College Costs & Financial Aid: What Every Family Should Know

Webinar Transcription

2026-9-30-College Costs & Financial Aid – What Every Family Should Know

Anesha: [00:00:00] Hi everyone, and welcome to tonight’s webinar. My name is Anesha Grant. I’m a senior advisor at CollegeAdvisor, and I will be your moderator today. Today’s webinar is being presented in partnership with College Avenue on, “College Costs and Financial Aid: What Every Family Should Know.” Before we get started, just to orient everyone with the webinar timing, we will take two quick polls to see who’s in the room with us and to gauge your familiarity with the financial aid process, and then we’ll hear from our presenter, and later we will open up the floor for live Q&A.

Anesha: On the sidebar, you can start submitting your questions in the Q&A tab. Slides are available under the Handouts tab. And now let’s meet our presenter, Kat Del Grosso. Hey Kat, how are you doing?

Kat: Hi, how are you? Welcome everybody.

Anesha: Sorry, go for it. Sorry.

Kat: Oh, yeah. Welcome everybody.

Anesha: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background, Kat.

Kat: Sure. Um, so I, uh, I’ve been at College Ave for almost eight years now, and [00:01:00] I’ve, uh, been in the business of higher education and financial aid related things, um, for, this is actually 32 years I’m in right now. So I’ve been, um… I worked at, at Syracuse University and University of Rochester in the financial aid office.

Kat: Um, I also worked at the college board for seven years. Um, I’ve been in student lending a long time as well. Um, so yeah, so time flies and it’s over 30 years now, so.

Anesha: Well, obviously you’re quite knowledgeable. You’ve been through all the ups and downs of these processes, and so, um, it’s great to have an expert with us.

Anesha: Uh, before we let you get started, like I said, we’re gonna do a quick poll. So our post- first poll is, um, so let us know what grade level you are in. If you are a parent or a teacher, you can go ahead and select other, but as you can see, we welcome folks from across the age gamut right now, um, to kind of establish your, your background in this topic.

Anesha: Um, so you said Syracuse and Rochester, and I always wanna make people compare their past [00:02:00] institutions. So I’m wondering, you know- … would you prefer Syracuse over Rochester? Or what was the, what was the balance of those two experiences? ‘Cause those are similar, but very different universities.

Kat: Yeah, I mean, the University of Rochester was my first job- Mm

Kat: kind of, uh, um, in, in higher ed. And, and, and so I feel tied to it so much because- Mm-hmm … um, I was just like a, a toddler in this field, you know? So, um, I’m started meeting lots of friends and, and, uh, my, my financial aid friends are my best friends. So, um, they’re pretty good people and they like to help students.

Kat: So I s- that was my start. So I, I guess I’m tied to that, but I am, uh, always big on Otto the Orange from Syracuse University and all things Syracuse, if you can get past all the snow up there, so.

Anesha: Yeah, no, and I, I… Well, I appreciate you, Rochester. I love Syracuse, but, but, but that’s neither here nor there. I didn’t go to either of them.

Anesha: I just like the campuses. But, um-

Kat: Definitely …

Anesha: I, I understandable that, you know, [00:03:00] your first, your first institution has, like, a, a warm place in your heart. Um, we’ll go ahead and close our first poll, and just for context for you- Yeah … um, so we have a little over 150, 50 people with us today.

Kat: Okay.

Anesha: We have one solo ninth grader.

Anesha: Welcome. We have 10 10th graders. We have 22 11th graders. Our biggest group is, um, our seniors, which there are 63 of them. We have about four college freshmen, and then about 50 or so parents and teachers with us as well.

Kat: Okay, great. All right. That is, um, helpful for me. And kudos- Could you- Kudos to the ninth grader who is-

Anesha: I know

Kat: seeking out information early.

Anesha: There’s always one very eager eight or ninth grader in there, and so they’re gonna be the most knowledgeable when they get, get to 12th grade. We’ll do our second poll for you. Uh, but we’re just asking folks how familiar are you with the financial aid process? Um, very familiar, somewhat [00:04:00] familiar, not familiar…

Anesha: Not very familiar or not familiar at all. So be honest, no judgment here. Let us know your level of exposure and familiarity. And with that, and keeping our conversation going as we’re waiting for some folks who- I don’t see it

Kat: open. Do you, do you, um…

Anesha: Oh. Yeah, it is open. I think it’s just- It is open?

Kat: Okay

Anesha: not synced to us. Yeah. The other one got sent to us, and I think this one, I can see folks responding to it, so.

Kat: Perfect.

Anesha: Um, I guess my question to you was what was your level of familiarity with the financial process when you were going to college? Was it something… I will say it was something I discovered when I started advising.

Anesha: My parents kept me very far away from it, and I’m grateful for that, but I think everyone has to be a little bit more mindful of it this year. Now- nowadays, but I’m just curious, what was your experience before you got into the field?

Kat: I feel like it was… It’s so much more complicated over the la- you know, since I went to college.

Anesha: Yeah.

Kat: To be honest with you, I… It was, it was just, it was a lot easier then. Um, and quite honestly, the FAFSA wasn’t even around when I went to college- Mm-hmm … ’cause it didn’t [00:05:00] start until like 1992. So- Okay … yeah. So if you, if you did the math when you f- figured out that I’ve been in the business 32 years, you know that, uh, you know, I’ve been, been in, doing this since the ’90s.

Kat: So, um, yeah, so it was, it was a lot easier then. So it’s, it’s complicated and I like to help people try to figure this stuff out ’cause it’s, it’s not easy

Anesha: It feels like it’s more, a little bit more complicated every year. But, um, well, I know, uh, I’m grateful to have you here. I’m excited for this session as we’re on the heels of, of things kicking off.

Anesha: Um, we now are up to about 220 folks with us in the room. I’ll go ahead and close this poll so that we can jump into your presentation without too much further ado. And just to let you know, about 2% of folks say that they feel very familiar. Um, the majority of folks, about 42%, say they feel somewhat familiar.

Anesha: They know the basic questions, but they know the basics without questions. 32% feel that they’re not very familiar, [00:06:00] and then 23% are not familiar at all. They’re just starting to learn. So we have, uh, a, a sizable chunk of folks who know a little, um, and so and then a lot of folks eager to learn more, so all right.

Kat: Okay. Thank you.

Anesha: You’re welcome. All right. I will stop talking. I’ll be back with the le- the Q&A, and I will hand it over to you.

Kat: Thank you so much. All right, so, um, let’s get going here. Um, so Anesha, will, you’ll help me out if there’s any issues with seeing anything, and I know we’ll be answering lots of questions here.

