Welcome! LOSFA Professional School Counselor Webinar 2014 General Session

LOSFA’s Vision is to be Louisiana’s First Choice for College Access

Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance (LOSFA)

Welcome!LOSFA Professional School Counselor

Webinar 2014General Session



LOSFA Administered ProgramsTOPS

START Saving Program– Louisiana’s 529 college savings program

TOPS Tech Early Start Program– provides up to $600/AY to eligible 11th or 12th grade public high

school students to enroll in six credit hours per semester in a vocational course of study leading to an industry-based certification in a top demand occupation at a public college

Go Grant– Need based grant – $300 minimum yearly benefit for AY 2013/2014– $3000 maximum yearly benefit for AY 2013/2014



Rockefeller State Wildlife Scholarship– Forestry, Marine Science, Wildlife– $2,000/annually for undergraduates– $3,000/annually for graduate students– Competitively awarded for up to 5 years

Chafee Educational Training Voucher (ETV) Program– awards up to $5,000 annually during the academic year to qualified

students who have been in the foster care system

Strategies to Empower People (STEP)- On behalf of the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS),

LOSFA processes and makes payments for Adult Education and Vocational Education for the Strategies to Empower People (STEP) Program

John R. Justice Student Loan Repayment Program– provides for the payment of eligible educational loans for state and

federal public defenders and state prosecutors employed in Louisiana



LOSFA Social Media Sites

http://www.facebook.com/LOSFA

http://www.twitter.com/LOSFA

http://www.youtube.com/LOSFA1000

http://instagram.com/losfa001



LOSFACollege Access

and Outreach



New LOSFA Service Strategy:–Statewide Services–Concentrated Services–Intensive Services



2014-2015 Outreach

112 Unique High Schools Scheduled to visit through October 2014. Statewide Services

are added on a weekly basis.

2013-2014 Outreach

184 Unique High Schools Visited in 2013 -2014

Statewide Services

Disclaimer: Does not include presentations at: Colleges & Universities, Community and Faith-based sites.



2014-2015 Concentrated Services

80 High Schools



Our Student EventsCollege Kick-off Events

Area Leadership ProgramsLouisiana College Application Month

College Goal SundayCollege Acceptance Day

Our Student Intensive ServicesFinancial Aid Awareness

Rewards for Success ScholarshipsAcademic-year ClubsAdvanced Placement

ACT PrepCampus Field Trips

Dual EnrollmentPositive Behavior Support

Tutoring

Our Parent Support ServicesHigh School and College Readiness Workshops

Campus Field TripsCollege and Financial Aid Workshops,

including College Goal SundaySocial Support

Our Teacher and Counselor Support ServicesProfessional Development Opportunities

Academic and Curricular Support

2014-2015 LA GEAR UP SCHOOLS

INTENSIVE SERVICES OFFERED THROUGH LA GEAR UP

* Services for High School Seniors



LOSFA EventsMotivate, Instruct and Follow Through

• Trailblazer Camp• College Kick-off• College Application Month• College Application Workshops• Counselor Webinars• TOPS Seminars• STS Workshops• College Goal Sunday• FAFSA Completion Workshops• Spring FLY Tour• College Acceptance Day

Developed by Sujuan W. Boutté, Ed.D.

LOSFA’S 5 Point Match

Aptitude, Skills, Interest MatchWhat’s your Career Path? How much education do you need to get there?

Academic MatchWhich programs are you

eligible for?

Cost of Choice MatchWhich program results in

completion with the best income to loan debt ratio?

Social and Emotional MatchWhich environment works best for

you now? Online versus seat time? Large campus, Urban Setting,

Small Campus, Rural/Suburban Setting?Weekday, Weeknight or

Weekend Class Schedule?

Retention MatchWhich program has the greatest success

rate with retaining students like you?



