exception.
Your cost of attendance will vary also according to where you will be residing when going to school. A student living at home will have less expenses than if they were residing in an on-campus residence hall, or in an off-campus apartment. There are three (3) basic living arrangements recognized at Chaminade. These are: 1) living with parents; 2) living in an on-campus residence hall; and, 3) living in an off-campus apartment or house.
Aid administrators can adjust the standard Cost Of Attendance of a student for cause under a process called, Professional Judgment.
Generally speaking, a dependent student is one who still must depend on parent(s) for support. More specifically, however, those students who are declared to be dependent according to federal regulations, are those who have answered no to all of the criteria questions listed in the FAFSA. Of note, these are:
A student not meeting any one of these conditions is considered dependent and must have his/her parent(s) complete the FAFSA as well, providing relevant income, asset, and household information. The student’s EFC, as a result, will reflect both the student’s ability to contribute, as well as the parent(s)’ ability to contribute, towards the student’s educational costs.
The EFC or Expected Family Contribution is the standardized result of a student filing the FAFSA. It is a product of a formula that was basically formulated by the federal government, termed FM or the Federal Methodology, an is intended to measure both a student’s ability to contribute to their own education (called the SC or Student Contribution) and, if they are considered dependent, their parent(s)’ ability to contribute as well (termed the PC or Parent Contribution). The sum of both the SC and PC results in the EFC.
What is often misinterpreted about the EFC is that it is a reflection of immediate (i.e. liquid) resources that the family has at their disposal to pay for any college costs. It is a common response from parents to interject that, they listed no savings, and yet, they are expected to come up with this amount. The EFC is not a reflection of current savings on hand. Savings, as well as other assets, are considered in the determination of the EFC, but the latter has never meant that a family had this amount at the ready to provide to a student. What it did mean was that the family had the ability to raise that amount of money, which has always involved the concept that they could contribute a portion from current income and assets, but also, that they are able to borrow a portion of it as well.
In line with borrowing the EFC, federal regulations allow that students and/or parents may utilize any non-need-based student or parent loan to borrow a portion (or all) of the EFC. The specific loans that that be used to borrow against one’s EFC are:
Another misconception of students and their families is that the EFC is something that they have to pay to the school. No, one does not pay their EFC to the school. One must pay what are considered the direct costs owed to the school, such as tuition and fees and on-campus room and board charges. The EFC, in effect, serves as the family’s share of how a student is going to finance their education. It is a guide as to how to appropriately award and administer need-based financial aid. For if after a family contributes their share towards the cost of attendance, there exists costs left uncovered, then that remaining amount, termed financial need, is what our office will endeavor to cover it with need-based forms of financial aid. What the EFC basically does is to help our office determine what kinds of aid (e.g. need and non-need based) that we can provide to you so that you can subsequently pay for your costs owed to the school. In essence, that portion of the costs, which we cannot award in need-based aid, we will then recommend in non-need-based forms of assistance.
This acronym stands for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. It is the universal application used by every post secondary institution in the United States for applying for federal student aid. The form is used specifically to determine: 1) a family’s ability to pay towards college costs, also called the EFC, or Estimated Family Contribution; and, 2) one’s eligibility for the Federal Pell Grant. In general, however, it is the form that all students will file to determine their eligibility for financial aid.
Any student, seeking assistance for college costs, is strongly encouraged to file a FAFSA for each award year attending school. Applications are usually available in college financial aid offices, and with high school guidance counselors, in December of each year, for the following academic year. Applications cannot be filed any earlier than January 1st and can also be filed online at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/.
Repeat applicants (i.e. those who are renewing their financial aid applications) may also file the Renewal FAFSA which will generally be sent to you if you filed the FAFSA the previous year. The Renewal FAFSA essentially repeats (for your benefit) most of the generic information (name, SSN, address, etc.) that you reported last year, that more than likely will not change this year. It enables you, then, to update the kinds of information that likely will change from year to year, such as income, savings, perhaps the number in your household. You can also file the Renewal FAFSA online if you prefer (for more information on this process, click on Renewal FAFSA On The Web on the financial aid menu).