Kat: Um, just have a, a relatively small number of slides because I wanna make sure that we get to a lot of questions. Um, but I wanna go … These are the things I wanna go over tonight, which, um, includes, you know, just basically what are some of the basics about applying for finan- like, about financial aid in general, um- Mm

Kat: including what goes into the cost of attendance or the cost of college. When you see that sticker price, what does that mean, um, and what’s [00:07:00] included? The second thing is what is financial aid at all? Like, what i- what does that mean? What’s included in that? Um, where does the money come from, and how am I gonna find out how much I’m, I’ll be eligible for and be able to receive?

Kat: So those are the things I’m gonna cover here. Um, first off, the, the cost of attendance, um, or the cost of college, sticker price, what- whatever, um, however you term it, the official lingo is cost of attendance, and that is what you’ll see published on the school’s websites. Um, the colleges and universities will…

Kat: They’re required to list for you, um, on the same page, on the same webpage actually, um, your- the total cost of college so that it’s transparent to you as opposed to just pieces and parts of the cost. So they are required to, to list everything there. Um, the five components of the cost of attendance include the tuition and [00:08:00] fees, which is gonna be the biggest, uh, most time…

Kat: Well, especially, like, at a private school, it’ll be the largest, um, percentage of your total cost of attendance. And then, um, food and housing will be, um, your second largest probably at the private types of institutions. If it’s a public institution, those might be reversed where the higher might be the food and housing and tuition and fees.

Kat: But suffice it to say, those two first bullets are the f- are the largest part of the cost of college obviously. Um, the other items though that are also taken into account when figuring out how much financial aid you’re eligible for, and also what you should expect as a family in terms of, okay, what else, you know, what else am I gonna need to, um, to afford once the student gets there?

Kat: And those are things like the, any books or supplies, any kind of equipment, um, if a laptop is required. Let’s say you’re, you know, in photography and a camera’s required or [00:09:00] nursing and y- you know, certain equipment is required or something like that. Everything has to go into your cost of attendance when the financial aid office is figuring out how much you’re eligible for.

Kat: So, um, that makes it fair to you because you know that the financial aid office had to come– not just the financial aid office, but the campus itself, had to come up with something that was, um, more realistic as to what you’ll be looking at in terms of total costs. Then personal expenses would be things like, you know, um, your personal, um, things like, you know, toothpaste, um, you know, affording things that are basic in terms of everyday living.

Kat: So believe it or not, that is actually part of the cost of attendance, and it’s taken into account on an average amount, as an average sort of that’s included. Um, obviously it’s not student-by-student specific. These things are… This cost of attendance is all built on, uh, more, more averages, if you will.

Kat: [00:10:00] And, um, similarly, transportation, and the- it’s the last component goes into it, that’s more of an average transportation cost. It’s not specific to the student-by-student. But it basically means, you know, you getting, the student getting to campus, getting home for breaks, and things like that. So they are taking into account all these things when they’re figuring out how much you qualify for.

Kat: Um, next. Um, the next item is what is financial aid? So financial aid can be, um, it- it’s essentially your discount to, you know, to going to college. So for, you know, if you use it in other terms, you know, if you go to buy something and it’s on sale, that’s your discount. Um, you’re gonna pay the price, you know, after the discount.

Kat: Basically, that’s what financial aid is. It’s, it’s essentially giving you, um, money off of the total price, and that’s what you, um… that leaves what your net price [00:11:00] is at the end. Um, the total cost minus financial aid is your cost. So I know sometimes families will, you know, think of financial aid as, “Well, that I…

Kat: You know, that’s just the, the gr- you know, the free money. You know, the, the, the stuff I don’t have to pay back.” Technically, no. Um, financial aid is actually described as, um, these items; grants, scholarships. Those two things you definitely want to try for because those are f- that’s considered the free money.

Kat: That’s the stuff that you don’t have to pay back. You don’t have to work for it. You- it’s, it’s not work on campus. It’s just grants and scholarships are, uh, money that’s literally gonna decrease your bill. Um, for the other two types of things that are, um, considered financial aid, even though you may… It’s not, um…

Kat: I think sometimes families don’t think of it this way, but work on campus is considered financial aid sometimes. If you’re getting money from the school to go towards, you know, [00:12:00] paying your paycheck if the student is working maybe 10 or- 10 hours on, on campus a week or something like that. That’s considered financial aid.

Kat: And then lastly, um, loans would be considered financial aid as well, um, that could come from different sources like federal sources or, um, maybe state sources for, for loans, but I’m not sure how many states really offer s- state loan programs, but that, that could exist. Um, but certainly also private loans as well.

Kat: So any combination of those things, grants, scholarships, work, and loans will help… are considered financial aid and will help you decrease your total cost and get to a lower cost for you to have to pay for the year Uh, financial aid is also not always based on need. So sometimes you, um, you’re actually sometimes asked to complete the financial aid forms even if you want, um, academic scholarships or m- what we call merit aid.

Kat: So [00:13:00] merit aid is the same thing as like I’m getting a scholarship from the admissions office because of my academics or my ta- they’re talent-based or whatnot. So, um, you’ll s- you will find that a lot of schools do require that, um, those financial aid forms, even though you think, oh, okay, well, why, why would I have to do that just to get my merit aid?

Kat: But you will find that sometimes. So, um, just a heads-up on that. Not always, but some schools do require it. All right, so that’s what financial aid is. It’s essentially a discount for you. Um, and then, um, where does the money come from? So there are four main sources here as to where the, the funds are coming from.

Kat: First of all, a large percentage of money is coming directly from the colleges and universities themselves. Uh, they have grants and scholarships that they provide to students. Some, some colleges, by the way, don’t have merit funding. They only have need-based funding. And then, um, many w- also have, [00:14:00] will have both actually.

Kat: So i- that depends on the college or the university, but you will find that some do not offer merit and some offer both. So, um, you’ll want to do your homework early so you can kind of figure out of the schools you’re looking at w- who’s offering what, who offers what type of thing, um, and, you know, start to research early.

Kat: You’re early because you’re on this call tonight. So for all of you, you know, there’s a large percentage of you in 12th grade. Um, uh, and there’s a lot of parents on this call too. So, you know, you’re gearing up for next fall to go to college next fall, so you, you’re in the right space right now to, to be doing your research.

Kat: Um, so that’s the biggest percentage. And the second, um, place that the money is coming from is the federal government. So they offer… The Department of Education administers any of the federal financial aid programs. Um, there are grant programs like, uh, [00:15:00] the Federal Pell Grant, the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, which is called SEOG.

