University of Florida - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

University of FloridaOffice for Student Financial Assistance

2014-15 Financial Aid Slide2

Financial Aid Topics

How

and When do

I apply for financial aid?

What if my parents have not filed their tax return

?

What happens after I complete the FAFSA?

What

am I applying for when I complete the FAFSA

?

Financial Aid Award Package

What is verification?

What is satisfactory academic progress?

Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program

What is

isis

?

How

will SFA communicate my financial aid status to me?

additional

information regarding financial

aid?Slide3

How and When do I apply for financial aid?

To

apply

for financial aid

you must complete

the

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA

)

annually.

Apply

online by using

FAFSA on the Web

at:

www.fafsa.ed.gov

If you need assistance “7 Easy

Steps to Completing the FAFSA”:

http://www.finaid.ucsb.edu/fafsasimplification

Complete

and send your

FAFSA

in time for the results to reach SFA by our "on-time" deadline

.

"

On-Time

"

2014-2015

Financial Aid Application Deadline:

March 15,

2014

UF

Federal School Code:

001535

SFA

must receive your

FAFSA

results from the federal processor with a calculated Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) by the deadline.

If

you apply after the "on-time" deadline you will be awarded

Federal Pell Grant, if eligible, and Federal Loans.

Slide4

What if my parents have not filed their 2013 tax return?

It is better to use your parents information from their 2013 Federal Income Tax Return.

You

may use your family information from

your last

year’s

FAFSA.

You may use your family information from

yours and your parents 2013 W-2’s to estimate.Slide5

What happens after I complete the FAFSA

?

You will receive and email “From: Federal Student Aid” with the subject “FAFSA Confirmation Page E-mail” letting you know your FAFSA is being processed.

You can check the status of your FAFSA being processed online at

www.fafsa.ed.gov

.

You will receive and email “From: Federal Student Aid” with the subject “FAFSA

Processed Successfully”

letting you know your FAFSA

is processed.

READ THIS EMAIL!

You

are responsible for knowing the status of your

FAFSA.Slide6

What am I applying for when I complete the FAFSA?

When

you complete the

FAFSA,

you are applying for all aid programs administered by SFA, including the following

:

SFA Scholarships:

Awarded based upon academic merit and financial need.

Grants:

Federal Pell Grants, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, Florida Student Assistance Grants, and Turner Grants.

Loans:

Federal Perkins Loans, Federal Direct Loans, University of Florida institutional loans.

Work Programs:

Federal Work-Study.

You

MUST complete

the FAFSA

by

the ‘on-time’ deadline date for

consideration

of all

of the above aid programs.

 Slide7

Financial Aid Award Package

Packaging for 2014-15 begins in April of 2014.

You will receive an email notification the middle of April letting you know your awards are available to view.Slide8

What is verification?

Verification

is a process of confirming data supplied by the student and/or parents on the FAFSA. Through verification, SFA resolves any discrepancies or conflicting information that may have occurred when completing the FAFSA.

UF participates in the Federal Quality Assurance Program and that allows SFA to establish verification criteria for UF and determine which student files must be verified.

Because

of this you should disregard any statement on your Student Aid Report (SAR) that your application was selected for verification.

If your application is selected for verification an email from SFA will be sent to your UFL email account alerting you to check your financial aid status on ISIS.

ISIS

will list the document(s) you and/or your parent(s) must provide to SFA.

Financial aid funds cannot be disbursed to you until you have submitted all requested documents and your file has been reviewed.

The

review process can take 4 weeks or longer.

You

are strongly advised to submit all requested documents promptly to assist in the timely processing of your financial aid file.

 Slide9

What is verification?

DO

Turn in all documents requested by SFA as soon as possible

Be sure all documents are signed

Be sure your name and UFID are on all documents you submit

Keep photocopies of all information you submit and record the date you send in the documents

Keep photocopies of tax transcripts and W-2’s.