Whether you file a paper FAFSA or Renewal FAFSA, or do it online (in either form), the first type of application received by the federal processor will be the one used to determine your eligibility.
Financial aid is any form of assistance that comes from some organized body that assists a student with the costs of attending college. The term is usually associated with the programs a school affords to its own students. More specifically, it should be noted that financial aid is comprised of three (3) distinct types of programs: 1) gift aid (i.e. free money such as grants and scholarships); 2) work assistance (largely through federal work-study program); and, 3) loans (from both the school and private lenders). In other words, financial aid is NOT just grants! When you seek aid, we will consider you for all three forms of aid.
Financial need, in its basic form, is the difference between what it costs to go to school and what you are able to pay, less (also) any other financial aid you are receiving from other sources (e.g. outside scholarships). It is reflected through the following basic formula:
Cost Of Attendance
- EFC (Expected Family Contribution)
- Other Financial Aid
= Financial Need
The school always determines the Cost Of Attendance. While only you really know how much you can afford to pay for college, in order that financial aid is processed in both an equitable and administratively efficient manner, your ability to pay is actually determined for you, the result of your having filed the FAFSA. This is called your Expected Family Contribution, and it appears as that little ubiquitous acronym, EFC, on the upper right portion of your Student Aid Report or SAR. Essentially, then, whenever one hears the term financial need, it is generally associated with filing the FAFSA and demonstrating need according to the process diagramed above.
Gift Aid are those kinds of financial aid that are essentially gifts, meaning they do not have to be repaid, like in student loans. They come in different forms and are called by various headings, such as tuition waivers, grants, scholarships, tuition remission programs, or tuition reduction plans.
The provision of gift aid is fueled by the concept that it is a social investment, in other words, society investing in itself. A donor, be it the federal government, the school itself, or some generous benefactor, will provide the funds on the belief that those who eventually receive it will eventually lead to improving their society, whether that society be more appreciative alumni (as a result of an institutional scholarship), better tax-paying citizens (the Federal Pell Grant), or students who go on to become outstanding professionals in a particular field (a journalism grant).
The concept of gift aid has also had associated with it, the belief, that its provision is necessary as an incentive for students from lower income strata’s to embark on post secondary education. Coinciding with this is the auxiliary belief that if low-income students had only loans available to them for financing, many of them, unaccustomed to the concept of borrowing, would not pursue further education for fear of being unable to repay their obligations. The availability of gift aid, then, is a vital component of the purpose of financial aid, in terms of it providing opportunities for society, and moreover, becomes an absolute necessity for helping those who are the most financially needy.
An independent student is one who does not depend on parent(s) for support. But as in the case of dependent students, official designation of such requires that one meets certain federal criteria. Specifically, a student is declared to be independent if he/she can answer yes to any one of the criteria questions listed in the FAFSA. Of note, these are:
A student that can legitimately answer yes to any one of these conditions is considered independent and can file the FAFSA without parental information having to be supplied. The student’s EFC, as a result, will only reflect the student’s ability to contribute.
Aid administrators can elect to exercise Professional Judgment and render an otherwise dependent student to be independent for cause. Reasons for use of this discretion, however, are usually reserved for extraordinary cases where the student applicant has had little or no contact with parents, or does not know the whereabouts of the parents. It should be noted that use of professional judgment is always an exercised upon discretion of the administrator. It is not mandated even if a student apparently meets certain identifiable conditions.
The ISIR, or Institutional Student Information Record, is the electronic equivalent of the student’s SAR, Student Aid Report.. It is what the institution receives on the basis of the student listing the school on the FAFSA. What is important to note about the ISIR is that the school often times receives the ISIR a lot sooner than the student does the SAR. It is not uncommon that by the time the student actually receives the SAR, that the school would have already initiated its review process on the student’s application.
