Top Ten Federal Financial Aid Tips for Parents
Are you looking for federal financial aid to help foot the tuition bill? Just follow these 10 tips to help you secure the financial aid help you need and remember – do not wait until your child’s senior year to start thinking about this. The sooner you start the more money you might be able to find.
1. Get an early idea of your EFC: Estimate your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) while your child is still a junior in high school. By obtaining an idea of what you might pay, you will better find colleges within your price range and identify what you will need in scholarships and college student loans to manage your tuition costs.
2. Reduce your child’s savings: An entire 20 percent of your child’s assets will be considered available for college, as opposed to a small 5.6 percent of yours. Encourage your child to save, but keep all college funds in a custodial account.
3. Learn something about marketing: This is one of the most important aspects of competing for merit-based awards. Highlight your child’s accomplishments and an award committee will be all that much more likely to consider giving a scholarship to your child.
4. Make federal financial aid a part of your campus visits: Speak with someone in the financial aid office – it is the best way to get your family on the radar for campus-based awards. Afterwards, take some notes! These new contacts could come in handy later.
5. Do a bit of detective work: Determine if your child’s application for financial aid affects the probability of admittance. If so, find out how and why.
6. Make a decision on early decision: If your child may be thinking of applying Early Decision or Early Action, determine how it will affect your chances for financial aid. Early Decision acceptance could prevent you from comparing awards, because your child will have to commit to the school before you see the financial aid offers from other applications. This will not be a factor if your child is accepted under an Early Action or Single-Choice Early Action application, as these are non-binding offers.
7. Determine the effects of any outside awards: If your child receives an outside scholarship, find out if it will affect your financial aid award. Some schools will lessen grant aid, and others will pare down on student loans. The school’s policy will affect the amount you will have to borrow.
8. Pay attention to all deadlines: The sooner your child files there college applications, the better your chances of receiving financial aid. To assist with financial aid forms, file your taxes as early in the year as possible. Keep in mind that if you are applying to schools that will require the PROFILE financial aid application, it may have an earlier deadline than the FAFSA.
9. Always complete the FAFSA: Fill out this form, even if you do not think you qualify. Some very affluent families sometimes qualify for financial aid at certain high-tuition schools. This single application is your gateway to all federal student loans, grants, and work-study awards that total in the billions of dollars.
10. Make your college aware of any special circumstances: If you have lost your job since completing the FAFSA or PROFILE, let the schools know about your situation. Most have standard policies that allow for the use of projected income, which could increase financial aid assistance.
