Financial Aid-FASFA
FAFSA is your application for TOPS. Everyone should apply for financial aid. FAFSA (The Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is the primary document that determines eligibility for need-based financial aid. There are many different factors that determine financial aid eligibility. Assets and family income are not the only determining factors. FAFSA needs to be completed every year after January 1st. The sooner you fill this out, the better chance you have of receiving aid. The best way to fill out FAFSA is on the web - www.fafsa.ed.gov. If you fill out FAFSA on the web you will be required to complete the application with a PIN (Personal Identification Number). It can take up to five days to receive your PIN. It is important to keep your PIN, you will use this every year when filling out FAFSA.
1. Grants and scholarships - these do not need to be repaid. We discuss grants and scholarships further on a different web page.
2. Work-study - this allows students to work weekly during the school year to earn money to help pay for school.
3. Loans - this is the main form of aid used by students. Students will have to repay their loans but interest rates for students loans are often lower and payments are usually deferred until after the student has completed college.
There are three basic types of need-based aid.
There are two different types of loans - a subsidized Stafford Loan and an unsubsidized Stafford Loan.
What is the difference? Both loans are federally guaranteed, but with a subsidized Stafford loan the federal government pays the interest while you are enrolled in school at least half-time or during other approved deferment periods. An unsubsidized loan is similar but the student begins paying on the interest as soon as the loan is disbursed.
What is FASFA?
1. Apply for a PIN at www.pin.ed.gov
2. Gather all documents needed to apply for financial aid. A full list of what you need can be found on www.fafsa.ed.gov. If your tax return is not completed at the time you apply you can estimate the tax information and correct it at a later date.
3. Complete FAFSA between Jan. 1st and June 30th (no exceptions to either date). Applying online is faster and easier www.fafsa.ed.gov.
4. Federal Student Aid will send you a Student Aid Report (SAR). This is a summary of the information from your FAFSA. You need to review your SAR and if necessary, make changes and/or corrections. Your completed SAR will contain your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The EFC is the number used to determine your federal student aid eligibility.
5. Contact the college financial aid office and make sure they have received all of your information. If you have further questions, call the financial aid office at 1-800-433-3243.
How do I apply for financial aid?
T.O.P.S.
Fill out FAFSA- www.fafsa.ed.gov
When do I apply for TOPS? Graduates of 2013 - you MUST have an application receipt date no later that July 1, 2013 to receive your TOPS award beginning with the upcoming college academic year, 2013-2014. Initial applications received after July 1, 2013 will not be funded until the subsequent college academic year, 2014-2015. Be sure to PRINT and RETAIN your dated FAFSA confirmation page that includes your confirmation number.
Questions about TOPS - http://www.osfa.state.la.us/MainSitePDFs/TOPS_Q_and_A.pdf
TOPS Tuition Amount - http://www.osfa.state.la.us/MainSitePDFs/TOPS_Tuition_Amounts.pdf
TOPS website - www.osfa.la.gov/
How do I apply for T.O.P.S?
1. "This scholarship is guaranteed or your money back." No service can guarantee that it will get you a grant or scholarship. Refund guarantees often have impossible conditions attached. Review a service’s refund policies in writing before you pay a fee.
2. "The scholarship service will do all the work." Unfortunately, nobody else can fill out the personal information forms, write the essays, and supply the references that many scholarships may require.
3. "The scholarship will cost some money." Be wary of any charges related to scholarship information services or individual scholarship applications, especially in significant amounts. Before you send money to apply for a scholarship, investigate the sponsor.
4. "You can’t get this information anywhere else." In addition to Petersons’s, scholarship directories from other publishers are available in any large bookstore, public library, or high school guidance office.
5. "You are a finalist" or "You have been selected by the national foundation to receive a scholarship." Most legitimate scholarship programs almost never seek out particular applicants. Most scholarship sponsors will contact you only in response to an inquiry because they generally lack the budget to do anything more than this. Should you think that there is any real possibility that you may have been selected to receive a scholarship, before you send any money, investigate first to be sure that the sponsor or program is legitimate.
6. "The scholarship service needs your credit card or checking account number in advance." Never provide your credit card or bank account number on the telephone to the representative of an organization that you do not know. Get information in writing first. An unscrupulous operation does not need your signature on a check. It will scheme to set up situations that will allow it to drain a victim’s account with unauthorized withdrawals.
NOTICE: The FTC warns you to be alert for these six warning signs of scam.
