College leaves Financial gap with parents holding the ball

A common practice that colleges use is not meeting the financial aid gap.

So let’s say the Cost Of Attendance (COA) for one year at XYZ Private College is $60,000, let’s also assume the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is $20,000. (The EFC is calculated through a federal calculator formula and is what the government thinks or Expects a family to pay for college. The EFC can be controlled/reduced, more on that in my class.) This leaves a Gap of $40,000. This unmet need is referred to as the gap.

Now the question is, of this $40,000 more that we need, how much of this will the college meet. While many colleges are uber rich with endowments in the $100s of millions and even billions of dollars, not all of them are equally generous leaving a much larger gap.

A financial aid gap occurs when a college’s financial aid award for a student doesn’t meet the Gapping became a verb as some colleges have earned a reputation for failing to meet student need, especially students admitted with qualifications placing them in the middle to bottom of the class. Students in the bottom quarter of a class in terms of qualification (grades and GPA, test scores and talent) are always at risk of being gapped with the exception of the most competitive institutions that meet 100% of need. The issue with the most competitive colleges is that unless the student has the grades/GPA and test scores, that student would not be admitted to those highly competitive colleges.

The financial aid gap is a serious concern because the student and family will be responsible for the unmet need in addition to the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Usually, students with gaps will be unable to use federal loans to help cover the gap or the EFC because the college has assigned it to cover part of the defined financial need.

Often, students may not realize that they have been gapped because the financial aid award letter will have the amount covered by a PLUS loan. However, a PLUS loan is money borrowed by the parents and should not be considered part of the college’s financial aid award.

College rankings drives the selectivity of the college. Reverse the tables on the college and properly market, sell, and promote yourself (your student) to the college so that the college WANTS to admit you because they feel that your student will increase their rankings in one or more categories.

Discover how to Win at the College Admission and College Scholarship Game regardless of if Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Ben Caron, Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina or any other person is elected the next president. We can help. Choosing the right college is critical.

Don't pan for gold in the wrong place!

Before you and your student spend time and energy searching for that all powerful, all encompassing Private Scholarship, the FIRST thing you must do is find out what the college will do with the Private Scholarship funds.

Will the college use the Private Scholarships to reduce the loans offered to the student, or will the college reduce the Grants and School Endowment Scholarships keeping the parent’s cost the same?
The National Scholarship Providers Association (NSPA) sponsored a Private Scholarship Count that was published in 2005. The publication states (the) “Total private scholarship aid was between $3.1 billion and $3.3 billion in 2003-2004.” NSPA link http://www.scholarshipproviders.org/Documents/PrivateScholCount.pdf

While this number seems impressive, the publication then further states that "Approximately 7 percent of undergraduate students received private scholarships, with an average value of $1,982."

Two grand, $2,000 is way short of the cost of attendance even at a community college. Arizona State University’s Cost of Attendance for one year now tops $25,600 for in state students. There is little impact that the average $1,982 private scholarship would have at ASU in the grand scheme of things. As an example, from ASU’s endowments the in state Presidential Scholarship is $9,500. This is a bigger impact on the parent’s Net Cost.

There is more money and bigger scholarships granted from the college’s endowment funds to students that the college wants to entice the student to attend their college thereby reducing the cost of the college to not only the student but also the parent.

I have said it a hundred times and will say it a thousand more… the Best Scholarships and the Biggest Scholarships are scholarships given to the student through the college. This is achieved through Student Positioning and properly marketing the student to the right college.

See this article. http://swarthmorephoenix.com/2014/10/23/financial-aid/

Colleges absorb outside scholarships, parent contribution unchanged

By Daniel Banko on October 23, 2014

Three weeks ago, the Phoenix published an op-ed by Casey Simon-Plumb ’18 about Swarthmore’s financial aid policy. In her piece, Simon-Plumb wrote about her disappointment after discovering that outside scholarship awards are partially surrendered to the college as part of their financial aid package. She asked, “Why is my hard-earned scholarship money being absorbed into a mysterious fund and being allocated towards who knows what? The formal language in financial aid brochures only tell a person so much.”

