Affording College “College is a match to be made, not a prize

to be won”• -Frank Sachs•Need Based Financial Aid

•Merit Based Financial Aid•Scholarships – Athletic and Otherwise•Resources

Some Numbers 3500 to 4000 young women will enter four-year

colleges as new recruits destined for the softball team. Only about 50% will get any softball-based aid. Most programs are not fully funded (NCAA Div. I 12

scholarships; Div. II 7.2 full scholarships). Athletic scholarship dollars are spread over rosters of

15-30 athletes and cover four years only.

THE BOTTOM LINE: DON’T RELY ON ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP DOLLARS TO PAY FOR COLLEGE. USE ALL OF THE RESOURCES AT HAND.

Overview - What is Financial Aid?

What is Financial Aid? Financial Aid refers to three primary types of financial assistance:

LOANS GRANTS SCHOLARSHIPSThree primary sources of aid:1. FEDERAL funds (loans and grants)2. INSTITUTIONAL funds (from the college’s

financial aid budget)3. THIRD-PARTY SCHOLARSHIPSSome types of financial aid require an

application while others do not.

Two Types of Aid

NEED BASED AID

MERIT AID*Note that these are most often complementary, not exclusive of one another.

NEED BASED AID NEED BASED AID – aid awarded strictly based on

demonstrated financial need of the family Financial Need = Total Cost of Attendance (tuition, board,

etc) – Expected Family Contribution (EFC)

EFC – the dollar amount a family can afford to contribute towards the total cost of tuition

as determined by the college using institution and federal methodologies.

Cost Calculators – the more questions they ask, the more accurate this will be. Try several to get a ballpark of EFC. All schools are required to post this tool.

To Receive Need Based Aid:

File all required financial aid application documents by stated deadlines for each college. The early bird can get the worm!

If need (Tuition - EFC) is determined to exist, student will receive need based financial aid award along with offer of admission (if admitted) to help offset the cost of attendance.

Need Based Aid Documentation

1) FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is required by ALL colleges. This is how a student receives federal assistance (if eligible).

2) CSS Profile is required by some colleges in addition to the FAFSA. This is a how a student receives institutional aid from the college directly (if eligible).

Beginning in 2016, both FAFSA and CSS Profile will be available on October 1st. There is a “first come, first serve” element to federal and institutional aid. Complete these earlier than later.

Tax Returns should be filed in order to fill out both forms.

FAFSAhttps://fafsa.ed.gov/

Myths about aid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8JuaYVJ_LE

CSS Profile https://student.collegeboard.org/css-

financial-aid-profile

FAFSA and PPY Going into effect 2016, the FAFSA will be

available on 10/1/16 (currently available on 1/1 every year) and every 10/1 moving forward.

To complete FAFSA, you will use tax returns from the prior prior year (for enrollment of fall ‘17 using tax info from ‘15).

With CSS Profile college guidance folks are not sure what will happen. CollegeBoard has not announced whether it will move to PPY.

Note that you will update the FAFSA and CSS PROFILE each year.

Need Based Policies Colleges that meet 100% of need refers to institutions

that will fund, through the financial aid award, the complete need of every student admitted. (Total Cost of Attendance – EFC = need) through combination of grants and loans.

Gapping refers to institutions that are unable to meet 100% of need for students admitted. Instead, an institution might meet 80% of the demonstrated need with the expectation that the family is responsible for the remaining 20% gap (just as an example).

Need aware refers to institutions that take a students’ financial need under consideration when making an admission decision.

Need blind refers to institutions that do not consider a students’ financial need in the admission process. http://www.thecollegesolution.com/resources/GenerousCollegesListGuide.pdf

MERIT BASED AID MERIT = award after admission in recognition of

strengths in the academic or extracurricular profile. Merit aid is often referred to as “scholarship”.

Colleges award Merit Based Financial Aid independent of financial need.

Not all colleges award merit-based financial aid. Most that do not deal exclusively in need based financial aid.

All merit aid is awarded in the form of grant/scholarship. You may need to apply separately for some merit based scholarships.

Merit Aid Examples

Merit Aid Examples

Merit Aid Example

Merit Aid http://bit.ly/1GSQwKe

Third Party Scholarships

These types of “outside” scholarships typically require an application.Students/parents often need to spend time researching available scholarship opportunities through various resources.

Third Party Scholarships

Third Party Scholarships often require a written application and/or recommendations.

Your coaches and advisors, both with the Speed and your HS, are valuable sources of recommendations.

The community service you do with the Speed may open some doors here too – i.e. Pinky Swear, Miracle League, volunteer coaching, etc.

Resources:Websites:

Federal Student Aid https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/

CollegeBoard Big Future:

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/ Financial Aid for College: http://financialaidforcollege.com/ Your college guidance counselors. Financial Planner

Q & A How to Contact College Coaches Insights on the recruiting world.