FAFSA Tips & Tricks

Webinar Transcription

2025-10-28-FAFSA Tips & Tricks

Lydia: [00:00:00] Hello everyone. Welcome to, “FAFSA Tips and Tricks” with Juno. My name is Lydia Hollon. I’m going to be our moderator for tonight. I’m a senior advisor here at CollegeAdvisor and have been on the team for about four years now. And in addition to being a co-captain of the Essay Review Team, I’m also a proud graduate of New York University and a education consultant.

Lydia: Um, so happy to have you here tonight. I’m gonna orient everyone with a webinar timing. So we’re gonna start off with a presentation and then answer your questions in the live q and a. And if you wanna download our slides, you can click on that handouts tab and you’ll be able to keep them. We’ll also be recording this session, [00:01:00] so if you’re needing to watch it back later, you need to get up at any point and you miss something, you will be able to go back to our website and watch it back again as many times as you’d like.

Lydia: So without further ado, I will go ahead and introduce you to our presenter.

Eddy: Hello everyone. It’s a pleasure to be here with you. Um, thanks for having me here. And I wanted to share just some helpful tips and tricks on the FAFSA. Just by way of quick introduction. I’ll get more into my story a little bit as well as we go along here. But, uh, I started in this work through. The college, uh, college process.

Eddy: I was a former admissions officer at Williams College at Yale University. I then worked as a college counselor supporting students as they navigated through this process. So I know November deadlines very well. I was a counselor at a, a private boarding school, Phelps [00:02:00] Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. So I’m sure for many students here, this is a very timely topic to hear about various parts of the application process, both the admission side, certainly the financial aid side as they go hand in hand.

Lydia: Great. Great. So we’re gonna go ahead and do a quick poll before we jump into the webinar. I’m gonna open it up now,

Lydia: and as you all have an opportunity to fill that out, I also want to remind you that, um. There is a q and a, like I said, that we’ll be doing at the end, but you can submit any questions that come to mind throughout tonight’s webinar. Uh, we’ll be going through it as you submit questions and prioritizing them so we can get through as many different topics as possible that you all may be thinking about.

Lydia: Um, and I have a quick question for you, Eddy, which is [00:03:00] just what was the biggest answer that you found regarding FAFSA, maybe that surprised you when you first got into this line of work? Most surprising thing or helpful thing that you learned?

Eddy: Yeah, so I think. We, we’ll talk actually, uh, a bit about this as well, but sometimes families might discount whether or not they should even apply.

Eddy: And I always encourage families to apply to the FAFSA. Schools will use it for a variety of different reasons, which we’ll talk about in some cases for both need-based financial aid. Even if families may not think they qualify for financial aid, it’s free. It doesn’t hurt to, uh, to submit an application.

Eddy: It’s a lot easier now to complete than it was a few years ago ’cause it’s been simplified. So for, there really is no harm in trying it, but there are actually some benefits. Um, so don’t discount, uh, yourself. ’cause actually having worked on the admission side and having [00:04:00] worked closely with financial aid colleagues, um, I’ve seen families, uh, certainly that.

Eddy: Qualify for aid that wouldn’t necessarily be considered low or middle income by national standards. But in the context of college admissions, there are opportunities for students, uh, to still receive some level of aid and that could be need-based aid and it can also venture into merit scholarships.

That’s

Eddy: great to know. A few more points, uh, I’ll get into that a little bit later, but definitely don’t discount yourself in, uh, in FAFSA financial aid application process.

Lydia: Very helpful. I know I’ve worked with so many students who thought that they shouldn’t fill out the, because their family was middle class and they thought they weren’t gonna get that much financial aid anyway.

Lydia: But like you said, there are so many benefits to doing it. Um, even if you think that you may not get, [00:05:00] um, and just looking at the poll, we have a majority of seniors. 84% are in 12th grade, 5% and 11th, 1% in 10th. And then we have about 10% in that other category, which is usually parents. So Makes sense. We’ve got about 95% of the audience that are either parents or seniors, and you guys are definitely the group that thinking about this the most right now.

Lydia: Alright, I’ll go ahead and pass it over to you, Eddy, to take us into the presentation.

Eddy: Great. Well let’s, uh, let’s jump in and I will just say for the senior. And the parents. Uh, this is an exciting time. I know it may be a bit of a stressful time, but you got this, uh, especially if you have early deadlines.

Eddy: So I’ll go through just some of the agenda that we have today. We’ll spend a few minutes just talking about the timeline. You may be familiar with this as it [00:06:00] pertains to the admissions process, but I wanted to talk a little bit about the aid, uh, timeline as well as you understand where FAFSA fits into this year, longs process.

Eddy: I’ll share just a brief overview as well on how Juno fits into that. Um, we’ll spend most of our time tonight talking about what the FAFSA is. You may or may not have some familiarity about it already, uh, what you need to do to complete it, uh, who needs to be involved, and then, uh, certainly what, uh, what documents, uh, you may need for the FAFSA to be considered valid.

Eddy: Now we’ll go through an example as well, um, of the different sections of the FAFSA so that you can see parts of the form, what may be expected of you if you haven’t yet filled it out. Uh, in each of those sections, I’ll also show some of the key things to look out for to consider, uh, that might not be immediately apparent as, uh, as you actually fill out the form.

Eddy: It’s sort of the [00:07:00] way that the questions are asking you to fill out the form. So. We will spend some time on that, and then certainly leave time for que uh, q and a. Uh, you’ll have access to the presentation. So there are some links that are included, uh, some hyperlinks that are included in the presentation slides.

Eddy: Uh, I wanna make sure you all receive that. Uh, and then if there are any questions that we’re not able to get to, we’ll try to compile them. Uh, and then, uh, I’ll, uh, uh, I’ll collect your responses to those. I’ll compile responses so that if we do run out of time, uh, we’ll make sure that your questions do get addressed with, uh, any kind of follow up email.

Eddy: So let’s jump into the timeline here. So we are at the beginning stages of this now. It’s very relevant for all the seniors and parents of seniors in the room. Uh, so if you are planning to apply to [00:08:00] college in the fall of 2026, then you’ll be using the FAFSA 20 26, 20 27 academic year form. Uh, this is available already.