Don’t

Forget to sign your forms

Submit incomplete or illegible documents; if you do, they will be returned to you with a request for acceptable forms, causing a delay in processing your aid

Submit photocopies of tax transcripts with information obstructed by another form

Submit any documentation unless requested to do so by SFA

 Slide10

What is satisfactory academic progress?

SFA

is required by federal regulations to monitor student’s academic progress (AP). SFA monitors student’s academic progress at the end of each semester in order to provide a formal intervention by UF for those that do not meet the AP standards.

The

standards of academic progress must include the student’s total academic history (UF, AP, dual enrollment, and accepted transfer credit hours towards degree completion).

In

order to receive Title IV aid, a student must be making satisfactory academic progress regardless of whether he or she previously received Title IV aid.Slide11

What is satisfactory academic progress?

Standards

of Academic Progress

Grade Point Average:

Undergraduate students are required to maintain a minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA.

Credit Hour Completion:

Undergraduate students must satisfactorily complete 75 percent of all hours attempted.

Maximum

Timeframe for Degree Completion:

Undergraduate students may attempt up to 150 credit hours for programs that require 120 earned hours to achieve a baccalaureate degree and remain eligible for financial aid.

Undergraduate

students in programs that regularly require more than 120 earned hours to achieve a baccalaureate degree may attempt up to 160 credit hours and remain eligible for financial aid. Slide12

Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program

To

be eligible, you must:

Be a Florida resident and a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen as determined by UF.

Be

enrolled as a degree/certificate seeking student.

Enroll

in a minimum of 6

semester

hours per term by the end of UF's drop/add period.

All

Bright Futures recipients are required to meet minimum credit hour and GPA requirements to renew their award each year.

Students

enrolled full time for both semesters are required to earn at least 24 semester hours in order to renew their award at the end of each academic year.

For

students not enrolled full time for both semesters, the hours required to renew are prorated.

*

Florida Academic Scholars with 2.75-2.99 will renew as Florida Medallion Scholars

.

SFA

has provided students with a Bright Futures predictor. This online tool will assist you in determining

exactly how many hours you will need to renew your particular Bright Futures

award. It’s available on the SFA website –

www.sfa.ufl.edu

. Slide13

What is ISIS?

ISIS

is an online gateway/portal that allows you secure access to your UF student information.

Through

ISIS you can:

Accept/decline/reduce loan offers

Check and download missing financial aid document requests

Notify SFA of outside scholarships

Register for classes

Pay charges

Sign up for Direct DepositSlide14

How will SFA communicate my financial aid status to me?

All

students receiving financial aid are responsible for keeping track of their aid file and awards through

ISIS

, including providing information still needed to complete their file.

On

ISIS

, under “Financial Aid” under the correct award year, you can choose from:

Aid

Status

(missing documents, verification, financial aid academic progress, inactivate your financial aid application if filed only receive Florida Bright Futures awards, etc.)

Awards

and Disbursements

(review your award; accept, cancel, reduce work and loan programs awards; and report additional aid)

Additional

Aid Reporting (select to report additional aid not listed on your aid award; you can also do this on the Awards and Disbursements page

)

Check

your

Gatorlink

e-mail daily for important financial aid correspondence. SFA uses email as the primary way to communicate with financial aid applicants and recipients.

SFA

also generates e-mails directly from your aid file to alert you to requirements you have yet to complete.

These

e-mails often provide a link directly to ISIS

. Types

of financial aid e-mails include:

Financial Aid Awards and Revised Awards

Financial Aid Follow-Up Letters

Direct Loan Correspondence (e.g.: entrance counseling)

Academic Progress Notifications

Verification Notifications

Requests for Additional Documentation Slide15

additional information regarding financial aid?

You

can also contact our office and speak with a financial aid advisor.

Financial

aid advisers are assigned to students based on the last 2 digits of their UFID.

You can visit our lobby to see a financial aid advisor anytime during our office hours.

Office Hours:

Monday–Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m

. (excluding

State/University holidays)

Main Office Information:

S-107 Criser Hall

P

. O. Box 114025

Gainesville, FL 32611-4025

Phone

Number: (352) 392-1275

Fax Number: (352) 392-2861