Kat: Those two grant programs are for higher need students, so, um, you will definitely, um, be looking at, like, your, if your student aid index, which is a number that’s calculated from you filling out your financial aid form, if your family contribution essentially is, is calculated to be low, you- those are the students who will tend to qualify for those two programs.

Kat: And then, um, the government also, um, administers the, uh, or provides funding to the schools for federal work studies. So when the student’s working on campus, the paycheck’s actually, part of the money’s actually coming from the government on that. Um, so they fund some of that program as well. And then, um, the federal student loans are coming from the federal government as well, so.

Kat: And then there’s also something called a Federal Teach Grant for students who are interested in becoming a teacher and [00:16:00] working in an underserved, um, community. That is something you can, um, that is also available as well And then third would be money that comes from the state. So wherever you live, there are people from all over on this call right now.

Kat: Um, so if you’re s- so you’re … There are state grant programs in every state in the United States, and when you go to fill out your f- your Federal Financial Aid Application, um, which I’m gonna talk about here in a moment, um, you will be able to see on there that a lot of the states use the federal application to just go right directly into their state application, which makes it very handy so that you don’t have to go, you know, everywhere to do everything.

Kat: You can, you can, um, very conveniently at the end of that federal application go right into your state form. Um, so the state grant, the s- state grants that are offered will vary by state. Uh, what you can [00:17:00] do is let’s say you’re from the state of Massachusetts, you will just, you can definitely research what Massachusetts has.

Kat: Um, same with all of the states. So you will want to… Here’s my best advice for that. I would probably go, um, I would look at the college and universities’ websites that you’re, that you’re, you know, you have for choices for where you want to attend school, and their financial aid page, um, web page should have information for you about the state grants that are offered, um, you know, in that state.

Kat: There are some states that will allow you to take money over state lines, so, um, but not all of them do that. Um, so you’ll wanna look into that because it’s possible that wherever you are, maybe you’re able to go over the state line and take your grant with you over there in a surrounding state. Um, I, I don’t think that’s most [00:18:00] common, but it does exist.

Kat: I do know that for sure. So, um, y- you’ll definitely wanna look if you’re… It tends to be, it is need-based, those grants. So, um, if, if they do have academic or merit-based, um, scholarships in your state, you would also want to apply for those as well. So that’s the third place that you get funding from. And lastly, you’re getting it from outside sources, which sounds very generic.

Kat: Um, but what I mean by this is, um, outside scholarships can come from places other than those first three places I just mentioned. So for example, what I would recommend is in your community where you live, um, there are likely very, um, there are likely places that will give out what, what would I call outside scholarships.

Kat: So for example- Um, let’s say you’re- you, you have a parent who works somewhere where they offer, um, scholarships to students of their employees to apply for and then [00:19:00] win those, and then you can use it for college. That’s one idea. Um, believe it or not, places like, you know, Elks clubs, churches, um, Walmart, you know, your, maybe your local bank.

Kat: Last year I saw a QR code on a Dunkin’ Donuts door for a $5,000 scholarship. You know what I mean? So there’s a lot of different outside scholarships and, quite frankly, I think you have the best luck getting outside scholarships if they’re right at your back door, ’cause those are, you know, right, right on top of you versus you can also look more regionally.

Kat: Um, and then you can certainly look nationally. Um, but of course you’re gonna- if you’re looking nationally, you’re, you’re in with a ton of other people versus if you’re looking in your backyard, you know, you have a better shot at getting some of that money. And any of that money can add up. So you’re talking $500 here, $1,000 there.

Kat: I had a student when I worked at Syracuse University, she had [00:20:00] nine outside scholarships. Um, I still remember her. Um, and I was like, “Wow, she’s, she really worked hard to, you know, to come up with that many.” I mean, it was just, it was kind of amazing really. So do what you can. Try to come up with outside scholarship money, ’cause that’s stuff you don’t have to pay back.

Kat: And then other outside sources will be things like private loans, um, and, um, that type of thing. So private student loans, like where I work, um, at College Ave, you know, private educational loans are helpful to students and parents and families to, um, kind of be able to afford college at- after all those other things have been offered or available to you So how will you know how much you’re gonna be able to receive?

Kat: First you’re gonna apply for admission to the college or, the colleges and universities, whichever ones you’ve narrowed it down to, which you may still be doing obviously right now because it’s only September 30th and you, um, you know, may still be trying to figure that [00:21:00] out, which is perfectly normal. So you’ll apply for admission to those schools and then, um, you’ll want to follow whatever deadlines that they have.

Kat: So, um, you know, make friends with their website so that you understand, and if I were you, I would sort of come up with a system where you’re tracking, um, when, you know, college A… What’s college A’s deadline? College B, C, D, E? And then, uh, make sure that you’re not missing any of the deadlines. The other thing you wanna make sure you’re not doing is missing deadlines for, um, any of the financial aid because you wanna apply for financial aid, but it’s not gonna be the same exact deadline.

Kat: Usually it’s not the same exact deadline as the admissions application. So it might be, um… Let, let me give you an example. If you’re applying, there are different things you can apply for. You can either apply early decision, early action or regular decision at schools. There are also some schools that do rolling admission all year [00:22:00] round.

Kat: You can apply whenever you want. Those tend to be schools like community colleges, but there’s also four-year colleges sometimes that will do it. I can think of one right now in Pennsylvania. So, um, you, you know, rolling admission is more open, so you can kind of take your time to do that at whenever. But most…

Kat: If you’re looking to kind of lock this in and understand where you’re gonna be going by the time spring rolls around, um, then you’re gonna wanna either… If you know for sure where you’re gonna apply, um, and you only, you only wanna go to that one school and you’re 100% sure, then you can apply early ad- um, early admission.

Kat: Um, if you, um, but you have to really be sure that you wanna go to that one school because, um, you’re kind of locking yourself in to that one path. Whereas early action will actually allow you to apply to multiple schools, um, but you’re doing it early. So there’s, there’s that option. And then regular [00:23:00] decision is more of the later on you’re kind of doing it based on a timeline of, you know, more like February is the deadline for that kind of.

Kat: Um, early admission and early action tend to have November, December deadlines for their admiss- for their admissions applications and their financial aid applications are gonna be right behind it. Um, regular decision will be more like February for both. And then like I said, the fourth category is rolling admission, and that’s all year round.

Kat: So, um, so after you’ve done those two things at the colleges and universities you’re interested in, then you will also, maybe even simultaneously, wanna l- start looking for schol- understand what scholarships are offered from the school, but also start looking at those outside scholarships that I mentioned before, where you’re, you’re digging in and trying to get ahold of some of the outside money that comes, um, that could really make a difference in how much you’re affording.