Eddy: Uh, it’s available starting October 1st every year. This year. It actually opened a few days early, which was a record for the FAFSA. If you had been in, I dunno if you, if there are any parents here with older children from a few years ago, there was a bit of a significant delay. Not even a bit, there was significant delays with the FAFSA as a result of, uh, the change, the changes that they made to it.

Eddy: So it’s open, it’s available. This is great news for everyone involved Now. Okay. After you complete the FAFSA, you’ll get a number called the Student Aid Index. SAI, uh, for sure. Uh, we have a different presentation on the Student Aid Index. I won’t talk to too much about that, but hope you’ll be able to join us for that.

Eddy: Um, we’ll then, uh, we’ll then focus our time. Uh, as you think about, uh, appli, you know, [00:09:00] the, the next stage is applying to college, and then what happens after that point when you get your financial aid package, your that award. Typically it will come either at the same time as your admissions decision, sometimes a little bit afterwards as well.

Eddy: Um, it is possible to appeal a financial aid award. Um, this is something that we will talk about again in in the future as well. We have another entire webinar focused on. Appealing financial aid. Again, hope you can join us there. Um, but then, uh, you’ll decide which schools to attend, if you may. And, uh, at that point, it’ll be important to realize for any gaps that you may have, uh, how might you be able to fill those gaps.

Eddy: So based on the information that you’ve filled out in the FAFSA, that that determines how much money you’ll qualify for. Usually in June or July summertime, families will then begin thinking about, um, uh, how to finance the rest of college. [00:10:00] Now, tuition will be due at the beginning, end of summer and beginning of the school year.

Eddy: Um, we have a lot of, uh, a lot of information to cover. So again, uh, hope you can join us, uh, be engaged this, uh, this time. And then certainly for any, any future, uh. Future, uh, presentations that we have now. I wanted to share just really quickly, um, a little bit about some of the changes to federal loan policy.

Eddy: I’ll get more into this. Towards the end, I wanted to share just very quick snapshot, uh, ’cause I know some folks may not always be able to stay, stay around the whole time, but this is really important. I don’t know if there may be some folks in that other category who might, might be current college students.

Eddy: So if that’s the case or a parent of a current college student. If that’s the case, then you may actually qualify for, uh, the Parent plus loan under the old terms of the loan, which is the [00:11:00] cost of borrowing up to the total cost of attendance, uh, for any high school senior and younger, and parents of high school seniors and younger.

Eddy: Uh, you’ll be considered for the new Parent plus loan policy if you need to take out Parent Plus loans. I’ll say it’s not a requirement by any means, but just so that you’re aware, there are, there were changes in the federal policy such that a, a, a parent can borrow on behalf of a, uh, of their child, $20,000 per year with a lifetime cap of $65,000.

Eddy: Again, we’ll talk more at the end.

Eddy: Now, just wanted to share really quickly here, um. With, uh, how Juno it fits into this timeline. So Juno started, uh, back in 2018 to, um, Harvard Business School students as they were actually going to, uh, before the summer of their enrollment, who needed [00:12:00] loans to pay off for schools. Uh, so there’s, there’s been many families that have been part of this process, students and families as a result.

Eddy: Um, I’ll just share really quickly as well. You saw it in my intro slide. I’m actually a genome member. That’s how I heard about, uh, genome in the first place. Uh, I’m currently a student at the Kellogg School of Management and. Through learning about, uh, how to pay for my own degree. That’s how I came across Juno.

Eddy: I actually went through the federal process to borrow, uh, through the federal government, and then came across Juno, was able to secure a lower rate through Juno than even the federal government. Uh, and I’ve started as a user. So I am, I’m a happy customer first and foremost, you know, to use that terminology.

Eddy: Um, I saved money in the process. Uh, I’m, I come from a, a low income background. I was the first in my family to go to college, so, uh, you know, thinking about, uh, grad sch undergrads certainly can be expensive in, in grad school as [00:13:00] well. When I heard about Juno and the amount that I was gonna be saving in interest rates and how that calculates into literally tens of thousands of dollars over the life of my loans, uh, that’s something that I’m passionate about.

Eddy: Supporting other families as they navigate through this process. Um, ’cause our hope is that families do qualify for lower rates to save money in the long term. Again, uh, I’ll talk a little bit more about this. Um, I’ll come to it, uh, at the end. But today’s topic is focused on the FAFSA. Let’s jump in because I wanna make sure we make the most of our time together.

Eddy: So what is the FAFSA? Uh, you, again, you may have already heard about it. It’s a free application for federal student aid. So you need to fill this form out every single year that a student is in school. Sometimes people assume that if they fill it out one year, then it’s good for all four years, which is not the case.

Eddy: Uh, you do have to fill it out every single year. And this is important [00:14:00] because. It accounts for changes in family circumstances on an annual basis. Uh, the forum helps you qualify for or get access to certain types of aid, uh, both federal aid, state-based aid, even institutional aid, uh, which is money that the school has budgeted to give to students.

Eddy: Uh, we’ll go through a few examples of those. So it is generally helpful to fill out the FAFSA on the earlier side, um, similar to what I was actually just sharing, uh, earlier. Uh, don’t assume that you won’t get financial aid just because your income or savings might be high. Um, the FAFSA might still be required by some schools.

Eddy: Uh, so when you may actually, you may end up qualifying for at least some level of aid. Uh, you may qualify for, uh, other federal, uh, federal options like, uh, like federal loans, uh, even if it’s not granted. Um, but even then from there as well, uh. The, uh, some opportunities, [00:15:00] uh, through universities, uh, still require the FAFSA for merit scholarships.

Eddy: So even if you are not expecting to take out loans, uh, or receive funding through the state or through, uh, through the federal government, or, uh, institutions may still require the FAFSA in order to distribute their own funds. So it’s an important part of the process as you apply to college. And, uh, I wanna take some time to, uh, to help you understand exactly how to go through it.