Program Presentations• All LOSFA presentations can be personalized to fit the

needs of a specific audience• TOPS• FAFSA• What is Financial Aid? – An overview of financial aid

• State Aid Programs including TOPS• FAFSA• Federal Aid (Grant & Loan Programs)• Institutional Aid• Private Aid



Program Presentations• College Knowledge• FLY: Financial Literacy for You• FLY Tour 2015• START Saving Program



LOSFAOnline Publication Resources



TOPS Opportunity, Performance and Honors Brochure



TOPS Tech Brochure



Don’t Blow Your TOPS

Poster



Don’t Blow Your TOPSRenewal Poster



TOPS Core Curriculum

for High School

Graduates 2014-2017



TOPS Tech Core Curriculum for

High School Graduates 2014-2017



TOPS Core Curriculum for High School Graduates 2018 and thereafter



Social Media Sites Flyer



Surfing The Web for Financial Aid



TOPS Core Courses Approved by BESE and Board of Regents for Calculation on 5.00 Point Scale



START Brochure



How Do I Schedule A Presentation?• Call or e-mail Jerri Mack

• [email protected]• (800) 259-5626• (225) 219-1012

• LOSFA Representatives are available for day, night and weekend presentations

• Request your date as early as possible• Please plan for adequate time for the presentation• Scheduling an event with LACRAO does not include

LOSFA. Feel free to invite LOSFA to your LACRAO event.



PowerPoint Presentations• You may request copies of LOSFA PowerPoint

presentations to use at your school• E-mail Jerri Mack

– [email protected]

www.osfa.la.gov



STS Training• Times and Dates To Be Determined

www.osfa.la.gov



Trailblazer Leadership Conference

• Redesign of Trailblazer Camp for 2015 making the Trailblazer experience available to more students representing more high schools

• One-day Saturday conference in July at a few college campuses in the state

• Students can apply directly with us to attend, with approval from a school official

• Students will participate in a variety of activities at their high school in order to receive a letter of recommendation they can use for college admission purposes

• Dates and more details will be available soon



2014 Legislative Changes• ACT 566 – TOPS & TOPS TECH:

– 2018 graduates & thereafter– Social Studies Requirement for Civics (1 unit)

• Government, Civics, AP US Government & Politics: Comparative, or AP US Government & Politics: United States

– Social Studies Elective (2 units)• Addition of: Economics, AP Macroeconomics & AP

Microeconomics



• ACT 733 – TOPS & TOPS TECH:– 2018 graduates & thereafter– Adds certain honors, talented and articulated courses that will

be converted to a five-point scale for calculating the TOPS Core GPA for TOPS eligibility

– Makes LOSFA responsible for defining “skill or occupational training”

– Adds “any training leading to an industry-based certification, a certificate of applied science, or a certificate of technical sciences approved by the Workforce Investment Council offered by a provider regognized by the Louisiana Workforce Commission” to the definition of “skill and occupational training”



• ACT 737 – TOPS & TOPS TECH:– 2015, 2016, 2017 graduates can use 1 Unit of Drafting

to substitute for Fine Arts Survey– 2018 graduates & thereafter can use 1 unit of Drafting

to substitute for 1 Art Unit– Allows students to qualify for TOPS Tech using the TOPS

OPH Core for 2018 graduates– Deletes the TOPS Tech Core requirement to earn 1 Unit

of Chemistry or Applied Chemistry– Requires 2 Units of Science from the list of TOPS Tech

science subjects and adds Chemistry and Applied Chemistry to the list



• ACT 737 – TOPS TECH EARLY START:– Provides that the TOPS Tech Early Start Award can be

used to enroll in programs to pursue certifications approved by the Workforce Investment Council

– Deletes the graduation exit exam requirements– Allows nonpublic postsecondary education

institutions offering courses leading to an Industry-Based Certification, a Certificate of Applied Science, and/or a Certificate of Technical Sciences in a top demand occupation to participate in the TOPS Tech Early Start program