According to the school’s financial aid brochure, since financial aid packages hypothetically meet a student’s demonstrated need, “any additional outside aid must replace a portion of our award to you.” It means that students at Swarthmore cannot apply their outside grant towards reducing Estimated Family Contribution, only to reducing student loans and work study.
Simon-Plumb was critical of this policy.

“Read the fine print. The first $500 of outside aid was all mine, along with 50 percent of the remaining outside scholarship amount … [That 50 percent] ‘replaces Swarthmore scholarship’ — the grant aid I was receiving — leaving the dollar total my family had to pay relatively the same.”

When asked for comments on the article via email, Laura Talbot, director of financial aid, refused to comment on the matter.
Other members of the Financial Aid office would not comment. As it stands, current financial aid policies offer little economic incentive for outside aid. Using outside aid to reduce student loans and work study is beneficial, but given the fact that the EFC is most often a student’s greatest source of debt, this policy means that outside scholarships are not as helpful as they could be.

When reached for comment, Gregory Brown, vice president for finance and administration, defended the policy.

“The college’s longstanding policy, which is consistent with our peer institutions in accordance with federal regulations, does not permit us to count outside awards as parental contributions. Doing so would be inappropriate since the student, not the parents, received the award, so the award is not part of the parents’ reported taxable income,” he wrote in an email.

Brown also mentioned Talbot’s upcoming retirement and the current search for a new director of financial aid.

“I hope that students will continue to share their experiences with us so that we can continually improve our service to students and their families. In particular, I would welcome student feedback and suggestions about the qualities that we should look for in our next director of financial aid,” he wrote.

At Amherst, Pomona, Williams, Brown, Duke, and Stanford, the financial aid policy regarding outside aid is the same as at Swarthmore. Outside aid cannot be used to reduce a student’s EFC.

Dartmouth college’s financial aid website states, “If the outside scholarship is greater than the self-help level, the family responsibility can be reduced to the federal level.” While it seems EFC for students at Dartmouth can be reduced by outside aid, the key phrase is “reduced to the federal level.” Outside aid can only reduce a family’s expected contribution at Dartmouth to the amount on the FAFSA form, which is often the same or closely related to the EFC that colleges calculate anyway.

In fact, the reason for this similarity between colleges regarding financial aid policy is due to a government mandate set by the Department of Education and outlined in their Federal Student Aid Handbook. Chapter three of the Handbook discusses the steps that college financial aid officers should take in the case of “overawards,” meaning when the total sum of a student’s aid exceeds his need.

When this happens, the handbook states that a college financial aid office only has one option: adjust the financial aid package awarded to the student, but do not adjust their EFC. In all circumstances, outside aid cannot be used to lower a student’s EFC.

Although the policy regarding outside aid is not unique to Swarthmore, students are often unaware when they head to college for the first time that their EFC, as shown on their financial aid package, is a fixed annual number that cannot be reduced by anything short of a dramatic decrease in family income. Outside scholarships they received in high school can do nothing to help alleviate a family’s financial burden of affording college.

So, J.D., what do we do?

You must learn how to Play the College Game, craft a great college candidate and resume, identify the right colleges for your student, properly sell/market/advertise your student to the college. We can help with this process. There is a college for Any Type of student. We can help you get into college and get the best scholarship package that you can.

The Truth Is Out There.

Please tell your friends about AZCollegePlanning.com and the free workshops that are coming up or call us today.

What is the PSAT 10?

The PSAT 10 is a practice SAT exam that debuted in the 2015-16 school year. It is aligned to the new SAT which meaning it has new SAT question types including evidence support questions on the reading. The scores will be on the same scale as the new SAT.

The PSAT 10 does not qualify students for the National Merit competition, even if you get a really high score. It's just a practice test.

And one of the best ways to practice for the PSAT is to take the PSAT 10 in a live real setting. Then when you receive your score sheet, determine what areas need improvement then study those sections.

Before you take the PSAT 10 at a testing location try this sample practice PSAT 10 test

PSAT 10 Practice Test

PSAT 10 Practice Test with Answer Explanations

This test is offered in February or March. Ask your high school counselor about signing up for this test. Home school students, contact a local high school and ask to sign up for this test. High School Freshman and Sophomores should take this test.

Good luck and please let us know how you did. PLUS, remember to review our tips on how to Beat The Test!