Eddy: So what do you get then when you fill out the FAFSA? Um, here you’ll just see some of the different buckets of aid that is available and that families may have access to. Um, the first three here are, uh. Options that you can get through the federal government that don’t have to be paid back. So the [00:16:00] Federal Pell Grant is, uh, a grant that’s given typically to, uh, the lowest income students, but it, the ranges can vary, uh, where a student and family can qualify for up to $7,375.

Eddy: Uh, you may not get the maximum amount of that. You may get a portion of it, so depending on your financial need, but, uh, there’s a range of anywhere between zero to $7,395, uh, which is set as the maximum. You can also, uh, potentially qualify for another federal grant. Uh, the Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant, which is up to $4,000, uh, from not all schools, uh, offer this grant, but, uh, many of them do.

Eddy: Now lastly, you can also qualify for a federal work study, which is usually a campus job that is subsidized through, uh, the Department of Education. So they will pay the, uh, for the student’s work hours that [00:17:00] is set to be usually a reasonable work expectation. Uh, and you’re around one to $5,000. So around five to, uh, five to 10 hours a week.

Eddy: Some schools have a cap of, uh, work study set at 20 hours a week, um, depending on, um, depending on if you’re in school, during school, and they may have different, uh, expectations during break times as well. So just be mindful of that. But this is a, a federal option. Uh, for students. Now, not everyone, um, may get access to those first three.

Eddy: It does depend on the results of the FAFSA. Uh, it’s possible that your income might be too high or your, your assets, uh, may be too great to qualify for some of that. However, there’s also these two options at the bottom, the direct loans and the Parent Plus loans. So, I ref referenced the Parent Plus loans earlier, as we talked about the changes, uh, just a few slides ago to the Parent Plus program this coming year.[00:18:00]

Eddy: Um, for the direct loans, these are available, these are loans that are available to the student. Uh, for the freshman year, it’s up to $5,500. It increases slightly $6,500 for sophomore year, $7,500 for junior and senior year. So students do have access to this funding if necessary, if it’s needed to borrow.

Eddy: Additionally, uh, parents also have access to the Parent Plus loan. Now, this is a loan entirely in the parent’s name, not in the student’s name. Uh, as I mentioned earlier, there is a borrowing limit to the Parent Plus loan now of $20,000 annually with a lifetime cap of $65,000 per child or per student. So it may be the case that you need the maximum amount, so it would be 20001st year, 20002nd year, 20003rd year, and then the remaining amount would be 5,000 for the [00:19:00] fourth year of college.

Eddy: Just keep in mind, uh, these limits, if you do decide to consider the Parent plus loan option, it’s no longer the case that you can borrow up to the cost of attendance, um, unless you have previously borrowed a Parent Plus loan and you’re, uh, you’re currently, uh, you’re, you are a current college student now.

Eddy: I’ll mention that a little bit later, later on when we, when we come back to that. So again, all of these programs, um. States. These are, these are federal programs, but the FAFSA also grants access to state financial aid programs and institutional, uh, aid programs. Now, the various levels of support here can vary state by state and school by school.

Eddy: Uh, well, I’ll share a little bit more in, uh, in a few slides just on how you can increase your odds of getting considered and being considered, especially for state-based, uh, aid programs. Um, we don’t need to focus on that [00:20:00] now, but just something that, you know, uh, to keep in mind so that you maximize your chances.

Eddy: Um. For the school, uh, specific options as well. Fam schools will allocate, uh, their budget, certain line items of their budget in order to support students, uh, through their own funding sources. Um, they’ll require the FAFSA. Most cases. It is possible that they may also require another financial aid form called this TSS profile.

Eddy: Uh, we won’t cover that today. Um, but that the, typically, the FAFSA is usually required, uh, and the school will run their own, uh, calculations in order to determine how much aid they can provide to, uh, to each family. Okay. So I wanna spend just a really quick moment here talking about deadlines. Um, if you do complete FAFSA early, this can increase your chances for the maximum amount of a, that you can be eligible for.

Eddy: So there’s three [00:21:00] levels of deadlines, uh, to be thinking about as your, especially for the seniors who are here. Uh, I want you to be thinking about this early rather than way late. Now, the federal government allows you to fill out the FAFSA and it’s actually required to allow students to fill out the FAFSA at any point during their, their 20 26, 20 27 academic year.

Eddy: So I’m speaking directly to the high school seniors right now. So if you’re a high school senior or the parent of a high school senior, um, the reason the deadline is set for June 30th, 2027 is because you will enroll in college in the 20 26, 20 27 academic school year, and it is required by law that aid be available to you at any point in the academic year.

Eddy: So the FAFSA will close on the last day, June 30th, before the next fiscal cycle begins on July 1st, 2027. Now, what’s more [00:22:00] important to pay attention to is state deadlines. School deadlines. So for the seniors in the room, if you’re applying to college now, you know that colleges that you’re applying to will require the FAFSA well before the federal deadline.

Eddy: And this is on purpose because they need to calculate how much aid they can expect. So if you’re applying early, maybe a school, uh, an early school does require the FAFSA on November 1st or early November. If you’re applying regular decision, they may require your FAFSA to be completed by January 1st, or sometime by mid-January.

Eddy: They may give you a couple days after the admissions deadline. Please keep those deadlines in mind because you don’t wanna miss your opportunities for funding, uh, just because you, uh, you weren’t keeping track of, of those deadlines. On the state side, again, you’ll see that, uh, you’ll get the, the, the slides here.

Eddy: So [00:23:00] you’ll be able to click this hyperlink on the various different state deadlines. Um, and usually this aid does run out, so just be mindful. That’s why we always say encourage families to apply on the earlier side. Don’t wait, uh, late into the year to apply for FAFSA and to potentially disqualify yourself from any state-based aid or school-based aid.

Eddy: ’cause once the money runs out, the money runs out. Um, and there’s not additional sources, you know, that schools, schools may not have additional sources of funding to pull from. Just be, uh, again, be very on top of these deadlines, uh, so that you know when, uh, when you are expected to fill out all the appropriate information.

