Georgia Student Finance Commission - Lassiter High School Benjamin Meadows K-12 School Representative

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Georgia Student Finance Commission - Lassiter High School Benjamin Meadows K-12 School Representative
Georgia Student
                             Finance Commission

                                 Lassiter High School

Benjamin Meadows
K-12 School Representative

November 16, 2011
Georgia Student Finance Commission - Lassiter High School Benjamin Meadows K-12 School Representative
GAcollege411 Homepage
• Five tabs across top of
  screen navigate website
• Create an account to
  gain full access to site
• Select role at bottom of
  screen to gain
  applicable information
• “Shortcuts” on the right
  side point you to the
  right direction
• “What’s New” keeps
  hot topics visible

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Georgia Student Finance Commission - Lassiter High School Benjamin Meadows K-12 School Representative
Career Planning
• Learn About Yourself
   – Assessments to help
     students with guidance
• Explore Careers
   – Tools for students to
     research possible
     careers
• Get a Job
   – Tools that can be used
     in a job search
• Voices
   – Blogs about career
     planning from peers

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Georgia Student Finance Commission - Lassiter High School Benjamin Meadows K-12 School Representative
College Planning

• Prepare for College
   – Learn requirements
     of different types of
     schools
• Test Prep
   – Practice admissions
     tests
• Explore
  Postsecondary
  Schools
   – Research schools
     from all across the
     nation

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Georgia Student Finance Commission - Lassiter High School Benjamin Meadows K-12 School Representative
Test Prep
• COMPASS/Asset
   – Used by 2-year and
     technical colleges
• SAT
   – Used by some 2-year
     and 4-year colleges
• ACT
   – Used by some 2-year
     and 4-year colleges
• GRE
   – Used by Graduate
     school
• Vocabulary Builder

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Georgia Student Finance Commission - Lassiter High School Benjamin Meadows K-12 School Representative
School Profile

• Georgia
   – There are 95
     postsecondary
     schools on the
     GAcollege411
     website
• Nationwide
   – There are 6342
     postsecondary
     schools on
     GAcollege411 from
     across the nation

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Georgia Student Finance Commission - Lassiter High School Benjamin Meadows K-12 School Representative
Financial Aid Planning

• Georgia’s HOPE
  Program
   – Keep up to date with
     all of the HOPE
     regulations
• Find Scholarships
   – Apply for scholarships
• Financial Aid
  Applications
   – Find needed
     applications to apply
     for state and federal
     financial aid

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Georgia Student Finance Commission - Lassiter High School Benjamin Meadows K-12 School Representative
Financial Aid 101
• Provides answers to
  FAQ’s that will help
  make the financial aid
  process less
  confusing

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Georgia Student Finance Commission - Lassiter High School Benjamin Meadows K-12 School Representative
Find Scholarships

• Search for
  Scholarships
   – A keyword search
     from a national
     databank of
     scholarships
• Scholarship Finder
   – Search for
     scholarship based on
     characteristics

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Georgia Student Finance Commission - Lassiter High School Benjamin Meadows K-12 School Representative
Scholarship Finder

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Financial Aid Applications

• GSFAPPS
   – Online application for
     state programs
• FAFSA Transfer
  Module
   – Directly link to Free
     Application for
     Federal Student Aid
       • This is the
         application that will
         apply student for all
         forms of federal aid
         such as federal
         loans and pell
         grants.

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How Much Does College Cost?

• Costs of Attendance
   – Tuition and mandatory fees
   – Room and board
   – Books and supplies
   – Transportation
   – Personal expenses (clothing, laundry, entertainment,
     medicine and healthcare, cell phone)

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What is Financial Aid?

• Sources of Financial Aid
   – Federal government
   – State government
   – Colleges and universities
   – Community groups (religious organizations, civic
     organizations, corporations, professional
     organizations, etc.)

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Types of Financial Aid

• Merit Based Scholarship
• Need Based Grant
• Student or Parent Loans
• Employment Opportunities, Work Study
• Military Aid and Grants
• Savings Plans

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Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program

• Largest Non-Need Based Program in the Nation

• Students must meet:
   – Academic Requirement of a 3.0 GPA in academic
     core classes*
   – Citizenship/Permanent Resident
   – Residency
   – Enroll in a HOPE eligible school in Georgia

   *Note: For Seniors who are on Technical Diploma, the
     GPA is a 3.2 for in academic core classes

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Zell Miller Scholarship Program
• New Scholarship Program for 2011

• Must meet HOPE Scholarship requirements, plus:

  – Minimum 3.7 GPA in academic core classes, and
  – 1,200 combined critical reading and math on SAT, or
  – 26 composite ACT

  – Graduate from an eligible high school as the valedictorian
    or salutatorian

  *Test requirements must be met in single test administration.