In order to legitimately review a student’s application for financial aid, a school must receive the student’s ISIR. If a student did not list a particular school on the FAFSA, but subsequently elects to attend the school, he/she must notify the federal processor that a duplicate ISIR needs to be transmitted to the school electronically. To do this, a student can call the federal hotline at 1-800-4FEDAID (or 1-800-433-3243), and provide the center with his/her DRN number (essentially a PIN number that is listed on the upper right portion of the SAR), and the name of the school and its code number (for example, Chaminade University, 001605). A school can request this process on behalf of the student if it knows the student’s DRN number.
In all cases, however, the school must eventually receive the electronic ISIR. Although the school could initiate award processes by reviewing the paper SAR that a student submits, it cannot officially confirm the award until the electronic ISIR is ultimately received.
Examples of merit forms of aid offered at Chaminade include:
The term Need Analysis refers to two distinct processes. It first refers to the formularized process inherent to the federal formula for determining the EFC. It also refers to the subsequent calculation, generally performed by aid administrators to determine Financial Need. In this determination, administrators follow the basic process steps outlined below to determine a student’s financial need.
Cost Of Attendance
- EFC (Expected Family Contribution)
- Other Financial Aid
= Financial Need
The purpose of performing Need Analysis is to ultimately identify a student’s level of financial need, in order to award need-based financial aid. Aid administrators are allowed discretion, or professional judgment in this area, and can, for cause, revise a student’s EFC on an understanding that a student’s current financial ability to contribute towards education differs from the information listed on the FAFSA.
Some examples of need-based forms of aid offered here at Chaminade include:
*The Pell Grant, can be considered a need-based form of aid because it is based on the family’s ability to contribute (the EFC), and because recipients, in almost all cases, tend to demonstrate high levels of need. However, it is essentially an entitlement program, which does not really require the demonstrating of need as it is traditionally defined.
For a more complete description of these programs, click on Financial Aid Programs on the financial aid menu.
Need-Based Aid is essentially financial aid based on your demonstrating financial need (see explanation to follow). Non-Need-Based aid is the opposite. It means that you do not have to demonstrate financial need in order to qualify. Merit Aid means that a certain standard of academic achievement is required in order to qualify for the award. It can also mean that the conditions of the award reflect some type of service being required (e.g. athlete on athletic scholarship), or some type of activity already performed (e.g. winner of science fair competition receives science fair scholarship). Non-merit means that the award is not based on any academic requirement. These different types of aid can have elements of the other characteristic. For example, a particular scholarship may be need-based but also have a merit requirement as well, such as a minimum GPA.
Examples of non-need-based forms of aid offered at Chaminade include:
For a more complete description of these programs, click on Financial Aid Programs on the financial aid menu.
A financial aid Package is the combination of different forms of financial aid that is awarded to you in order to help meet your financial need, and moreover, your cost of attendance. Financial aid administrators review your application, determine your eligibility for various forms of aid, and essentially package your award offer together with a variety of aid types.
Professional Judgment is the phrase associated with the federally approved discretion afforded to aid administrators in certain areas of the financial aid review process. Aid administrators can, for cause, affect changes, on an individual case-by-case basis, in five specific areas. These are as follows:
The Student Aid Report, or SAR, is the report you get back from the federal processor after having filed the FAFSA. It will commonly be returned back to you within four weeks after you submit it (either through the mail or online). The SAR is a multi-paged document that will provide confirmation as to the specific information you filed, provide you with the results of the review process (in particular, this means providing you with your EFC number), and alert you to any problems that occurred with respect to reviewing your application. There is a narrative portion of the report, which will describe how the review went and alert specific problems, that may have to be tended to. When you receive the SAR, you need to read it carefully. Pay particular attention to the section of the report, which confirms that a copy of the report was electronically forwarded to Chaminade.
