Georgia Student Finance Commission - Lassiter High School Benjamin Meadows K-12 School Representative
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Georgia Student
Finance Commission
Lassiter High School
Benjamin Meadows
K-12 School Representative
November 16, 2011
GAcollege411 Homepage
• Five tabs across top of
screen navigate website
• Create an account to
gain full access to site
• Select role at bottom of
screen to gain
applicable information
• “Shortcuts” on the right
side point you to the
right direction
• “What’s New” keeps
hot topics visible
2
Career Planning
• Learn About Yourself
– Assessments to help
students with guidance
• Explore Careers
– Tools for students to
research possible
careers
• Get a Job
– Tools that can be used
in a job search
• Voices
– Blogs about career
planning from peers
3
College Planning
• Prepare for College
– Learn requirements
of different types of
schools
• Test Prep
– Practice admissions
tests
• Explore
Postsecondary
Schools
– Research schools
from all across the
nation
4
Test Prep
• COMPASS/Asset
– Used by 2-year and
technical colleges
• SAT
– Used by some 2-year
and 4-year colleges
• ACT
– Used by some 2-year
and 4-year colleges
• GRE
– Used by Graduate
school
• Vocabulary Builder
5
School Profile
• Georgia
– There are 95
postsecondary
schools on the
GAcollege411
website
• Nationwide
– There are 6342
postsecondary
schools on
GAcollege411 from
across the nation
6
Financial Aid Planning
• Georgia’s HOPE
Program
– Keep up to date with
all of the HOPE
regulations
• Find Scholarships
– Apply for scholarships
• Financial Aid
Applications
– Find needed
applications to apply
for state and federal
financial aid
7
Financial Aid 101
• Provides answers to
FAQ’s that will help
make the financial aid
process less
confusing
8
Find Scholarships
• Search for
Scholarships
– A keyword search
from a national
databank of
scholarships
• Scholarship Finder
– Search for
scholarship based on
characteristics
9
Scholarship Finder
10Financial Aid Applications
• GSFAPPS
– Online application for
state programs
• FAFSA Transfer
Module
– Directly link to Free
Application for
Federal Student Aid
• This is the
application that will
apply student for all
forms of federal aid
such as federal
loans and pell
grants.
11How Much Does College Cost?
• Costs of Attendance
– Tuition and mandatory fees
– Room and board
– Books and supplies
– Transportation
– Personal expenses (clothing, laundry, entertainment,
medicine and healthcare, cell phone)
12What is Financial Aid?
• Sources of Financial Aid
– Federal government
– State government
– Colleges and universities
– Community groups (religious organizations, civic
organizations, corporations, professional
organizations, etc.)
13Types of Financial Aid
• Merit Based Scholarship
• Need Based Grant
• Student or Parent Loans
• Employment Opportunities, Work Study
• Military Aid and Grants
• Savings Plans
14Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program
• Largest Non-Need Based Program in the Nation
• Students must meet:
– Academic Requirement of a 3.0 GPA in academic
core classes*
– Citizenship/Permanent Resident
– Residency
– Enroll in a HOPE eligible school in Georgia
*Note: For Seniors who are on Technical Diploma, the
GPA is a 3.2 for in academic core classes
15Zell Miller Scholarship Program
• New Scholarship Program for 2011
• Must meet HOPE Scholarship requirements, plus:
– Minimum 3.7 GPA in academic core classes, and
– 1,200 combined critical reading and math on SAT, or
– 26 composite ACT
– Graduate from an eligible high school as the valedictorian
or salutatorian
*Test requirements must be met in single test administration.
162011 HOPE Scholarship Award
• At a Georgia public college, university or technical
college:
– Award will cover portion of standard tuition
• At a Georgia private college:
– Award will be $3,600 per academic year for full-time study
*Award amount will vary by year depending on receipts from lottery
commission and expenditures of HOPE dollars
172011 Zell Miller Scholarship Award
• At a Georgia public college, university or
technical college:
– Award will cover full standard tuition
• At a Georgia private college:
– Award will be $4,000 per academic year for full-time
study
18Maintaining the HOPE/Zell
Scholarship
• A student must maintain a 3.0 grade point average
in college to maintain the HOPE Scholarship.
• A student must maintain a 3.3 grade point average
in college to maintain the Zell Miller Scholar
program.
• If a student loses eligibility for either the HOPE or
Zell Miller Scholar program for any reason, they
may regain that eligibility one time. They remain
eligible for the HOPE Scholarship provided the
student’s GPA is still a 3.0 or above.
• If a student did not or does not graduate from high
school Academically Eligible for Zell Miller, then the
student can never earn Zell Miller.
19Maintaining the HOPE/Zell
Scholarship
• HOPE Eligibility Checkpoints
– At the end of every Spring Semester
– 30 Attempted Semester Hours
– 60 Attempted Semester Hours
– 90 Attempted Semester Hours
– Students have a maximum of 127 attempted
semester hours (190 quarter hours) to be awarded
HOPE Scholarship funds.
– Students graduating 2011 and beyond have a
maximum of 7 years to utilize the HOPE Scholarship
before their eligibility expires
• Exceptions for military service
20HOPE Grant Program
• For students enrolling in a
certificate or a diploma
program
• Need a 3.0 GPA at 30 Need
attempted semester hours
to continue receiving grant New
• Covers portion of tuition Picture
• Covers up to 63 semester
hours or 95 quarter hours
21View HOPE GPA on GAcollege411
• Select “Your HOPE
GPA” under
“Shortcuts”
• Log in to your
GAcollege411
Account
• Enter Last Name,
Date of Birth, and
Social Security
Number
• Finally, select high
school from list
22Direct Loan Program
• Subsidized Direct Loans
– interest is paid by the
government while enrolled
(at least half-time)
• Unsubsidized Stafford
Loans
– student is responsible for
paying the interest on the
loan
• Repayment begins six (6)
months after graduation or
ceasing to be enrolled half-
time
23The Student Access Loan
• The interest rate on the loan is 1%
• Funding of last resort or “gap financing”
• Able to borrow up to $10,000 per year
• Applications are randomly selected from all
applicants
• Must reapply (Renewal not guaranteed)
• Application for Student Access Loan can be
found on GAcollege411
24FAFSA.GOV
25What Does the FAFSA Require?
• To complete the FAFSA,
you will need:
– Completed Tax Returns
– Information on untaxed
income, such as child
support
– Household Information
• To Receive a Paper
FAFSA:
– Call 1-800-4-FED-AID
– Download the paper
application at
FederalStudentAid.ed.gov
26What Does the FAFSA Do?
• The FAFSA will determine
the Expected Family
Contribution (EFC).
• The EFC estimates the
family’s ability to
contribute toward
educational costs.
• The EFC formula includes
financial information
collected on the FAFSA,
family size and number of
dependents.
27What Does the FAFSA Do?
College Cost of Attendance (Determined by the School)
Minus the Expected Family Contribution
Equals the Amount of Need Based Aid Student may Qualify
28How Do I Apply?
• Apply electronically at:
– www.GAcollege411.org
– or www.fafsa.gov
– Apply for your PIN online
at: pin.ed.gov
– Check with the college
Financial Aid Office for
other applications that
may need to be
completed
29Contact Us
• Call GSFC at 1-800-505-4732
• www.GAcollege411.org
• Email: clientservices@gsfc.org
Benjamin Meadows
Georgia Student Finance Commission
Benm@gsfc.org
30Questions?
Thank you!
31You can also read