Kat: And then, um, what will [00:24:00] happen after you apply is the financial aid office will calculate your financial aid eligibility, and they’re gonna let you know how much you’re eligible for So how do you apply? Um, applying for financial aid is, um, there’s a couple things here. One is that you absolutely will, um, you absolutely will need to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid if you want any kind of need-based financial aid.

Kat: And as I mentioned earlier, you may have to do the free application, which I’m gonna call the FAFSA from this point forward. It’s a mouthful otherwise. Um, the FAFSA actually is, um, pretty much the universal financial aid application for schools in the country. There are a handful of schools that don’t use it, but they still have financial aid.

Kat: But for the most part, schools use this. And then sometimes… Well, actually, let me say this. They actually opened up the FAFSA for [00:25:00] the fall 2027, spring ’28 year already. They’ve opened it up. Y- it’s supposed to open by October 1 every year, and this year they were early. Last year they were early. Uh, so September 23rd it actually went live.

Kat: They, they did some beta testing and it was ready. So it went live, but it’ll always be available by October 1. You do not have to do it on October 1. Um, you can just- You only have to file it by way of the deadlines that you know for the schools. You don’t have to file it on October 1. I- I’ve gotten that question a, a gazillion times over my career here.

Kat: So just file it based on the deadlines from the school. And you do have to apply every year for financial aid, so unfortunately you can’t just fill out the FAFSA once and then you’re done. Um, you do have to fill it out every year. But it has been simplified and it is really a lot easier than it used to be.

Kat: So, um, when Anesha asked me about, like the, the, the financial aid process when I first, when I went to college [00:26:00] and, um, you know, and when I started working in financial aid, it was a lot more complicated, but the FAFSA really has become much easier. And I would say you can probably finish it within a half an hour.

Kat: Um, the second type of financial aid application is called the CSS Profile. Um, it’s, uh, stands for College Scholarship Service, um, but it’s, it’s administered by the College Board. So if you took the SAT exams or PSAT exam, or you took any advanced placement courses in high school, you know that the College Board is who administered that, and your login for th- from those exams will actually carry over to the CSS Profile.

Kat: Um, there are only a handful of schools, about 300, just shy of 300, who need that form in order to figure out your financial aid eligibility. And you may ask, “Well, why do I need to do that if I already did the, do the FAFSA?” Uh, that is a good question. Um, the question is, um, or the answer [00:27:00] is that the schools that use that are ones that have a lot of grant and scholarship money to spend on you, and they want more information than what the FAFSA provides in order fi- to figure out how much a family can afford to pay.

Kat: So, um, so again, let me summarize this again on this slide. The FAFSA is required at all the schools where you want financial aid, pretty much all the schools. And then the CSS Profile is a second application you would have to do. So you’d have to do both applications. And the schools, um, Anesha’s going to put in the chat, um, the links for the FAFSA and the CSS Profile for me, and those links, um, are basically, um…

Kat: What I would recommend that you do is to look at, um, the CSS Profile website. It actually has a link on it that says, um, um, participating [00:28:00] schools on there. And so, um, let me actually show you that. So they have this. So which school’s need it, I have- This is the, the next slide over. Um, they have a list where you can actually see which schools need the CSS Profile for, um, domestic students.

Kat: They also have a version of the CSS Profile for international students, if you happen to be an international student. Then they also, um, have a CSS Profile that some schools need for the, if it’s a divorced or separated family, that they might want the divorced or the other biological parent to fill out their own CSS Profile to assess the need of that person as well, and a step-parent if there is one.

Kat: So, um, anyway, that is where you can go look to see if the school needs it, but I also would heavily rely on whatever their website says or whatever they’re communicating to you, and it’s like in their portal for required [00:29:00] documents, then you’ll know whether or not you have to do it or not. So, um, but this is a pretty much a full list.

Kat: It technically should be a full list of schools that require it. And then just one last thing I will tell you on, um, the slide with the applications is that every now and again, there’s a school that needs an institutional application. They probably are schools that they don’t really wanna- they don’t need the CSS Profile and all the questions that are asked there, but they do wanna ask a host of questions, and it’s probably kind of sh- relatively short, and they usually don’t charge you for it.

Kat: I mean, maybe they ch- if they charge you, it’s gonna be very nominal, um, that I’ve seen over the years. So institutional applications are fewer and far between, but FAFSA’s a definite. CSS Profile for just if it’s certain schools that need it. They’re usually the ones with lots of money to spend, um, on you, so you definitely wanna [00:30:00] take advantage of filling it out.

Kat: There are fee waivers available if your, um, if your family’s adjusted gross income is $100,000 or less. Um, so there’s… I think, I think the last number I heard was, like, 40% of their applicants get a fee waiver or something, so it’s a lot. Um, and you do need to apply every year for that, for that form as well.

Kat: Um, actually, that’s not necessarily true. There are some schools that don’t want you to do it every year. Uh, they may only ask for it in your freshman year, actually. But then there are some schools that will require you to do it every year. So hopefully you’ll, you know, we’ll- you’ll see when you get on their website what they say.

Kat: So okay, so I already showed that slide. So the differences between the two forms, I’m doing high level here on some of this, but basically, um- On the FAFSA side, it’s shorter. There are fewer questions. They’ve simplified it over the last few years, and so it shouldn’t take you that long to f- complete it.

Kat: The … There’s also [00:31:00] skip logic built in, so if your income is a certain level, they may not ask you any questions about assets. So that’s the FAFSA, um, on the number of questions. Whereas on the profile, the CSS Profile, it is more comprehensive. They’re gonna ask you more questions. Um, and, you know, they’re really just trying to assess your ability to pay and understand who to give, you know, who to, to divide all the money, uh, all their, you know, grant-based money up to provide that to students.

Kat: They have to get more information from you. Um, on the FAFSA side, uh, required at any school that offers federal financial aid, I’ve said that, and then the only requir- required at about … It’s between 250 and 300 schools. So it’s a very small subset of colleges and universities. And, um, the FAFSA is used by all kinds of school types, public and private.

Kat: And then on the CSS Profile, um, it’s usually a lot of, um … It, it could be public or private colleges. [00:32:00] Um, it’s not gonna be two-year colleges, though. The- they don’t ask for the CSS Profile. I’ve, I’ve never seen one that asked for that. They wouldn’t really need to, because they don’t have as much grant money to give out.

