Financial Aid Information

Cape Fear High School Guidance Department

Last Updated: 02/27/2012 03:39 PM

•At any time on or after July 1, 2009, did your high school or school district homeless liaison determine that you were an unaccompanied youth who was homeless? (Q56)

•At any time on or after July 1, 2009, did the director of an emergency shelter or transitional housing program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development determine that you were an unaccompanied youth who was homeless? (Q57)

•At any time on or after July 1, 2009, did the director of a runaway or homeless youth basic center or transitional living program determine

that you were an unaccompanied youth who was homeless or were self-supporting and at risk of being homeless? (Q58)

•If your parents are living and married to each other, answer the questions about them.

•If your parents are living together and are not married but meet the criteria in your state for a common-law marriage, answer the questions about both of them. If your state does not consider them to be married, fill out the parental information as if they are divorced.

•If your parent is widowed or single, answer the questions about that parent. If your widowed parent is remarried as of the day you sign the FAFSA, answer the questions about that parent and the person whom your parent married (your stepparent).

•If your parents are divorced or separated, answer the questions about the parent with whom you lived more during the past 12 months. If you lived the same amount of time with each parent, give answers about the parent who provided more financial support during the past 12 months or during the most recent year that you actually received support from a parent. If this parent is remarried as of today, answer the questions on the FAFSA about that parent and the person whom your parent married (your stepparent).

•The following people are not your parents unless they have adopted you: grandparents, foster parents, legal guardians, older brothers or sisters, and uncles or aunts.

FAFSA:

On Saturday, February 13, 2010 college financial aid officers and other financial aid specialists will assist students in the completion and the electronic submission of their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms. The program is open to individuals who plan to attend college in the 2010-11 academic year, and will be held at 118 sites across North Carolina.

PLEASE NOTE: FAFSA Day is a service for high school seniors and their families, and others who will be in college during the 2010-11 academic year. This program will not be beneficial to students who are not yet high school seniors, but College Foundation of North Carolina offers many other free services on CFNC.org and through 866-866-CFNC, the CFNC toll-free phone number, to help North Carolinians in middle and high school plan and prepare for college.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

FAFSA Day takes place before most deadlines for submission of the form, but you should check with the institutions you are considering to make sure their deadlines are not earlier. If the deadlines are earlier, you should not wait for the FAFSA Day program to submit your application.

While the intention of this program is to provide assistance in completing the FAFSA, some colleges require additional documents, such as institutional financial aid forms or the CSS PROFILE. The financial aid representatives on site the day of the program will try to answer questions or provide general information you might have about forms other than the FAFSA, or will advise you if the North Carolina institutions you are considering require additional forms, but they may not be familiar with some forms. In such instances they will advise students to contact the financial aid offices at the colleges they are considering if they need assistance.

http://www.fafsa.ed.gov

Free Application for Federal Student Aid is now online!

Make sure you go to http://www.fafsa.ed.gov

FAFSA4caster will help you get an early start on the financial aid process by:

	Providing you with an early estimate of your eligibility for federal student aid.
	Giving you an experience similar to FAFSA on the Web.
	Allowing you to transfer all of your FAFSA4caster data to FAFSA on the Web once you are ready to apply for aid.
	Providing you the option to apply for your Federal Student Aid PIN.
	Increasing your knowledge of the financial aid process, and providing information about other sources of aid.

http://www.nasfaa.org/publications/2009/rntips021209.html

Common Mistakes To Avoid When Completing The FAFSA

The best way to complete the FAFSA is early, and online. January 1st is the soonest you can apply; remember that there are sometimes early deadlines for awards and that awards often consist of limited funding. Complete your taxes early because you’ll need that information, otherwise you can estimate the amounts from previous years and correct the amounts on the form later by going to the corrections page on the FAFSA website.

If you apply online, your application will be processed faster and will likely be more accurate because your application will be processed on the FAFSA website to catch errors. The online application also provides worksheets that will calculate amounts and enter them into the field for you. You can save and continue the FAFSA at any time online and then sign your application electronically using a personal identification number (PIN) which you can get from the Federal Student Aid PIN website.

Making mistakes on your FAFSA could delay your application and possibly make you lose out on some financial aid. The most common errors people make are listed below. As you complete the FAFSA try to avoid these errors:

Leaving blank fields: Enter a '0' or 'not applicable' instead of leaving a blank. Too many blanks may cause miscalculations and an application rejection.

Using commas or decimal points in numeric fields: Always round to the nearest dollar.

Listing incorrect Social Security Number or Driver's license number: Check these entries and have someone else check them too. Triple check to be sure.

Entering the wrong federal income tax paid amount: Obtain your federal income paid amount from your income tax return forms, not your W-2 form(s).