Eddy: Okay, so let’s move on what you need. Let’s move on, uh, to identify what you need to complete the FAFSA. Um, one of the most important things is figuring out who needs to submit the FAFSA. So, uh, as we [00:24:00] think about a contributor, what this means is that anyone who’s required to provide their information for the student’s FAFSA application, uh, each contributor has to fill it out, uh, in order for it to be considered complete.

Eddy: So, uh, you’ll, every contributor will get an what’s called an FSA ID and they’ll have to submit certain amounts of information based on who they are.

Eddy: As we think about the steps to go through and figure out who needs to submit the first part of what a student will see is, or what the FAFSA asks for, and what a student will see is, is actually meant to determine if the student is considered independent. Um, and now a, a student being considered independent has a very specific definition.

Eddy: Um, being an [00:25:00] independent student of FAFSA and being a dependent in a household is. No, it is very different. So if you claim a dependent on your taxes, um, that is not what we’re referring to here. There’s a very strict definition to what is considered an independent student for the purpose of the FAFSA.

Eddy: So this is important because if a student is appropriately determined to be an independent student, they are the only one that is required to fill out the FAFSA. So parent information may not be required then, um. If, if they are, uh, uh, if they are, uh, not considered to be a, an independent student, then one or both parent information, uh, is required.

Eddy: So in the narrow definition of what the independent, uh, what determines an independent student, you’ll see some, you’ll see those definitions on the right here. So whether a student was married, for example, at a time of [00:26:00] application, if they’re active duty or military, uh, if they are, uh, homeless or at risk of being homeless, these will require supporting documentation.

Eddy: So I, I mentioned that to say again, as a, as a former counselor, uh, there are complicated home situations. I’m fully aware of that. Um, it’s, this isn’t, uh, this isn’t meant for, uh, uh, this isn’t a process meant for parents to try to, uh. Find a way around paying for college. That’s why there are very specific and strict definitions of what is considered an independent student, uh, for the purpose of the FAFSA

Eddy: next. Um, in many cases, if a student is, is determined to then be a dependent, then usually one or more parents has to be involved in the process. Um, there is a helpful tool on the, uh, department of [00:27:00] Education website that’s linked here, um, that shares more information about, uh, who is a depen, uh, who is a contributor, excuse me.

Eddy: And, uh, what, who will then need to submit, uh, information for the FAFSA. This will help, uh, families understand exactly who is needed in, in the process. Now the FAFSA counts. A parent as a, uh, counts legal parent, as a biological or adoptive parent. If a student lives with a grandparent, with a relative, um, you know, any of the examples, uh, that you see even a legal guardian, um, they’re not considered the legal parent.

Eddy: The exception to that is if any of these individuals has legally adopted the student. Then that person is considered the legal parent. Otherwise, in every other circumstance, um, they will be considered the biological, [00:28:00] uh, the legal parent will be, again, considered the biological or adoptive parent unless, uh, there was a, a formal adoption process, uh, that the family went through and that the student went through.

Eddy: So now, once you’ve determine who the contributors are, um, then you’ll get, uh, you’ll get your login. You’ll create your login, which is the FSA ID. Um, each person who is a contributor will need to have their own login. And, uh, there’s, here, we’ll talk about actually some of the steps, uh, on this, on these coming slides here.

Eddy: So, uh, if you need to, uh, to come back to this presentation, you’ll be able to do so if both parents have a social security number. Then the FAFSA now has an automatic social security match for immediate verification. This is an update from, uh, this, this year, from last year. Uh, so if you either tuned into past [00:29:00] presentations or you had a child go through the process in previous years, you may have had to wait one to three days in order to get your FSA id.

Eddy: Now, if, if a parent and a student both have, uh, social security numbers and the, there will be an immediate verification that happens and you’ll then be able to continue with the FAFSA.

Eddy: Now this happens because the, uh, the Department of Education needs to verify that the person creating the FSA ID is, uh, is, uh. Sort of a legitimate user of it. Um, and so they’re authenticating those social security numbers. Um, a student needs only an email address now to invite a, uh, someone to be the contributor.

Eddy: So to invite usually a parent, uh, a legal parent to be cons, uh, to be considered as a contributor. And at that point then a parent will get an email that they can click to, uh, to connect to the student’s [00:30:00] FAFSA form. You can create your, your FSA ID there, and then you’ll be connected to the student’s FAFSA form.

Eddy: Typically, I encourage students to start the process first, begin create their FSA ID, then invite their contributor, and then for the parents to accept that invitation, uh, through the email link. In that link, in that email confirmation, you’ll also get a code. So if you don’t click the link, you can just copy and paste the code, uh, into student aid.gov and as you’re creating your account so that you can then meet matched up.

Eddy: Now here, I just want, wanted to go through this really quickly again. Um, so that some of the most important things, uh, to know out of this piece of it is. If a parent doesn’t have a social security number, that’s okay. You can still go through the process. Um, a student does need a social security number, or they need to be [00:31:00] considered what’s called an eligible non-citizen, which again, has a very specific definition.

Eddy: Uh, more information on is on the student, uh, student aid website for that sta uh, for the status of what is considered an eligible non-citizen. But a parent can still go through the process. A parent can still complete the FAFSA, uh, without a social security number. There’s just a box that, um, that they’ll check, uh, to indicate so, and then continue moving forward through the application.

Eddy: Now, you also, uh, need your federal income tax returns, um, for most people that will automatically get pulled in, uh, uh, to the FAFSA, uh, as a result of, uh, of the data exchange. So. The assets are here are a little bit more complicated. We’ll, we’ll spend some time actually talking about this, uh, more detail in terms of what to include, uh, what doesn’t need to, what doesn’t need to be included.

Eddy: Um, so we’ll go into [00:32:00] detail on that. Now, you can, uh, list up to 20 schools on, mention quickly on your FAFSA as well. Uh, if you do end up applying to more than 20 schools, then you, there is a way to submit it. You’d have to list your 20, submit the form, and then essentially remove all the schools and then include any remaining schools that you have, have that list of your college list available, uh, in handy so you can add them to your FAFSA form as you’re going through.