Kat: Um, but the it’s u- it’s, it’s just schools with a lot of grant funding available. On the FAFSA, your … The income is pulled directly from the IRS. You have to consent to that, but basically it’s pulling it from the IRS from your tax returns. So it is kind of easy in that sense. And then, um, on the Profile side, the income is entered by you, the applicant.

Kat: So they can’t pull it in from the IRS, because it’s not a federal form, so they can’t just go to the IRS and get it. And then lastly, on the bullets here, um, the assets are entered in by the applicant on both forms, um, the FAFSA and the CSS Profile. So, but there are times with the FAFSA that your in, your assets are not required, um, again, as, if the income is a certain level.[00:33:00]

Kat: Now, the big item in blue here is that for the fall of 2027, for the FAFSA and the CSS Profile, it is gonna be based on 2025 income. So it’s not based on ’26 income, because that tax year is not over. So what happens is these applications look at the mo- most recent completed tax year, um, and that’s what they use for, for, um, for the, um, form.

Kat: So right now, and tomorrow the CSS Profile will launch, if it hasn’t already. It might. I know that they’ve got it on their website already. Um, 2025 income is what you’ll be using Okay. Um, maximizing your financial aid award, your package. W- you can call it a package or a, an award. Um, so definitely show a lot of interest during the admissions process, ’cause if you really wanna go to a certain school, you want to be doing things like contacting the admissions office, asking lots of questions, maybe even visiting the school [00:34:00] if it’s feasible.

Kat: Um, I realize, you know, you may not be able to fly across country to, to visit a school that you really are interested in, but, um, you can show a lot of demonstrated interest, and that’s important to the admissions office that you’ve shown demonstrated interest, um, while you’re, quote unquote, kind of shopping, if you will, for a school.

Kat: Definitely apply on time, um, and meet all the deadlines for admissions and financial aid. That will maximize the most money you can get. I will tell you that states have… Some states have very, um, early deadlines for their state grant programs. So, um, be very careful with those because some of them are very, like, pretty early.

Kat: Like, they’re gonna be potentially this spring for the fall of ’27 tw- and spring of ’28. So some of them do have a, even a spring ’27 deadline for the fall, so I, I think you have to be careful with that. Um, [00:35:00] apply to a variety of schools, although I don’t think that it’s necessarily… You know, you don’t need to apply to 30 schools.

Kat: Um, it’s just gonna make it harder for you when you go to decide where to go. Um, but I would say a variety of schools which will allow you to, to understand, you know, compare financial aid awards, compare grants and scholarships, and make, you know, make decisions based on b- your best academic fit, your best social fit, emotional, you know, um, financial fit, and everything later.

Kat: If you’re very, very sure about where you wanna go, you can apply early decision, um, like I mentioned earlier, to that one school, but you have to be very, very sure, and, um, ’cause you do kind of lock yourself in to that one commitment. So, um, variety of schools is what a lot of students will do. Um, make sure that you tell financial aid, the financial aid office, if you have any special circumstances.

Kat: Let me give you an example. So, um, remember I mentioned that the 2025 income is used for this [00:36:00] form for this coming fall. Um, and I know I’ve got a ninth grader on here and some 10th graders and 11th graders, but you can just kind of add a year or two or three to your, to my timing here. But for those of you who are seniors right now, um, you’re applying for financial aid now based on 2025 income.

Kat: And let’s say someone in your fam- You know, if your, if a parent lost a job in, since 2025 and has obtained a new job or hasn’t obtained a new job yet and is still unemployed, um, you’re gonna wanna let the financial aid office know that so that they can help you to prepare a financial aid award that will meet you where you are and not base it on old information that is no longer accurate in your family situation.

Kat: So that is a common one. There- Another one that’s quite common is, uh, medical expenses that are not covered by insurance. Um, if you had a significant amount of medical bills, that can really, um, you know, that … Or either current or, uh, [00:37:00] whatnot. You know, you’re just … That’s something that I, I always remembered seeing quite often.

Kat: Make sure you apply for outside scholarships anytime during the year. You don’t have to apply, um, once you’re done for fall of ’27. I mean, you, you can keep doing this type of stuff all year round if you’re, if you become quite good at it, like that student I had at Syracuse, um, you know, who won tw- nine different ones.

Kat: Um, then make it a habit. You know, do it every month. Tr- try to make sure you apply for at least one a month or something like that. It’s just more money that’ll be available to you that doesn’t have to get paid back. And then take advantage of, uh, all the financial aid you can. Um, I, I already named all the types, but even if it’s not free money but it’s work or loans, um, those are, those are available to you and, and can help you get through college and get your degree and move, move ahead in your, um, investing, investing in your life really.

Kat: And then, um, these are the timing. This is the timing. I know I mentioned, alluded to some of this [00:38:00] before, but the early decision is gonna be, like, November, December will be their admissions and financial aid deadlines. Sometimes it’s, like, November 1st or 15th. Um, financial aid, I mean, it could bleed into December, but they’re probably gonna let you know their decisions no later than December.

Kat: Um, that’s if you want to apply to one school. Early action, you’re applying to multiple schools. You’re … The timing in that is December to February probably for the deadlines. Regular decision, your deadline’s probably gonna be February 1st or 15th, possibly March 1st, but that’s kind of late. Um, but it, you’ll, it’ll depend on the school, so make sure you’re keeping track of what, what school needs what and when.

Kat: And then of course the rolling or open admission is all year any time. And then, um, I think this might be my la- um, I’m getting towards my end here and we can do some questions. Um, key deadlines, um, each college and university differs, so making that list I already said. The state [00:39:00] deadlines, you can find the state deadlines, um, at studentaid.gov, which is what, um, Anesha was gonna put in the chat for you, which is where

Kat: Actually, Anesha, I might have given you the … I think I gave you the FAFSA application link, but if you, can you also put studentaid.gov in the chat as well? That one is where you can find out the deadlines for the states. Um, and it’s also, if you wanna Google, um, 2728 paper FAFSA or PDF FAFSA you can pull up the new FAFSA, and on the first page of that PDF you can see which, every single state and what their deadlines are.

Kat: So if you wanna do it that way you can. Um, outside scholarships starting in your junior year is great. If you’re already in your senior year you’re not too late. Just get going on it and try to get some free money. And then, um, the … I already said this, but the financial aid applications are kicking off tomorrow or already have started, so.[00:40:00]

Kat: Um, when you get an award letter from financial aid, um, from the financial aid office, you’re gonna wanna understand and, um, you’re gonna wanna slice and dice them a little bit, um, as follows. Consider how much they’ve offered you for financial aid, but look at your cost of attendance for the entire academic year and not just w- for one term.