• ACT 837 – Personally Identifiable Information:– Provides policies and procedures for the collection,

receipt, use, protection and destruction of personally identifiable information

– These procedures include requirements for consent from a parent or guardian for the public schools to collect and disclose certain personally identifiable information related to grades 6-12 students to LOSFA to make it possible for the agency to determine eligibility for financial aid programs, including TOPS



• Act 837 of the 2014 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature requires the governing authority of each school to provide a form to the parent or legal guardian of each student enrolled in grades eight through twelve which explains that the parent has the right to determine whether their child’s Personally Identifiable Information (PII) can be released to LOSFA and to the postsecondary education institution(s) to which their child applies. The form must be provided every year, and at least one parent or legal guardian must sign that they either grant consent or deny consent.



• PII includes the student’s full name, social security number, and transcript data. This information will be used by LOSFA to provide a TOPS Tracker to allow students and parents to track a student’s progress toward TOPS eligibility and to determine a student’s eligibility for a TOPS Award and other student financial aid. This information will also be used by postsecondary institutions to determine whether a student is eligible for admission.



• The Consent Form included in this Bulletin is for use by the parents and guardians of students enrolled in the eighth through the twelfth grades. The parent or guardian must give consent or deny consent to the collection of their child’s PII and the distribution of the PII through the Louisiana Department of Education to LOSFA and through the Board of Regents to the postsecondary institutions.



• We have also attached a cover letter to transmit the Consent Form to the parents and legal guardians.



• A Consent Form for every student is required by the law to ensure that PII is disclosed only for those students whose parent or legal guardian has consented and that the parents who deny consent do so with full knowledge of the effect of denial of consent.



• The Consent Form must be signed by the student rather than the parent or legal guardian if the student is 18 or is judicially emancipated or is emancipated by marriage.



• The Consent Form is being provided at this time to allow schools to begin the process of having each parent or legal guardian consent or deny consent. Schools should immediately start the process of obtaining completed and signed Consent Forms. The forms should be maintained by each school for use in updating the students’ electronic records at the state level when the procedure for doing so is made available.



• At this time The Louisiana Department of Education, the Board of Regents and the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance are working together to develop and implement the procedure for annotating student records with either consent given or consent denied. All schools will be notified when this procedure is in place and will be given the instructions necessary to follow the procedures.



ConsentForm



PII CoverLetter



Louisiana Connect Update• ConnectEdu, the Boston-based vendor

responsible for constructing and maintaining the Louisiana Connect College Access and Career Planning portal, filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy reorganization on Monday, April 28, 2014.

• In July of 2014, Graduation Alliance purchased certain assets of ConnectEdu including the Louisiana Connect contract.



Louisiana Connect Update• The Louisiana Connect portal has remained live and

accessible, but no data has been updated since 2013.• Students who previously had active accounts may

still log in and access information previously saved in the portal.

• The information in the public pages including the college cost calculator and the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Calculator remain available.



Louisiana Connect Update• No new data may be populated to the portal until:

– Consent forms for sharing of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) are collected and processed. The process of distributing and collecting consent forms may begin immediately.

– A file format for the transfer of data between LDOE and Graduation Alliance is tested and implemented. This process is also underway.

– LDOE has provided Graduation Alliance with a download of transcript data for all of academic year 2013-2014 to close out the year. Because this data is for 2013-14, all students that are currently in STS will be included in the data.



Louisiana Connect Update• After October’s STS harvest, and when the mechanism

for flagging those STS student records that have given consent to share data has been activated, LDOE will provide Graduation Alliance with data for academic year 2014-15. This data will include new 9th grade students and any transfers. Only students for whom a consent form has been received will be included in this file transfer.

• In the meantime, Graduation Alliance will be reviewing the 2013-14 data to map it to the Louisiana Connect portal.



Contact LOSFA

www.osfa.la.gov

[email protected]

(225) 219-10128:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday - Friday

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Welcome! LOSFA Professional School Counselor Webinar 2014 General Session

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