Links to the Redesigned PSAT 10 Sample Tests with Answers

1. PSAT 10 Practice Test
2. PSAT 10 Answers andEexplanations

Review the SAT question of the day along with practice with sample tests can increase your scores. Also review Module 2. This video shows you how to Beat the Test using specific strategies to arrive at the correct answer faster.

Let us know how you did.

Watch this video to see how easy these strategies can be applied to any test (PSAT, SAT, ACT and more).

A Chance to Boost Financial Aid for Today’s High-School Sophomores

Wall Street Journal Article

Strategic moves by Dec. 31 may help some families reduce the income to be reported on the Fafsa form for the freshman year of college

A recent executive order changes the timeline for financial planning for a child’s college education. Here, a high-school graduation in Virginia in May. PHOTO: SCOTT MASON/THE WINCHESTER STAR/ASSOCIATED PRESS

By  VERONICA DAGHER

Attention, parents of high-school sophomores: There are financial steps you may want to take before year-end to help your child get more financial aid for the freshman year of college.

A recent executive order signed by President Barack Obama will change the rules for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid beginning with aid for the 2017-18 school year. Families will complete the form based on their “prior prior year” income instead of prior-year income as they do now.

That means that current high-school sophomores who graduate in 2018 will use 2016, not 2017, as the base year in reporting family and student income on their first Fafsa form. The government form is used in determining the amount of grants, loans and other forms of financial aid.

The upshot: If families were contemplating actions in 2016 that might boost their taxable income, they should consider accelerating those moves into 2015 instead. And they may want to look for other opportunities to shift 2016 income into this year and delay deductions—contrary to the standard tax-planning strategy of trying to delay income and accelerate deductions.

“You used to do this planning in a student’s junior year. Now you need to do it a year earlier,” says Mark Kantrowitz, a financial-aid expert in Las Vegas.

For example, he says parents of high-school sophomores who are considering converting a traditional individual retirement account to a Roth IRA, a move that boosts taxable income, may want to do it before year-end.

Deborah Fox, founder of Fox College Funding LLC in San Diego, advised the business-owning mother of one high-school sophomore to wait until 2016 to establish and contribute to a simplified employee pension plan. She also recommended the woman delay deductible computer purchases until next year and speed up her company’s billing so she receives as much income as possible in 2015.

Ms. Fox advised the family against prepaying their January mortgage and property-tax bills in December as they had planned. And she told the father to see if he can receive his bonus by Dec. 31 instead of in early January.

Before year-end, affected families may want to lock in any capital gains on investments they were planning to sell next year. Children who have investments with embedded capital gains in their own names—such as in a custodial account—should also consider selling before year-end to recognize the gains if the investments will be used for college, says Michael Kitces, partner at Pinnacle Advisory Group in Columbia, Md.

Families should check with their accountants to see how accelerating income or delaying deductions will affect their taxes, Ms. Fox says.

As of now, the base-year change applies only to the Fafsa and not the CSS/Financial Aid Profile, the financial-aid form almost 300 private colleges use to award their own funds. The College Board, which manages the CSS form, says it is “committed to supporting institutions as they make the transition” to prior-prior-year data and is “working closely with our members and leaders at colleges and universities to determine next steps for the CSS/Financial Aid Profile.”

Grandparents will also want to be aware of the change to prior-prior-year numbers on the Fafsa, Mr. Kitces says. When the change kicks in, it will enable them to make financial gifts to college students, including distributions from grandparent-owned 529 college-savings plans, earlier in the college years without those dollars being counted as student income on the Fafsa.

As of the second semester of these students’ sophomore year in college, the prior prior year for their third and fourth years of college will already be over.

The Chrisitan College Fair for October 2015, Arizona

use this link to register http://www.myblueprintbarcode.com/Registration/StateSelect

Scottsdale Christian Academy SCA 4400 N Tatum Boulevard, Phoenix, is hosting the National Christian College Fair from 6 PM to 8 PM see the website for more information (42 colleges will be in attendance!)

And for those of you who live in the east valley, Valley Christian High School will be hosting this year's Christian College Fair.