Kat: Because you don’t want to get yourself in jeopardy of, “Okay, well, we can get through the first semester, and then we’re gonna figure it out for the spring semester of my s- you know, my, my kid’s, you know, freshman r- year.” That is not a great plan. Um, you definitely want to look at it as a, an entire year’s plan.

Kat: So between grants, scholarships, work, federal student loans, outside scholarships, and private student loans, you want to ha- you want to make sure that you can work through all those options to get you through that, that year [00:41:00] Direct costs versus indirect costs. So remember earlier when I talked about the different components of the cost of attendance?

Kat: Direct costs are things like the tuition and fees, and sometimes the food and housing if you’re staying on campus in campus housing, and you have like a, um, a meal plan or something. Those are charged directly from the school. That’s- so that’s kind of what that means. Whereas indirect costs are the extra things like the getting to and from college, um, you know, buying your pillow and your bedspread for your dorm room, um, you know, ha- getting your, you know, buying all your personal supplies for the dorm, you know, things like that.

Kat: Um, all those types of things are indirect costs, your books and your living expenses. So they’re not charged by the school, but you still have to prepare for them. So when you’re looking at that award letter, make sure you’re understanding they are gonna tell you the total cost of attendance. But, uh, just make sure that you understand your bill’s gonna include the f- the direct costs.

Kat: Everything else is gonna be kind of like [00:42:00] throughout the year type stuff that you … Or, you know, it’s a little squishy on trying to figure out what to, what your exact will be, but you can kind of maybe budget on a monthly basis a little bit and prepare. And remember that you are making a multi-year decision, so it’s, um, you know, there were a lot of students that I helped in, in the financial aid office who, you know, were really having trouble during, you know, trying to get, get through, um, you know, their sophomore year because they didn’t really plan ahead for the second year and the third and the fourth year.

Kat: They really were really just focusing on that first year to afford it. Um, so think about it really as a full, you know, a full degree’s worth of time that you’re, you’re understanding how to pay. Um, and, um, hopefully that will help put it into perspective a little bit. Um, and lastly we do have a scholarship at College Ave.

Kat: I’ll put- I’ll leave this up here while we’re taking some questions, but if you’re welcome to [00:43:00] apply for, um, we do $1,000 of every month. So if you wanna take a picture of that QR code and it’s, uh, there’s no essay, so you just fill in your name, email, phone. If you’re a high school student, you’re, or a college student, you’re picking that, and that’s it.

Kat: So, um, definitely try for that. We do- You have to enter every month, so mark your calendar and you can enter every month to win. And sometimes we’ll do bigger ones or other types of fun things on our website, um, under resources. Um, so sometimes we’ll do a $5,000 scholarship and stuff. So always be looking for these types of things.

Kat: Um, all right, so Anesha, what do we have for questions?

Anesha: Sure. So just so folks are aware, that is the end of the presentation portion of our session. We are gonna move into the Q&A. If you’re not able to submit questions through the Q&A, you might have to log out and make sure you’re logging in through the link you received in your email, um, and not through CollegeAdvisor’s webpage.

Anesha: Um, but the way that it will work, I- you submit your questions, I will read it aloud, give Kat an opportunity to answer, [00:44:00] and I will also publish it so that other folks can see the question. Um, so my first question for you, Kat, uh, in myriad ways people have asked how, what types of financial aid are available for international students, and should inter- international students also be completing the FAFSA and the CSS Profile?

Kat: International students are not able to fill out the FAFSA, um, unfortunately. But you can fill out the CSS Profile or the institutional applications that are offered by s- by schools. Um, because there are a lot of schools that offer financial aid for international students, and the money’s coming directly from them.

Kat: That’s the, from the college or university. It’s not coming from the federal government, therefore the FAFSA is … You can’t file it. You can’t, you can’t even file it. Um, you have to be a US citizen or a permanent resident in order to file the FAFSA. So, um, but there are plenty of colleges that do offer grants and scholarships to international students, um, and that will vary by school.[00:45:00]

Kat: So is there a follow-up question on that?

Anesha: Yeah. Well, I was just clarifying ’cause I don’t know what this status is. So someone asked- Sure … specifically H4 visa dependent student, are they eligible for federal or state aid?

Kat: I don’t remember what H4 visa is, um, off the top of my head.

Anesha: I don’t either. So I’ll- I’ll- I’ll Google as you answer the next question- Okay

Anesha: and maybe I

Kat: can find

Anesha: the answer … for you.

Kat: Yeah, I mean, I n- I can tell you that you have to be a US citizen or a permanent resident. Um, if there, and if, and if there’s, um, a small … If there … I don’t know. So let me know what you find on that. Um-

Anesha: Okay …

Kat: so yeah. But y- you know, international students, definitely check with the colleges and universities ’cause they, they may have grants and scholarships for international students.

Kat: Um, they may even offer a, a student loan for international students. And I can also tell you that you can also apply for outside scholarships, like the one I have up here on the screen. If you’re an international student, we don’t mind. Um, and you can apply for [00:46:00] private loans as well. If, but you do have to have a cosigner typically for, um, if you’re applying for a private loan, but you can obtain private loans.

Kat: Like College Ave., we offer private loans for international students.

Anesha: We’ve also been asked in myriad ways, 2025 was a good year. 2026 not as good. Yeah. What hap- what does that mean when it comes to reapplying for aid in future years?

Kat: Uh,

Anesha: 2025 was good? And potentially also-

Kat: Okay.

Anesha: So- Yeah, so the year before was good.

Anesha: This current year not so great, and so they’re concerned about future aid and if things will drop or change because, um, more money’s being made in 2026 or less money is being made in 2026 for those

Kat: students. So I would probably recommend if you already know, like we’ve already gone through nine months of 2026, and you ki- you already kinda have a sense as to what your income is looking like- Technically there’s three more months, but if you are pretty solid on where you’re gonna land in [00:47:00] ’26, you should let the financial aid office know, and you can appeal.

Kat: You don’t… Here’s the weird thing. Like, you haven’t applied for financial aid yet, so you’re not appealing anything. You’re not… You know, they’re, ’cause you don’t actually know what financially they can offer you per se. But you could let them know ahead of time, you know, “Hey, my income has been lower in ’26 and this is my norm.”

Kat: So i- and then they will probably be able to work with you after this tax year is over to use your ’26 income to establish the ’27, ’28 financial aid award. Um, but they may require the tax year to be over and your taxes to be filed in order to do that. Um, that, that’s pretty comm- because otherwise it’s more of an estimate, and that can be something that they don’t wanna take on.