Listing Adjusted Gross Income as equal to total income: These are not the same figure. In most cases, the AGI is larger than the total income. This mistake is particularly common.

Listing marital status incorrectly: Only write yes if you're currently married. They want to know what you're marital status is on the day you sign the FAFSA, or Renewal FAFSA.

Listing parent marital status incorrectly: The custodial parent's marital status is needed; if they've remarried, you'll need the stepparent's information too.

Leaving the question about drug-related offenses blank: If you're unsure about something, find out before you submit your FAFSA instead of leaving it blank. A conviction doesn't necessarily disqualify you from getting aid.

Forgetting to list the college: Obtain the Federal School Code for the college you plan on attending and list it–along with any other schools to which you've applied.

Forgetting to sign and date: If you're filling out the paper FAFSA, be sure to sign it. If you're filing electronically, be sure to obtain your PIN from www.pin.ed.gov. Your PIN is your electronic signature and will always be assigned to you only.

Entering the wrong address: Your permanent address is not your campus or summer address.

Sending in a copy of your income tax returns: You will be contacted if your information needs verification; you don't need to send a copy of your tax returns in with your application.

Additional Tips

Much of the financial information you need to provide is on your tax forms. Completing your taxes early can make the application process easier because you'll have the financial information you need in one place. You can estimate your financial information using previous tax years and correct the amounts on the form later by going to the corrections page on the FAFSA website. If you are not required to file taxes you still have to fill out a FAFSA to get financial aid.

Here is a list of materials that will help you complete the FAFSA:

Your Social Security Number (can be found on Social Security card)

Your driver's license (if any)

Your W-2 Forms for the previous year and other records of money earned

Your (and your spouse's, if you are married) most recent Federal Income Tax Return – IRS Form 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ, 1040Telefile, foreign tax return, or tax return for Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia

Your parent's Federal Income Tax Return for the previous year (if you are a dependent student as defined by federal criteria)

Your current bank statements

Your current business and investment mortgage information, business and farm records, stock, bond, and other investment records

Documentation that you are a U.S. permanent resident or other eligible noncitizen.

Filling out the Pre-Application Worksheet will help you collect and proofread the information for your application before you submit it. There are resources available if you decide you need assistance filling out the FAFSA, check the FAQ section on the FAFSA Web site, or call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FED AID (1-800-433-3243).

	GRANTS
	Grants are gift aid, and most do not have to be repaid unless an overpayment has resulted due to the student withdrawing from school before the planned end of the period of enrollment for which the grant was awarded. It is the school’s responsibility to inform the student whether any funds must be returned to ED. Federal Grants: Pell, Academic Competitiveness, National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent, Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education, and Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants are awarded according to rules set by Congress. An eligible participating school will pay the student his or her grant. In all cases, grant payments may not exceed the student's cost of attendance at the school. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) Program provides funds to exceptionally needy students.
	LOANS
	Loans must be repaid with interest. Federal Perkins Loan Program provides need-based loan funds. The William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program enables eligible students and parents to borrow from ED instead of from a bank or other lending institution. This allows borrowers to work with a single entity, ED, through its Direct Loan Servicing Center when repaying loans or dealing with loan-related issues. There are four types of Direct Loans: • Federal Direct Subsidized Stafford Loans (for students) • Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans (for students) • Federal Direct PLUS Loans (for parents and graduate or professional students) • Federal Direct Consolidation Loans (to combine federal education loan debts) The funds lent under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program are provided by banks and other lenders, guaranteed by state agencies, and reinsured by the federal government. There are four types of FFELs: • Federal Subsidized Stafford Loans (for students) • Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loans (for students) • Federal PLUS Loans (for parents and graduate or professional students) • Federal Consolidation Loans (to combine federal education loan debts) As noted above, the Direct Loan Program and the FFEL Program have subsidized and unsubsidized loans: • Subsidized loans are awarded to students on the basis of financial need. The federal government pays the borrower’s accrued interest during certain periods, such as when the student is in school, thereby “subsidizing” these loans. • Unsubsidized loans are not need based; the borrower is responsible for accrued interest throughout the life of the loan. Both subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford Loans are available to students. PLUS Loans are available to parents of dependent undergraduates, to graduate students, and to professional students and are always unsubsidized. A student cannot receive the same type of loan (subsidized or unsubsidized) from both the FFEL Program and the Direct Loan Program at the same school for the same enrollment period. Similarly, a parent cannot receive a FFEL PLUS Loan and a Direct PLUS Loan at the same time for the same student.
	FEDERAL WORK STUDY
	Federal Work-Study provides income (which does not have to be repaid) from a part-time job.

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