1. October 19 2015 East Valley Phoenix at Valley Christian High School 6-8PM -VCHS 6900 W. Galveston Street, Chandler, Arizona
2. October 20 2015 Northeast Phoenix at Scottsdale Christian Academy 6-8PM SCA 4400 N Tatum Boulevard, Phoenix
3. October 22 2015 Tucson at Pusch Ridge Christian Academy 6-8 PM - PRC 9500 North Oracle Road, Tucson, AZ

The following colleges will be in attendance at the Christian College Fair

1. Arizona Christian University
2. Azusa Pacific University
3. Bethel University
4. Biola University
5. California Baptist University
6. Calvin College
7. Colorado Christian University
8. Concordia University Irvine
9. Dordt College
10. Eastern University
11. Grace University
12. Grove City College
13. Hope International University
14. Huntington University
15. John Brown University
16. LeTourneau University
17. Life Pacific College
18. Lipscomb University
19. Manhattan Christian College
20. Mid-America Christian University
21. North Park University
22. Northwest Christian University
23. Northwest University
24. Northwestern College
25. Oral Roberts University
26. Patrick Henry College
27. Point Loma Nazarene University
28. Providence Christian College
29. San Diego Christian College
30. Seattle Pacific University
31. Simpson University
32. Southeastern University
33. The King's College
34. The Master's College
35. Trinity Christian College
36. Vanguard University
37. Warner Pacific College
38. Waynesburg University
39. Westmont College
40. Wheaton College
41. Whitworth University
42. William Jessup University

Participating Institutions and Programs

The following colleges, universities, and scholarship programs use PROFILE, Noncustodial PROFILE, and/or IDOC as part of their financial aid process for some or all of their financial aid applicants. Please contact the institution for more information.

If you  or your child is applying to any of these colleges, then the CSS Profile must be submitted.

Obama Announces FAFSA Change To Make College Aid Decision Earlier And Easier

• http://www.forbes.com/sites/troyonink/2015/09/14/obama-announces-fafsa-change-to-make-college-aid-decision-earlier-and-easier/ 
• http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/09/14/440283994/obama-makes-college-aid-application-earlier-and-easier

The Obama Administration today announced changes to the Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the college aid form that millions of Americans complete each year to be eligible for federal and (sometimes) state or college based aid. The changes become effective in October of 2016, which means it will have a big impact on families with high school juniors today, as well as those with younger children.

Under the changes, students who are high school seniors next October (2016) will be able to apply for financial aid for their freshman (academic) year of college in 2017-2018 by submitting the FAFSA in October 2016 using income tax information from their parents’ 2015 tax returns.

This new method is referred to as prior, prior, because students’ college financial aid eligibility will now be based off of income from two years prior to when a student enrolls in college, not one year prior the way the rule has been until today.

Today students complete the FAFSA with the prior year’s income as their so-called base year–meaning the year on which  the first year of college aid is based.  While aid can change through college with a family’s finances, that first year of aid is crucial to the decision of where a student will go to college.  With financial aid deadlines between January and March, high school seniors often must complete FAFSA using estimated income numbers because their parents don’t have their tax returns completed for the prior year. When those tax returns are filed, applicants must then go back and update their FAFSA information. This holds up and complicates the financial aid system for students, parents and colleges, so this change is not only long overdue, but welcome—unless, that is, you have a high school junior and you just sold stocks in 2015 while markets were at all-time highs.

You might have sold those stocks in 2015, in part so the capital gains wouldn’t appear as 2016 income and affect your child’s aid eligibility when he or she first filed a FAFSA in January or February of 2017—that is, in the middle of your child’s senior year.  Now, it turns out, those gains will show up on the FAFSA form filed in October of 2016 and could make your expected family contribution toward the cost of college soar, decreasing aid eligibility dramatically. (On the bright side, maybe you sold before the recent stock market correction.)

On a White House conference call this morning,  Secretary of Education Arne Duncan did say that college financial aid administrators have been told to make sure that when this change goes into effect next October it does not negatively impact a student’s eligibility for aid if his or her parents’ income was unusually high in 2015 for some reason. We shall see how that plays out.

The FAFSA is used to determine federal aid: the Pell Grant for low income students, and eligibility for subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford Loans, as well as small state grants.