Kat: So, but they, but at least you’re telling them, okay… If I were you, I mean, you could tell them now, but it’s, it’s almo- it’s, it’s too early. Um, you really kind of wanna wait until your financial aid application is in and then supply [00:48:00] them with a special circumstance letter. The good news too also is if you’re applying at a CSS Profile institution, they actually allow special circumstances up to 2,000 characters for you to type in the, in their application.

Kat: Mm-hmm. But the FAFSA doesn’t allow that, so you have to, you have to write on your own. You either email them or you send a letter in or, you know, email’s fine. But I mean, they might have a form they want you to fill out too, so.

Anesha: Um, yeah, I definitely always take advantage of the CSS Profile extra space, uh, to explain family sit- situations.

Anesha: Um, but thank you for that clarification. Someone asked along the similar lines, “If nothing changes from year to year, can we expect that we’ll likely have a similar package year-over-year?”

Kat: A good question. A lot of times schools will kind of, as long as your need is the same or more, they’ll roll over your grants every year.

Kat: Um, but some schools may not. You wanna ask that question. Put that on your list of things that you’re asking ahead of time. Like if, [00:49:00] ’cause I, that is definitely school by school specific. Um, but from my experience, you know, the, the schools aren’t out to, you know… They want the student to come back, so they’re, they’re not out in a bait and switch sort of mode.

Kat: Th- they want you to come and they want you to stay and they want you to graduate. So they, they’re in the business to keep you there, so they wanna do what they can for you.

Anesha: Someone asked, um, and so I’ll ask actually two, two questions. So if you apply early decision, when will you know? And if you do find out, will that be enough time for you to still apply regular decision?

Kat: So if you apply early decision, like I said, it’s probably gonna be November 1st or 15th. Those are the popular deadlines for early decision. And then usually you are, you find out whether you’re admitted by December 1st or 15th, maybe close to the holidays, um, at the latest for early decision. And then if you didn’t get admitted, then, um, [00:50:00] you’re gonna have at least till February 1st to be able to apply to other schools.

Kat: So you’re, you have time. That’s fine.

Anesha: From an advising side, I would say still be working on your applications. Just because you finished your early decision applications doesn’t mean you should stop. If there’s a potential regular decision, still be working on those even after your early decision application is submitted.

Anesha: But I just say that from the advising side separate- Yes, thank you … from the, um, yeah, the financial aid side. Um- Yes,

Kat: Anesha’s an expert, too, so

Anesha: So someone asked, and you spoke to this a little bit. Someone was talking about significant medical issues and costs related. Um, so they were just curious about, like, should they be reporting that now, and if you could kind of reiterate the best way for them to share that with the schools.

Kat: Sure. So any special circumstances, you can supply a letter or an email ahead of time if it’s, you know, if it’s just a school using only the FAFSA. Um, if it’s a CSS Profile, you can put it in your special circumstances. Here’s what they’re gonna ask [00:51:00] you for. If it’s medical related, they’re, they’re gonna ask you for receipts or some proof.

Kat: So if you are, um, gathering those things, now would be a good time. So for you to, “Let me, let me grab some PDFs of, like, these doctor bills or this surgery I had that wasn’t covered by insurance or the portion that wasn’t covered by insurance,” um, and that type of thing. So any kind of documentation is required if it’s something like medical expenses or extra expenses you want them to include.

Kat: Um, so you, you can start gathering those now. But electronically. I mean, I would say mailing this stuff in, you know, as opposed to electronic, uh, most of the time I’m sure they’re gonna have a way for you to upload stuff and do it that way instead of mailing the old school way.

Anesha: So. Yeah. Um, I’ve had to mail things to some schools.

Anesha: There are some schools that require paper copies.

Kat: Um- Paper. Okay. All right. Well, hopefully they’re fewer than-

Anesha: Less

Kat: but like … than most

Anesha: Um, [00:52:00] someone asked, uh, generally how are 529s considered?

Kat: 529s are listed in, under the parent’s assets, um, and only for the child who is applying to school. So it’s not for other children.

Kat: But it is under the FAFSA and the CSS Profile under parental assets

Anesha: Uh, someone asked about, I guess, having two students in two different years. They said, “If you have a child who started college this fall and you co-signed a student loan, are you able to add that loan,” I guess, “into the mix for FAFSA and CSS for another student that’ll be applying this year?”

Kat: That would be a special circumstance. It’s not a question, it’s not a question that’s taken into account in the formula to figure out- Got it … your eligibility. So if you want the school to… It, I think it is a field, um, on the CSS Profile. I’m not 100% on that. There, but it used to be where it was a field, uh, [00:53:00] so that-

Anesha: It asks, yeah.

Anesha: You, you’re correct. Yes,

Kat: yes Is it still on there? Okay, so, um, but it doesn’t go into the calculation though. So if you want them to take that into account, you would have to say, “Hey, listen, these are my monthly payments I’m paying on my student loans for this other student. Um, can you take that into account and see if…”

Kat: Some schools will be able to help you, maybe some won’t. A- it’ll just be up to their policies on financial aid. And also, you know, not every, not every school, I mean, honestly, most schools don’t, aren’t able to meet your full need. They do what they can, but they don’t have, some of them don’t have the funds to be able to meet 100% of your need regardless.

Kat: Um, but if you can, at least if you have special circumstances, they can certainly try to do what they can. They want the students to come. If they’ve admitted you, they, they know that, you know, they, they would like you to come. So it’s, um, but on the other hand, they don’t, they also don’t have, like, an endless pot of money.

Kat: Um, there are some that certainly have more than [00:54:00] other schools, but, uh, it could vary what you hear back from each school.

Anesha: Oh, okay. I know this comes up as a question. Which parents fill out the FAFSA, custodial or non-custodial?

Kat: So the FAFSA is, if you read the, if you look at the instructions, um, I reread it just to be sure it was still the same as last year. Um, the FAFSA instructions say, um… And a- again, you can Google the FAFSA PDF, um, so you, you can see this in the instructions.

Kat: But it, they ask you to have the student plus the parent who’s providing greater than, um, the most support for the student, even if they don’t live with them. So they really want, um… And if you’re t- well, actually, here, let me, let me read this because this is, this is, um, probably easiest if I just paraphrase this.

Kat: Um, this is a very important question because there are a lot of divorced and separated [00:55:00] families and so, um… Okay, so here we go. If the parents are divorced or separated, answer the questions about the parent who provides the greater portion of the student’s financial support, even if the student does not live with them.

Kat: If both parents provide an exactly equal amount of financial support during the past year, or if they don’t support the student financially, answer the questions about the parent with the greater income and assets. So, you know- If- They, th- they basically want you to put the higher income and asset-

Anesha: Who’s making the most, yes.

