HSFPP Update # 211— Begin Now to Find Funding for Your Education Beyond High School

Message from Flashman: KHEAA has a mobile bus that includes computers that are available to counties to assist teens and parents in filling out the FSA form. One possible reason why more teens don’t apply for financial assistance could be that parents don’t feel comfortable completing forms. Another reason might be that parents don’t want to divulge certain financial information to their teens or to an outside government agency. However, under either situation, teens are the losers. From my experience in hospital waiting rooms and doctor’s offices, many adults are not sure what the questions mean. Just remember that Kentucky has the second highest rate of illiteracy in the U.S. We need to do all we can to help bring an end to these self-perpetuating problems.

This is our last update for 2008. We’ll be back with another update on January 12, 2009. Have a restful holiday and remember to spend time on what’s really important: family and friends!

Academic Expectation 2.18
Students understand economic principles and are able to make economic decisions that have consequences in daily living.

Academic Expectation 2.33
Students demonstrate the skills to evaluate and use services and Expectation resources available in their community.

FinAid’s Web site provides helpful information on scholarships, loans, college savings plans, military aid and other types of aid, as well as calculators and information on financial aid applications.
http://www.finaid.org/

In the New$... Begin Now to Find Funding for Your Education Beyond High School

by Denisha White, a student majoring in social work with a minor in psychology at the University of Kentucky

Being a high senior comes with many obligations including possibly funding your education beyond high school. If your parents can’t pay for your future education, you will need to find other ways to pay your tuition, fees, and other college expenses. There are ways to pay your expenses for postsecondary education even though you and your parents don’t have the money yourselves. Begin by talking with your high school guidance counselor or with the financial aid offices of the schools where you’re applying to learn about scholarships, grants, and other financial aid.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (Fafsa) is one tool you can use to help pay for postsecondary education. Once you have submitted your Fafsa form, you will be considered for government grants and subsidized loans. Many students miss out on financial aid, however, because of the confusing deadline. To be considered, you must apply before April. You will need to submit your previous year’s tax return, as well as parents return, along with the completed application; and, for this reason, most parents wait until April to apply. Try to complete this year’s tax form early because, by April, the government might have run out of loan money because of high demand from students who need more money because of the economy. You can estimate the return based on last year’s filing and update the form later when you have received your tax return.

Another problem associated with the Fafsa is that people fail to fill in key parts. Using the online form will help, as you will be alerted if you leave anything blank. You want to be sure your application is complete, as the central processor rejects incomplete forms, resulting in a delay in providing financial aid.

Be sure not to borrow money from your schools, which could lead you to borrow more than you can afford and at a higher rate. If you must borrow for your education, exhaust federal programs first, says Robert Flashman, Family Resource Management Specialist with the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. Perkins or Stafford loans are best because of their low interest rates. More information about student loans is available on www.studentaid.gov.

So you received several small scholarships for your freshman year, but will they really make a dent in how much you end up paying? “Many parents mistakenly think their cost will be diminished and then are disappointed to learn that it will actually be the grant (from the school) that is diminished, thus saving the college money and not the family,” says Anne Macleod Weeks, director of college guidance at the Oldfields School in Glencoe, MD.

Another source of money for which all Kentucky high school students can qualify no matter their family or individual income is the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship (KEES). Students making good grades (2.5 GPA or higher) can earn scholarships for college or technical school. The better students do in high school, the more they will earn toward college scholarships.

“Your SAT composite score will be converted to a comparable ACT score. The highest ACT or converted SAT score recorded by your graduation date will be used to determine your supplemental award. Remember: to receive a supplemental award, you must be eligible for at least one base scholarship award, which means achieving at least a 2.5 cumulative grade point average (GPA) at the end of at least one academic year in a public or certified non-public high school. Non-certified high school students and GED recipients will not have GPA information collected on them.

“Listed below are the base amounts for each GPA. For instance, a high school freshman who earns a 3.5 GPA would have a $375 scholarship for each year of postsecondary study. Amounts are subject to future adjustment based on availability of funds.”

GPA	Amount
2.50	$125
2.60	150
2.70	175
2.75	187
2.80	200
2.90	225
3.00	250
3.10	275
3.20	300
3.25	312
3.30	325
3.40	350
3.50	375
3.60	400
3.70	425
3.75	437
3.80	450
3.90	475
4.00	500

According to KHEAA, students do have benefits depending upon the career they choose:

“The Student Loan People provides programs and services with funds generated through the use of tax-exempt bonds to finance student loans ... Revenue is returned to Kentucky students in the form of annual contributions to the state’s need-based financial aid programs; free college planning publications; a comprehensive, statewide outreach program; the lowest-cost Federal Stafford Loans for Kentucky students; and student loan interest and principal forgiveness for Kentucky teachers [who graduate in certain fields or work in certain schools] and nurses.” (KHEAA)

2. Do you think it is fair that you have to base what career you choose on the amount of debt you will likely acquire in pursuing that particular field of education?

3. Given this new information, do plan to change your career plans? Yes ___ No ___ If yes, how?

4. Do you plan to spend more time studying in high school to raise your grades in order to increase the amount of KEES funds you will receive?

5. Do you know what to do to avoid some of the debt that you could take on in pursuing a college education?

1. Explain the type of postsecondary education you plan to work toward and how you plan to attain it, based on what you have learned so far. (Use the steps in Unit 1 in the HSFPP.)

2. Explain why you selected the educational institution and program you plan to attend.

Kentucky High School Financial Planning Program

http://www.ca.uky.edu/fcs/hsfp

The purpose of the HSFPP financial updates, video lessons, and Web site is to assist county Extension agents, credit union educators, high school teachers, and parents who home school their teenagers so that they may improve the economic well-being of our teenagers; and also to show educators how the HSFPP, updates, and video lessons meet Kentucky core concepts. The Web site, updates, and video lessons are provided by the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, and are free to all educators. The list of core concepts and order form for free program materials including the student guide and instructors manual can be found on the Kentucky HSFPP home page.

If you are not already on our listserv:

The video lessons are available only to members of our listserv and will not be posted to the HSFPP Web site because of the timeliness of the information. If you would like to receive our video lessons, which are sent to our listserv biweekly, on alternate weeks from these updates, please sign up at the following page of our Web site: http://www.ca.uky.edu/fcs/HSFP/response.htm.

Family & Consumer Sciences Extension

Kentucky High School Financial Planning Home Page

HSFPP Update # 211— Begin Now to Find Funding for Your Education Beyond High School