The bigger question for many Forbes readers is whether or not the College Board will follow suit and use the prior prior year for its CSS Profile form.   This form is used by over 200 private colleges and a handful of flagship public schools–the elite colleges that make up the Forbes Top Colleges list and that of US News—to determine a student’s eligibility for the schools’ own need-based grants and scholarships.  These are more valuable than loans, which must be paid back with interest. A handful of these elite colleges are even committed to covering all need without loans.

As of this writing, the College Board had not responded to a request for comment on whether it too will be switching to the prior, prior year, so stay tuned.  (Note that the CSS does already ask for very basic information on prior prior year income. Colleges don’t use prior prior tax information submitted on the CSS in actual calculation of expected family contribution (EFC), but rather for professional judgment purposes to see if there was a big drop in income form the previous year. It is not intended to negatively impact a student’s eligibility for aid.)

My guess is that the College Board will fall in line with FAFSA to streamline the overall process, making applying for college aid earlier and easier. This should also make decisions about paying for college easier and earlier as well.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a good time to emphasize why 529 college savings plans are the ideal way to save for college for most families, because gains inside 529 accounts are tax-free if the money is used to pay for qualified higher education expenses when the beneficiary of the 529 account goes to college.

So to recap, which income tax year will your child use when he/she goes to college?

If your child enters college in 2016 you will use 2015 income tax information.

If your child enters college in 2017 you will use 2015 income as well.

If your child enters college in 2018 you will use 2016 income tax information, and the process rolls forward each year for future years – 2019 will use 2017 return information.

Let’s not forget, however, that paying for college ultimately is up to the family, with or without financial aid. So families need to be planning many years in advance to pay their share of the cost of college when the time comes, regardless of when they complete college aid forms or what tax year’s income they are based upon.

Phoenix College Fair 2015

the BIG ONE! Go, meet recruiters, schmooze, gather information on the colleges and Demonstrate Interest!

The Phoenix College Fair for 2015 is September 27 Sunday 11AM-3PM.

Imagine filling out 100 plus+ forms. I’ve got writers cramps just thinking about it. At the upcoming Phoenix College Fair, almost 200 schools will be represented.

Working on your “College Touch Points” is now easier than ever. It used to be that when a student went to a college fair they would take 5 minutes or more filling out contact forms for each college they were interested in. Now a quick scan from a prefilled out form handles all of it electronically.

No need to fill out all the registration cards for dozens of colleges by hand!

Watch this 3 minute video.

Pre-registration is available online at the  following link:

https://www.gotomyncf.com/ <-- Click here to register

Phoenix Convention Center
100 N Third Street
Phoenix, AZ 85004

Fair Hours: Sunday, Sept 27, 11-3PM

The following colleges will be represented.

The 2016 Flinn Scholarship application is now available. The deadline to apply is Sunday, October 18, 2015

• https://flinnscholarship.communityforce.com/Login.aspx

Flinn Scholarship is a competitive undergraduate scholarship awarded to approximately 20 of Arizona’s highest-achieving high school students. Full Ride Scholarships are awarded that can be used at any of the in state Arizona colleges.

Students who win this scholarship typically have high GPAs, high SAT and or high ACT scores, leadership and community service. A well thought out and excellent essay is also required. If the student makes it past the first round, successful interviews secure the scholarship.

Please contact us with assistance with the essay and with the interviews.

Flinn essay prompts posted September 2015

Please observe the character and word limits for the short-answer and essay prompts below. Responses are required for all prompts. No outside research or references/bibliographies will be necessary for responses.

Short-Answer Questions

*What is the book--and its author--that has most changed how and what you think? (80 characters)

*Which American woman belongs on Mt. Rushmore? (60 characters)

*What do you wish you were better at being or doing? (60 characters)

*What two adjectives would your friends use to describe you--that you wish weren't true? (60 characters)

*At age 10, what did you want to be when you grew up? (60 characters)

Essays

For your response to each essay prompt below, paste the text into the dialog box.

Imagine Arizona 10 years from now. Which significant challenge that you recognize in your state today will have changed for the better? How will that change have taken place? (200 words)

What habit do you have in life that has made the greatest difference in your success? (300 words)

What sets Arizona apart as a state where you can pursue your personal and professional goals? (500 words)