Kat: But-

Anesha: Um, but yeah, parents will make their choices, but you have the facts there, I guess. Um, um, someone said: What if the student is a US citizen and the more, I guess, the breadwinner parent is not a US citizen, uh, what forms will need to be filed if the, I guess, the parent they are saying you should use is not a, is not a US citizen?

Kat: Um, they… Okay. The parent they live with [00:56:00] is… Say that again. The parent they live-

Anesha: The, the parent who’s earning the most is not

Kat: a- Uh-huh … US citizen. Is not a US citizen. Um-

Kat: That’s a good question on the FAFSA because they’re, if they’re not a US citizen, they can’t file the FAFSA. Um, they can file the CSS Profile, I know that. Yeah. That’s not a problem. Um, on the FAFSA side, they might wanna check with the financial aid office on that question. I don’t wanna t- say… I don’t wanna guess.

Kat: Yeah. And I don’t wanna, you know, I don’t wanna lead someone down the wrong path. So I’m going to… I’ll either happy to get back to someone, or if I can just research it, or, um, however you wanna handle that, Misha. Yeah. But financial aid office will be able to answer the questions. Or that question.

Anesha: And if you are working with CollegeAdvisor presently, we do have a financial aid team that can sit with your family to answer questions like that as well.

Anesha: Again, that is a, I will say, even in… You’ve had more experience. I’ve, I also had a bit of experience. That [00:57:00] is a new question I have not heard in, um, our combined amount of experience doing this work. So yeah. I think that’s a tricky- Just wanna

Kat: make sure, yep. You know.

Anesha: That’s a tricky one. Wrong

Kat: path.

Anesha: Um, okay.

Anesha: Sorry, just trying to find-

Anesha: Oh, someone said, “With what degree of confidence, um, should we find the FAFSA and the CSS Profile accurate for providing an assessment of a family’s ability to afford the cost of attendance?”

Kat: Um, yeah, I mean, that’s a good question. The, the FAFSA, um, and the CSS Profile try to have, you know, we’re- essentially we’re talking about the government.

Kat: The federal government creates the FAFSA. The, um … It is, it is, um, based on the statute, so it’s, it’s in law as to what can go, you know, what’s in there and all that. Um, there is a formula associated with calculating your family contribution for the FAFSA. For the CSS Profile, the college [00:58:00] board creates the formula, and they have many similarities between the two formulas.

Kat: So they’re basically taking your income, they’re assessing how much you can afford to pay from income by way of, hey, we know you have to pay state, we know you have to pay federal taxes, state taxes, other taxes. We know you have a family to feed based on your household size and the number in college. Um, so there’s, there’s that that’s b- built in there.

Kat: There’s a huge protection within the formula that, um, is called an income protection allowance that basically protects you from the fact that, hey, I gotta put food on the table and I’ve got rent to pay or a mortgage to pay. So there’s all this stuff that kind of gets taken right away from your income because the, the, the formulas both treat it fairly in the sense that those are things that can’t be used for education because you have to pay the governments and you have to keep food on the table.

Kat: So, um, you know, it’s [00:59:00] fair in that sense. And then the assets are in a, like, a separate section on both forms. Um, the part of the formula l- breaks down your assets very heavily. Um, I will say that if assets are in the student’s name, it, there is a higher contribution that comes from if it’s under the student’s assets.

Kat: Um, if the assets are in the parent’s name, it’s very fractional. It’s, you know, it’s more like 6% of the assets coming out versus 4 to 6% versus 25%, 20 or 25% if it’s under the student’s name. So that’s, those are the numbers, um, basically. So assets are broken down very heavily, especially if it’s in the parent’s name.

Kat: And so, you know, you kind of squish all that together between income and asset contributions, and then they come out with a bottom line contribution. Yes, the formula tries to be fair. Um, you know, how accurate, um, to the person’s question asking, [01:00:00] um, you know, you can always have a conversation with the financial aid office to see, to ask more questions or to see if there’s anything else that can be done.

Anesha: Yeah. I think how fair it feels is dependent on how how much you wanted to pay in the first place. I know. Yeah. But, um-

Kat: Yeah. That’s, that’s the problem. Yeah.

Anesha: Yeah. Um, the last question I’ll ask is just for clarity that you can provide regarding- In state, so some folks were assuming that if they were g- attending a school in a different state that they would be treated as an international student.

Anesha: How does that work if you are, if you live in one state and you’re attending a college in a different one, what are you eligible to receive?

Kat: Well, I mean, if you’re out-of-state student, you’re, um… If you’re going to a state school, a, you know, a public school- Mm-hmm … you’re gonna have a higher tuition rate if you go across state lines.

Kat: So if you’re in Pennsylvania and you go to school up in New Hamps- or Vermont, you’re gonna pay, you know, more to go to a state school up in Vermont. Um, and all over the country that’s the [01:01:00] same thing. But if you go to a private school, their tuition’s the same regardless of whether you’re from in state or out of state.

Kat: So it really, you’re treated the same. You know what I mean? Okay. It, the really, the only thing to remember there is that if you are going to a state institution, which is a public institution, their tuition rate is gonna be different, lower, if you’re in state versus out of state. You’re still a domestic student, you’re not an international student.

Kat: Um, if you’re, if you’re domestic, if you’re a US citizen or permanent resident, you’re c- considered a domestic student for purposes of financial aid. Um, but this whole state line thing is really, like, it’s really just the tuition that makes the difference most of the time, you know?

Anesha: Yeah. We will have to leave it there.

Anesha: There are a lot of great questions in the chat. I’m so sorry I didn’t get to all of them. I tried to prioritize seniors in this conversation. But there are some long-term junior, junior, sophomore questions in there that I didn’t get a chance to. But thank you so much, Kat, for your time. Sure. [01:02:00] Thank you all for coming out.

Anesha: Thank you for your thoughtful questions. Um, please continue to share them. Please continue to engage with CollegeAdvisor and with College Ave. I know we welcome your inquiries and help. Um, but that is all for tonight. So until next time, take care and have a great evening everybody. And again, if you wanna connect with College Ave, don’t close your browser.

Anesha: Um, you’ll be directed to that, uh, QR code again if you leave your browser open once the webinar ends. So you’ll have, uh, a couple more opportunities to connect with us if you like. Um, but okay. I will stop yammering. It’s ti- it’s late where Kat is, so I’m gonna let you all go.

Kat: That’s okay. Thank you all so much.

Anesha: All right. Have a good one. Thanks everybody. Good luck.