The Chaminade version of the report is called the Institutional Student Information Record, or ISIR, and will reach our office provided you indicated Chaminade University on the FAFSA, and listed our six digit institutional code number, 001605. Once your ISIR reaches our office, we will begin reviewing your application as soon as possible. It usually takes about five days for the processor to turn around an incoming FAFSA (longer periods may occur during peek times during the year involving heavy traffic), and our office downloads our mailbox on a weekly basis. If you see that your results have been forwarded to our office (again, check to see that Chaminade is listed on your SAR), then, for the time being, you have done all that you need to do. Just sit back and allow us a little time to get your financial aid package together.
Also noted on your SAR, is a small number next to the acronym DRN. This is essentially your PIN Number should you desire to obtain more reports or information through the federal processor. Obtaining a duplicate SAR, or requesting that an ISIR be sent to another institution, are a couple of the reasons, why the DRN number may come in handy. When you call the federal processor (at 1-800-4FED-AID, or 1-800-433-3243), you will need this number to access information about your application and to request certain services (like having another ISIR sent to another institution).
Students receiving financial aid must make satisfactory academic progress towards the completion of a degree or certificate from the institution. Federal regulations require that financial aid offices comprise a Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy that is separate from the institution’s own policy. The financial aid policy must be at least as strict as the school’s policy, and can, in fact, be stricter.
While schools are left to define its own policies, certain basic tenets must be in place. Of note, the policy must have both quantitative and qualitative measurements of making progress. Generally, the qualitative measure relates to a minimum GPA. While the quantitative measurement is marked by two factors: 1) a maximum time frame for which a student may receive financial aid; and, 2) a set of incremental credits that must be passed at annual time intervals to ensure that the student progresses satisfactorily within that maximum time frame.
The financial aid office makes an annual review of each aid recipient’s progress by reviewing the student’s academic history. This review takes place at the close of each spring semester (for all academic programs). Students not meeting minimum qualitative and quantitative standards, may prove not to be making satisfactory academic progress, and in such cases may be rendered ineligible to receive financial aid.
Aid administrators are allowed discretion, or professional judgment in this area, and can, for cause, continue a student on financial aid that may otherwise not be meeting the conditions of satisfactory progress.
For a more complete discussion about Chaminade’s Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy, click on the button on the financial aid menu.
Where gift aid is essentially viewed as free money, self help aid is money that comes with a cost. There are two types of self help aid, loans and work-study. Both programs are provided with some kind of condition, and the belief is that in the fulfilling of the condition, students are essentially helping themselves, since, after all, the funds provided do not come free. In terms of loans, the student is not only responsible for eventually paying the loan off, but also any accumulated interest as well as deducted fees. With work-study, a student receives such funds only after putting in actual work time at a part-time job.
This is the process of verifying certain kinds of information that is reported on the FAFSA according to U.S. Department of Education regulations. When you complete the FAFSA and send it to the federal processor, imbued within the electronic calculation process is a series of edits that trigger whether an application is selected for review or verification.
It may be because your income seems unusually low considering the number in your household, it could be because your assets are now considerably different from your previous year’s application, or it could be because the number in your household attending college seems a bit excessive. Whatever the reason, verification happens to approximately 30% to 35% of the applicant pool. You will know that you have been selected for verification if you see an asterisk (*) next to your EFC number on the upper right portion of the first page of your SAR.
If the results of your FAFSA filing is selected for verification, it will mean that you will be required to submit additional documentation to verify the accuracy of the information you initially provided. Typically, this has meant the submission of copies of your previous year’s federal income tax returns. In the case of an independent student, a copy of only the student’s (and spouse’s, if applicable) federal income tax return is needed. For a dependent student, a copy of both the student’s, and parent(s)’ federal income tax returns must be submitted. If either a student or parent will not file a federal tax return, then a statement certifying both that a tax return will not be filed, and also declaring other sources of income, must be completed and returned in lieu of the tax return. Verification documents may also include forms completed to verify household size, number in college, child support received and other forms of non-taxable income.
If the documentation provided results in changes made to your original responses to the FAFSA, it may require that your ISIR be re-filed electronically. If this is the case, our office will process this re-filing automatically. While you do not need to do anything, this process may cause a delay in the eventual finalization of your aid offer since we will have to await the federal processor re-processing such changes.