Eddy: Okay. So I wanted to just give, uh, an example next of. Going through the FAFSA, each of the different steps. Um, and then through this, uh, I’ll share again some of the tips and tricks that are important to be thinking about as you fill it out. So this is the first thing that you’ll see, uh, as you complete the form I mentioned, again, if the student is, uh, anchors the student to start the process and then ultimately invite the parent [00:33:00] into it.

Eddy: Um, this is, uh, once, once you create your FSA ID, you’ll be invited to identify who you are. The, uh, the process. It determines the questions that you’ll be asked. Um, so you’ll, families will have to consent to the, uh, the data transfer. Um, I was mentioned this earlier where a lot of the information will get pulled automatically.

Eddy: It’s a reason why the FAFSA, uh, is faster to complete now as a result of the transferring of your tax data. So you won’t, uh, your FAFSA won’t be considered valid until, uh, unless you, uh, consent to this, uh, you have to fill this out. Um, uh, it’s sort of required, uh, it’s required in order to go through the, to, for your FAFSA to be considered, uh, complete.

Eddy: Um, if you don’t consent, uh, you can still fill out the FAFSA, but it won’t be able to be sent out to institutions. [00:34:00] Okay. So we’ll just go through, uh, some of the different components that you’ll see on the, uh, on the actual application. Now, the first section is the personal circumstances section. As we talked about earlier.

Eddy: This is meant to determine if, uh. If a student is considered an independent student or a dependent student, so as we’ve mentioned, you know, if a student is in the military, uh, they’ll be considered a, an independent student if they’re married or any of these criteria that you see on the right now, it is, uh.

Eddy: Really, uh, it’s most, for most students. Uh, this, this is usually just a quick question, a quick section. Um, and then as they move on to the next section, which is demographics. Similarly, this shouldn’t take too much time to complete either. Um, it just asks a couple basic questions. Uh, this will not impact a [00:35:00] student’s financial aid at all.

Eddy: It’s just data that’s collected, uh, on the FAFSA. Uh, the, the way that the FAFSA was written, uh, every question has to be, uh, every question is written, uh, by law. And so just a result, as a result of that, there are questions that exist, that are, that they have to ask. So, again, this isn’t gonna take too much time to fill out.

Eddy: It doesn’t have any bearing on the financial aid that a student receives. What we’ll have bearing on the financial aid are the, is the third section here. So this is what we’ll spend more, most of our time discussing. The first part of this is income. So we’ll, we’ll spend, uh, part of our, part of this conversation on income.

Eddy: And then, uh, part of it on assets, income information is always considered. By what’s called prior prior year. So it uses tax data [00:36:00] from two years ago. So for students who are applying to, so for the seniors I’ll specify who are applying in the 2026-2027 academic year, uh, your family will use 2024 tax data.

Eddy: So that’s data from, again, two years from the time that you will be a student. Now, if you do file taxes in the us, which is uh, which will be most of, uh, most students, I think on this call, then those questions will get transferred automatically. So it should be easy. Um. There are some cases in which a family might need to manually fill out the information.

Eddy: Um, but if that’s the case, it might just take you a little bit longer to fill out the form. Now, here’s one of the first big pieces of, uh, one of the most important, one of the early, uh, important tips that, that I can share. So, because the, [00:37:00] uh, because the financial aid data that’s used is from the prior, prior year, that may not always be representative of a family’s current situation.

Eddy: So if it’s not for any reason, then it’s important to communicate that with the financial aid office. Some families have extremely stable situations, and so it’s, no, no, it may not be any issue to use information from two years ago. There are other fluctuations potentially, you know, if a parent is. Let’s say in a, uh, commissions based job and, you know, one year they have a really great year, another it’s not so great.

Eddy: Or if a parent is unemployed, maybe there’s a loss of income, right? So your income may not always be, your current situation may not always be represented of prior, prior year income information. So after the FAFSA gets submitted, then it’s really, really important to submit a [00:38:00] needs-based appeal for that you’re telling the financial office that there’s additional context, additional information that is important and relevant to your family situation that is not collected by the FAFSA.

Eddy: And that is dramatically important to consider in the financial calculation. So that’s how financial officers can use professional judgment to reallocate the. Financial aid package that is representative of the student’s family situ, uh, the student’s and families situation. So that’s one of the most important things I wanna emphasize.

Eddy: ’cause now we have an entire webinar focused on appeals.

Eddy: Um, so we have a, sorry, I saw a little popup come in, uh, if the audio’s coming in. Okay. Um, hope that’s all right. But, [00:39:00] uh, the financial aid appeals process, uh, is gonna be really important if you have fluctuations in any, any income information.

Eddy: So next, we’ll, uh, let’s talk a little bit about assets. So the FAFSA uses this to determine how much money you’ll also be able to contribute towards college Now. The first part we’ll ask about cash savings and any checking accounts. Um, this will, the next part we’ll ask about any current, uh, current, uh, net worth of investments, which will include real estate.

Eddy: And then the third will be the current net worth of businesses or any investments, uh, farms. So we’ll go through each of these and what should be included and what shouldn’t be included actually in our next slide. But what’s important to know here is that you report the information here based [00:40:00] on the time that you complete the FAFSA.

Eddy: Let, and so let, you’re submitting it to, let’s just say you submit it today. Uh, all of the relevant information that you include is based on. Today’s point in time. Now this is really different than the income, which is from two years ago. You’re reporting current assets and the value of your current assets as of today.

Eddy: So it’s a snapshot in time. Now, you usually wanna include, um, most things you’ll be asked to include most things. Um, accept your primary residence, accept any retirement accounts and other possessions, um, as well like, uh, jewelry, like a vehicle. If you hold any high value art, for example. Those types of things are not usually included in the FAFSA asset allocation.

Eddy: Um, additionally to that, any 529 plans that are not inc, that are [00:41:00] not owned by the parent. So. Potentially a grandparent, another family member are not included on the FAFSA asset. Questions 529 plans are. So, one, one important note here in a, uh, in a important distinction. So, if a family has multiple children and they have multiple, let’s say 529 plans for each child, then when you submit the FAFSA for your first child, let’s say it’s, you know, the oldest child who’s going to college, uh, next year, you’ll only report the value of the 529 plan with that student as the beneficiary.