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2011 HOPE Scholarship Award

• At a Georgia public college, university or technical
  college:
   – Award will cover portion of standard tuition

• At a Georgia private college:
   – Award will be $3,600 per academic year for full-time study

       *Award amount will vary by year depending on receipts from lottery
                 commission and expenditures of HOPE dollars

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2011 Zell Miller Scholarship Award
• At a Georgia public college, university or
  technical college:
   – Award will cover full standard tuition

• At a Georgia private college:
   – Award will be $4,000 per academic year for full-time
     study

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Maintaining the HOPE/Zell
               Scholarship
• A student must maintain a 3.0 grade point average
  in college to maintain the HOPE Scholarship.
• A student must maintain a 3.3 grade point average
  in college to maintain the Zell Miller Scholar
  program.
• If a student loses eligibility for either the HOPE or
  Zell Miller Scholar program for any reason, they
  may regain that eligibility one time. They remain
  eligible for the HOPE Scholarship provided the
  student’s GPA is still a 3.0 or above.
• If a student did not or does not graduate from high
  school Academically Eligible for Zell Miller, then the
  student can never earn Zell Miller.

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Maintaining the HOPE/Zell
              Scholarship
• HOPE Eligibility Checkpoints
   – At the end of every Spring Semester
   – 30 Attempted Semester Hours
   – 60 Attempted Semester Hours
   – 90 Attempted Semester Hours

   – Students have a maximum of 127 attempted
     semester hours (190 quarter hours) to be awarded
     HOPE Scholarship funds.
   – Students graduating 2011 and beyond have a
     maximum of 7 years to utilize the HOPE Scholarship
     before their eligibility expires
      • Exceptions for military service

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HOPE Grant Program

• For students enrolling in a
  certificate or a diploma
  program
• Need a 3.0 GPA at 30           Need
  attempted semester hours
  to continue receiving grant    New
• Covers portion of tuition     Picture
• Covers up to 63 semester
  hours or 95 quarter hours

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View HOPE GPA on GAcollege411

• Select “Your HOPE
  GPA” under
  “Shortcuts”
• Log in to your
  GAcollege411
  Account
• Enter Last Name,
  Date of Birth, and
  Social Security
  Number
• Finally, select high
  school from list

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Direct Loan Program

• Subsidized Direct Loans
   – interest is paid by the
     government while enrolled
     (at least half-time)
• Unsubsidized Stafford
  Loans
   – student is responsible for
     paying the interest on the
     loan
• Repayment begins six (6)
  months after graduation or
  ceasing to be enrolled half-
  time

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The Student Access Loan

• The interest rate on the loan is 1%
• Funding of last resort or “gap financing”
• Able to borrow up to $10,000 per year
• Applications are randomly selected from all
  applicants
• Must reapply (Renewal not guaranteed)
• Application for Student Access Loan can be
  found on GAcollege411

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FAFSA.GOV

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What Does the FAFSA Require?

• To complete the FAFSA,
  you will need:
   – Completed Tax Returns
   – Information on untaxed
     income, such as child
     support
   – Household Information

• To Receive a Paper
  FAFSA:
   – Call 1-800-4-FED-AID
   – Download the paper
     application at
     FederalStudentAid.ed.gov

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What Does the FAFSA Do?

           • The FAFSA will determine
             the Expected Family
             Contribution (EFC).

           • The EFC estimates the
             family’s ability to
             contribute toward
             educational costs.

           • The EFC formula includes
             financial information
             collected on the FAFSA,
             family size and number of
             dependents.

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What Does the FAFSA Do?

  College Cost of Attendance (Determined by the School)

        Minus the Expected Family Contribution

Equals the Amount of Need Based Aid Student may Qualify

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How Do I Apply?
• Apply electronically at:
   – www.GAcollege411.org

   – or www.fafsa.gov

   – Apply for your PIN online
     at: pin.ed.gov

   – Check with the college
     Financial Aid Office for
     other applications that
     may need to be
     completed

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Contact Us
• Call GSFC at 1-800-505-4732

• www.GAcollege411.org

• Email: clientservices@gsfc.org

              Benjamin Meadows
    Georgia Student Finance Commission
               Benm@gsfc.org

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Questions?

Thank you!

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