Paying for college

Is it worth it?

Benefits of postsecondary education:

●Economic (personal)

○higher salary, lifetime earnings

○less unemployment

●Societal

○volunteering

○voting

●Quality of life

○healthier

○involved with children’s activities

Paying for
postsecondary
education is an
investment in
your future!!!

Financial Aid Process

Video overview of the financial aid
process.

Summarize key ideas on your
notes sheet.

​Watch this video to see how applying for federal student aid can help you.

Types of aid

Types of federal
student aid

​Watch this video for an overview of federal student aid types.

​Define/describe the following terms on your notes sheet.

• grants

• loans

• work study

Two common types of grants

Federal Pell Grant:

●Exceptional financial need as demonstrated
on the FAFSA

●Amount varies each year

●Based on SAI (Student Aid Index) from FAFSA, cost of attendance, and student status

●Funds guaranteed by U.S. Dept. of
Education; receive full amount qualify for

●Eligibility is limited to 12 semesters

FSEOG (Federal Supplemental Educational
Opportunity Grant)

●Comes from the educational institution

●For students who have the most financial
need; Pell Grant recipients have priority

●Depends on availability of funds at each
school

●Pay attention to each school’s financial aid
deadline

Grants at AZ state universities and Pima CC

This spreadsheet describes the
types of grant aid available at
each institution.

Please note that completing your
application for admission AND
sending your FAFSA earlier gets
you in line for those grants where
funds are limited.

You can view the spreadsheet in Google Classroom

Loans

(Have to repay with interest)

Subsidized Direct Loan

😀

●Eligible if have demonstrated financial need

●U.S. Dept. of Education pays interest while
in school and for first 6 months after leave
school; lower interest rate

●Amount depends on grade level and
dependency status of student

Unsubsidized Direct Loan

😐

●Financial need is not a requirement

●Student pays interest even while in school.
Can defer - interest added to principal of
loan

●School determines amount based on cost of
attendance and other financial aid received

Federal Direct PLUS Loan

😦

●Taken out by parent

●Interest rate and repayment terms are less
favorable than those of other Direct Loans

Private Loans

😲

●From banks or other financial institutions

●No consideration of student status

​Note the rating emojis!

Federal Work-Study

(Earned; no repayment)

●Financial need

●Part-time job on campus or off campus with a nonprofit
organization or public agency

●Award depends on when apply, level of financial need, and
school funding level.

●Limited funds - apply early!

●Earnings paid to student

○send to bank account

○apply to education-related institutional charges (tuition, fees, room and
board)

●Limit to # hours can work; can’t earn more than FWS
award

Scholarships

(No repayment)

Types

●Merit

○academic

○skills / talents

○leadership

●Need-based

○financial qualification

●Combination

Sources

●institutional

●nonprofit organizations

●employers

●religious groups

Searching for scholarships and completing applications takes time!  Typically the amount of the potential award increases with the amount of effort required.​
We'll talk more about scholarships soon!

​Time

Financial Fit
This is the second major criteria in
your college application and decision
process.

​This is the second major criteria in your college application and decision process.

Read the next three slides and add information to your notes sheet.

Sticker shock!

Like cacti, the list price of a
college can be painful! Don't get
sticker shock

Very few (< 15%) students actually pay the full price.

More expensive schools also
typically offer more financial aid.

Important calculations

COA - (scholarships + grants) = Net price

COA - SAI* = Financial need
*Student Aid Index from FAFSA

Two critical figures

SAI = Student Aid Index

●Found in FAFSA Submission Summary after FAFSA is processed

●Indicates your eligibility for need-based aid

●Can estimate using a tool called the Federal Student Aid Estimator

Net price

●Calculator available on each college’s website

●Will ask for your SAI

●Uses basic financial information to give an estimate of what you would have to
pay to attend the college

Conclusion

On the next slide, please click the link to complete the short Google form regarding today’s lesson.