Eddy: So if you had. Uh, $10,000 in a 529 plan, then you would only report $10,000 for that, uh, for that student. If you had $10,000 in [00:42:00] three different accounts for three different children, you don’t aggregate those and report the total, you only report the amount that is, uh, relevant to the student who is the beneficiary on that account.

Eddy: Now, other factors, uh, other assets, excuse me, that you’ll need to include, uh, any mutual funds, trust funds, money market funds, any stocks. Uh, and then again, the, the investment, uh, any type of investment assets, real estate, any businesses that might be owned, um, those will all be part of the asset calculations.

Eddy: Um, you don’t include retirement, as you mentioned. You don’t include the, the value of your primary home. Now, uh, if you’ll notice, uh, some of these are asking for the net worth, so the net worth of investment, real estate and net worth of business owned. Um, make sure you report these accurately. So [00:43:00] you’ll wanna subtract any debt on those assets from the total value of the assets.

Eddy: So this is a, this is a way that families sometimes misreport or, uh, or sort of overvalue, um, their assets, uh, is by not subtracting the, the amount of debt that’s on those assets. Um, so maybe the case where your, uh, your asset allocation is considered particularly high if you, if you don’t consider the net and you only include the total.

Eddy: So another, another tip to remember is the, the overall net worth of some of these assets.

Eddy: Another important part of the. Financial, uh, component of the FAFSA is the family size. So family size is pulled in from the tax returns. Um, if for any reason the family size has changed, um, [00:44:00] then that is important to note, uh, and to update on, uh, on the form. So you’ll get a question asking to verify if the family size is the same.

Eddy: Uh, if the family has grown in at all in, in the last two years, uh, this will be a huge consideration in the financial aid calculations. ’cause FAFSA does consider the overall family size. It’s an important part in the calculations. Uh, and it’s why that, why they ask this information. So a lot of the, the calculations are based on the number of, uh, people in the household that the parent is caring for, uh, and the, uh, and sort of a certain.

Eddy: Level of income that’s expected based on the size of the family to cover basic living expenses. So the larger a family is, um, then usually the more income that’s, uh, that’s, uh, that’s protected or considered protected, uh, for the family, such that they can provide basic, basic living [00:45:00] expenses and the, and necessities for the family.

Eddy: Now the, another important part of the financial consideration is this question. Now, it’s not necessarily, uh, considered in the direct financial aid calculation. So previous to the FAFSA changes, the number of children in college did heavily impact the way that the financial aid. Uh, final calculation was considered.

Eddy: So if a, if a family had two children in college, then they’re available, uh, their available, uh, funds essentially to pay for college would get split in half, you know, three children, three ways. That’s not the case anymore. So this is a result of the, uh, of the change in the FAFSA form. It is still asked as sort of a legacy question from before, but what’s [00:46:00] important to note here is if you do have a, another, if, if for the parents in the room, if you have another child, for the students in the room, if you have another sibling, also enrolled in college at the same time that you are, this is a huge factor in the appeals process.

Eddy: So, understandably, if a parent does have to pay for more than one child in college, that’s gonna take a, a higher proportion of their overall resources now. It’s not considered in the form, in the final calculations. However, this is an opportunity for the professional judgment where financial officers can make a, uh, accommodations and considerations to the form such that it does consider the human element of this, where a family is then expected to pay for multiple children in college.

Eddy: Now, you’ll have to do, you may have to request this [00:47:00] individually. Uh, you will have to request this individually for each school, each college, uh, but it’s one of the most important parts. It’s really common, uh, for this to be to be missed. You wanna make sure you give the school the chance to consider you based on accurate circumstances that your family’s facing.

Eddy: So. Reporting the number of children in college is a big factor in the appeals process, if that’s relevant to your family.

Eddy: Now, uh, the second and last questions, uh, that we’ll get to here, uh, or talking about the, uh, the list of, uh, colleges. So a student has to include a college on the FAFSA so that it can be sent to schools. I mentioned this earlier. You can list up to 20 if you need to include more, you’ll submit the FAFSA.

Eddy: You’ll go back in with the form, remove all your schools, and then add the next ones, and then send it in another wave way. [00:48:00] What’s really important and for families to, to maximize their consideration for any state-based aid. There are some states that have specific requirements in terms of the ordering of schools on the fafsa.

Eddy: So, uh, you’ll, you’ll, when you get the slides, you’ll uh, you’ll be able to click the link here to find the, the breakdown included. Just an example of Massachusetts where a school has to be in the first eligible spot on the form in, uh, this is, uh, for, for state based aid. So you would include a, uh, you know, let’s say, um, uh, a UMass College on in the first spot for Vermont as another example.

Eddy: You’d have to include a school in your top three. Not every school has this requirement. Many don’t. But there are some schools that do have this type of, uh, ordering that does [00:49:00] factor into whether a student is considered for any state-based aid. So you’d wanna include a state institution in those spots if it’s relevant for the student.

Eddy: This is really easy to miss. Uh, it’s really easy to forget about. Ultimately disqualify yourself from any aid consideration. So one of the most important things here is check your state. Check if they have, you know, any type of funding sources that are available. Typically, the funding is meant for residents of that state.

Eddy: Uh, any type of state-based scholarships or state-based, uh, need-based state, state-based aid, uh, they’re usually relevant for students within that state. But make sure to not miss, uh, miss this step just to do a quick search. It may not be relevant for you, but if it is, then it’s gonna be really important.

Eddy: And then finally, this might be easy to. Uh, to overlook, [00:50:00] but make sure that all contributors have signed the FAFSA. Uh, and that way, you know, sometimes there are three contributors, uh, for whom it’s, uh, for who for have to have to fill, fill out their information. Uh, and only two of them have signed. Uh, in order for it to be complete, every contributor has to sign.

Eddy: So make sure to double and triple check that.

Eddy: Now, really quickly. After you submit, you’ll see the, uh, FAFSA submission summary. You’ll see, uh, your eligibility for aid for any gr uh, any loans, any scholarship, uh, grant money that doesn’t have to be paid back, uh, as well as the Student Aid Index. Now, just a quick note here on the Student Aid Index, I won’t go too much into it ’cause we have a full presentation on this, but the eight, the Student Aid Index is a number that you’ll see, which is not your financial aid package.

Eddy: So what it is, is it’s a number from a negative 1500 to a really large number. The lower the number is, the [00:51:00] higher your financial aid is determined to be. So again, the SAI is used to calculate federal aid and state aid and institutional aid. So it’s a starting point for, uh, financial offices, uh, to determine how much aid they’ll be able to provide.

Eddy: Again, I just wanna emphasize here, it’s not the financial aid package, so the number that you see will not be. The number that you’re expected to pay for college. It’s an index number that then helps, uh, determine what your final eight package would be. So I just wanna summarize really quickly, um, and, uh, think through, uh, summarize some of the key tips, uh, so that we can still leave some time for questions.

Eddy: Um, but, uh, a few quick, a few quick tips here is if you, if you are planning to make some kind of larger purchase, uh, maybe you do need a new car, maybe you need a new roof, uh, whatever the case may be, uh, on your home, think about when it might make the most sense to do that. Now, I’m not encouraging, [00:52:00] I wanna be really clear.

Eddy: I’m not encouraging irresponsible spending and, uh, for the sake of reducing, uh, you know, uh, available assets to the family. But if you know you have a leaky roof and at some point you, you’re maybe this year, for example, let’s use high school seniors in the room. You report your, the, the amount you may report in savings is determined by that point in time.

Eddy: So if you spend a couple, you know, let’s say $20,000 on a brand new roof, then those assets are, those, those cash savings are no longer available to report. So be mindful about the timing of, of certain things, whether it’s a car, roof, whatever the case may be. Uh, make sure you’re reporting that assets, as we talked about, um, if there are any 5 29 plans that are not owned by a parent.

Eddy: So for example, grand, if it is owned by a grandparent, these are [00:53:00] not reported on the FAFSA, they’re not gonna be included in the student aid index. Either ensure that your family size is up to date, and then again, make sure you appeal, uh, if your financial aid has. Uh, if, excuse me, if your income has gone down.

Eddy: ’cause that will be a huge factor in the financial aid calculations. Income is very, can be variable for families prior, prior. Your, uh, income information is not always relevant, uh, to where a student is at that current point in time. So I will go through this again just really quickly. Um, as we, as we mentioned earlier, we, uh, there’s the new income limits to the Parent Plus program.

Eddy: This is the federal loan. Uh, it’s a 65,000 lifetime cap at $20,000 annually. So 20,000 the first three years, 5,000 the last year if you need it now, if there are any, if there are any, uh, college students in the room. If you’ve [00:54:00] taken out a Parent Plus loan in the past, uh, you can be grandfathered into the old, uh, terms of the Parent Plus program.

Eddy: So that’s a barring, uh, barring limit up to the cost of attendance. Um, if you’ve, if you have taken out a Parent Plus loan before June 30th, 2026, then you’ll be grandfathered into the, uh, to the, uh, the limits of up to the cost of attendance. Now, I mentioned a little bit about Juno as well already. Um, so if you are interested, uh, I’ll just share really quickly.

Eddy: Essentially what we do is we invite families to come together, uh, to leverage group, group negotiating power. Uh, and that’s what, uh, that’s how Juno started, is bringing together, uh, business school students from around the country going shopping around to various different lenders and asking for better rates as a collective.

Eddy: Uh, that’s what we do every single. Spring. So before April 30th, we, uh, pull together the interest from families and see who may [00:55:00] need to take out a loan. Now, this doesn’t obligate joining, doesn’t obligate you in any way. Uh, there’s no cost. There’s, there’s no credit check when, when, if, if you wanna check out rates through Juneau.

Eddy: Um, ultimately what we’re, what a family is agreeing to is a mailing list, uh, and agreeing to be contacted. Once we, there’s a couple quick questions that we ask, uh, and we essentially go to various different lenders and say, this is the size of the, the family’s. Within June. Uh, and again, I include myself in that ’cause I’m actually, uh, I’m a junior member, so this is the size, the group that we have together.

Eddy: What better rates are you able to offer us? And the more families we have, the more negotiating part we hold. Uh, so it’s similar to a union for student loans. Now if you do have any questions, uh, we are happy to meet. I’m happy to meet with families one-on-one. Uh, if, if you have particular niche questions or circumstances that are relevant to that, we either, we may not have covered, we just [00:56:00] wanna make sure that we can answer any questions that families have.

Eddy: And we also wanna present an option to families. So again, you don’t have to use Juno at all. Uh, if you sign up, if you do sign up and we’re able to get lower rates, then we wanna at least present that as an option to you as you consider many other options. So let’s. Look into the q and a piece here.

Lydia: Yes.

Lydia: So thank you so much, Eddy, for that presentation. I know that answered a lot of the questions, um, that families had and it was very thorough. And as a reminder for those of you at home, you will be able to download these slides. Um, they’re in the handout tab, so feel free to download them and you’ll be able to see all of the links and things that Eddy was talking about earlier in the presentation.

Lydia: And as I also said, um, at the beginning of the presentation as well as in the q and a tab when I was writing some of the answers to questions that people had, this is being recorded, [00:57:00] so you will be able to go to our website and watch this back later. So, uh, we’re gonna go into a brief q and A now to answer some of your questions.

Lydia: And as I was looking through, I saw a number of questions about appeals, the timeline, and. Whether or not that needs to be, like, if you have two students or two children that are applying to colleges, um, do you need to write those separately? Um, yeah, just all the information about appeals and when they should have and what should be included in them.

Eddy: Yeah. So with the appeals process that typically will happen, uh, after the student has applied, and once the, the documentation has been submitted. Now what’s gonna be important is having any kind of, uh, updates that may not have been included in the FAFSA. So if you have, for example, any medical expenses, if you are paying for a student’s, [00:58:00] uh, you know, another a, another child’s, um, private school tuition, there are certain considerations that are allowed there.

Eddy: The, so the, the earlier you do engage in the process and engage the financial aid office, then. The more time you have, you allow the financial office to understand your situation. They may require, uh, you to collect certain forms and then, uh, be able to process those in a timely manner. So earlier is better.

Eddy: Financial officers love when you, uh, start the process, uh, on an earlier timeframe rather than waiting till the last minute. But it’ll be, it’ll come after you received your aid, your, your financial aid package.

Lydia: So we also had some questions about family size, but is considered household size on the FAFSA.

Lydia: Um, so if you have other family members, let’s say an aunt, a cousin or a grandparent living with you, are [00:59:00] they included in household size or are they not if they’re an adult besides your parent?

Eddy: Yeah, so great question. Um, so the. The family size is a, a really important part as we mentioned. Uh, if families are caring for, are providing over 50% of the care for any, uh, any member so that it’s, you know, child, it can be a grandparent that’s living in the home, then that does increase the family size.

Lydia: Okay. Um, so we were also getting some questions about location. So if you’re applying to a school that is outta state, you were talking a bit about, um, the state funds that are available. When you apply for FAFSA, is that based on the state that you or your parents live in, or is that based on the school, the location of the school that you’re [01:00:00] applying to?

Eddy: Yeah, great question. So the aid is going to be determined based on where a family holds residents, so it is possible. So again, state funding is typically reserved for students who usually have grown up in the state or have, have met the eligibility criteria to qualify for in-state tuition. There are some states that will allow you to, to gain residency after a year, after your, after a year of school.

Eddy: So. That not every school has that, uh, has that ability or allows students to do that. So it’s important to check with the, the university that you ultimately end up enrolling in, or even in the admissions process. This could be a really important question to ask so that you can identify what might be your cost over the span of four [01:01:00] years.

Eddy: So the state aid is typically reserved for students who are resident, have their primary residents within that state. But then other than that, there could be opportunities to qualify as a resident, uh, depending on the policies, it’s usually the state policies of, uh, of that school. Uh, and a lot of, uh, financial officers will be able to help students through that process.

Lydia: Okay. Uh, so also some questions about assets. So are HSA is considered assets or real estate owned under an LLC that a parent may.

Eddy: Yes. Um, good question. So, yes, they, uh, they will be considered assets. Um, so, and especially you, you wanna make sure that you are presenting the, the whole financial picture, um, so that financial officers get a good [01:02:00] sense of what is available to you and what is protected income.

Eddy: So again, the protected income, which isn’t factored in to, uh, to your financial aid calculations, uh, will be, primary residence, will be, um, uh, will be, uh, retirement accounts. You can, you’ll see the, you can see the full list as well. But beyond, beyond that, other assets, uh, will be expected to be reported.

Lydia: Uh, we also have a question.

Lydia: What should you do if you don’t file taxes for whatever reason you’ve been unemployed or you, you know, whatever circumstance.

Eddy: Yeah. So if there are, if there are not taxes, uh, available, uh, then one, you’ll, you’ll have to go through the FAFSA process. You may have to go through the FAFSA process manually, um, and just report, uh, [01:03:00] you report, uh, that as, uh, report the appropriate numbers as, um, as potentially zero, depending on the situation and depending on what, um, whether there may be some level of income or not.

Eddy: But if you don’t file taxes, then it would, then the, the data won’t get transferred automatically. So you will still need to consider. There, there may still, there are still questions that will be expected to be answered, but the, uh, the form may have to actually be filled out manually in that case.

Lydia: Okay.

Lydia: And are you able to subtract loans from your assets? Like do you have a, a mortgage or a car loan? Do those get factored in the amount of debt you still have towards those assets?

Eddy: In terms of additional, um, additional, um, sort of [01:04:00] either student parent, even parent loan, parent student loans or other debt, consumer debt typically isn’t considered.

Eddy: However, this could be part of the appeals process where if there’s a particularly high, like if there’s a reason for particularly high levels of consumer debt, or especially this is true, if the. F uh, if the parent themselves are still paying, uh, their own student loans, which is becoming more and more common now actually, then those are important contextual factors to the overall financial picture of the family that should be included.

Eddy: Now, the extent to which, the extent to which, uh, specifically consumer debt is considered varies. Um, because again, college, the, the financial aid process is not, um, looking, it’s, it’s not a cash flow statement, right? So there they’re [01:05:00] not, um, if, if there’s a, if families end up spending more than they’re earning the.

Eddy: Expectation is that, that, that colleges will have, is that families, depending on their adjusted gross income, will still be able to contribute a certain amount to their child’s education. So be particularly mindful and careful about, um, any levels of consumer debt. Student debt is factored a little separately ’cause that’s, it’s very common, uh, nowadays for parents to have children in college while still potentially paying off their own student debts.

Eddy: Um, make sure you communicate that there could be considerations in the financial aid office, uh, judgment, uh, for what the overall health of the family’s financial aid situation looks like.

Lydia: Got it. Um, I know [01:06:00] we’re. Well on time. So I’ll just ask a general question, um, and I’ll make sure to save all the remaining questions that we have, uh, so that we can get to them later.

Lydia: But do you have any general advice or final that you would wanna share with our, our listeners today regarding FAFSA or things that they should keep in mind?

Eddy: Yeah, absolutely. So again, just make sure that you still apply, uh, and don’t discount yourself from that. Um, take a look at one of the, that final summary slide just in terms of some of the key pieces to think about, like, um, the, the specific asset timing, um, 5 29 plans, if you wanna be really mindful and strategic about how you can leverage, uh, these accounts in a way that is, uh.

Eddy: That is, is allowed and still able to maximize the student’s, [01:07:00] um, ability to be considered for financial aid resources. Those, those are gonna be really important as you think through the next few months, especially for your current seniors. Uh, and, and next few years for anyone younger.

Lydia: All right, well thank you so much Eddy for this helpful information. I know that I learned a lot and I’m sure that the people at home did as well. Um, again, if you did not get a chance to, um, watch the full webinar or if you still have some questions, uh, definitely download those handouts and go look back at the, uh, recording once it’s posted on our website and that will definitely give you some helpful answers.

Lydia: Um, and we look forward to hopefully having you join us again for another webinar soon. Have a great night. Bye.