If you feel overwhelmed by the idea of paying for college, you're not alone.

Applying for college financial aid can be challenging, especially with new changes in the FAFSA application process.

Welcome to KET, where Kelsey Starks and a panel of experts discuss these changes, share advice, and answer your questions about financial aid on College Financial Aid 2025, Education Matters.

Good evening and welcome to this special edition of Education Matters.

Today we'll be discussing how to get the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to paying for college in 2025.

FAFSA, FSA ID, KHEAA, KASFAA, all these terms can sound a little bit like alphabet soup, but they are very important for you to know if you are navigating the world of college financial aid.

I'm Kelsey Starks and we have gathered a panel of experts here from across the state to help answer your questions when it comes to financial aid.

Joining me in studio today are Montanna McClain, the Northern Kentucky Outreach Counselor for KHEAA.

That's the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority.

KHEAA is a state agency that helps students pay for college.

Robyn Sollberger is the Director of Financial Aid at Campbellsville University and current President of KASFAA.

That's the Kentucky Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

Joplin Rice is a Senior Outreach Counselor with KHEAA.

KHEAA has outreach counselors across the state just to help you out with this process.

And Patrick Mayer is the Director of Financial Aid at Somerset Community College.

These are all experts in the field, and this field can be so confusing for so many of us parents and students, so we do thank you all for being here.

So let's begin with the FAFSA, another acronym you need to know.

That is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and more than 17 million students fill this out every year.

So there is a lot to talk about, particularly when it comes to some changes that rolled out last year in a not exactly seamless process.

So there's been a lot of talk about the changes and some of the delays that they caused and what that means for this year.

So here's a closer look at some of those issues.

The FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and it really is the first step, like the gatekeeper step, to get access to all the financial aid options.

Even if you're applying for a scholarship at a university, they're gonna ask you if you filled out your FAFSA.

So it really is step one to be able to open the doors to, here are all the options of how to help me pay for college.

It's an important first step in the college application process, figuring out how to pay for it.

The FAFSA Simplification Act passed in 2020, requiring an overhaul of the Federal Student Aid system, including the FAFSA form.

The educators and the professionals that work in this area have been advocating for a simpler FAFSA form for several years.

So this is a good thing.

But change doesn't always come easily.

The most significant overhaul of the Federal Student Aid system in years means more students will qualify for financial aid, and the process will ultimately be easier and faster.

But last year's initial rollout saw significant problems.

The biggest issues were, first of all, normally, the FAFSA opens on October 1st, and we gear all of our efforts toward that date.

Unfortunately, that was delayed until December 31st.

If that had been the only hiccup, we could have I think not had as big an issue.

However, even when it opened on December 31st, a lot of students had trouble logging on, the system would start and then stop.

There were some changes in the way questions were asked and certain elements were processed that caused some confusion.

So it's been those types of growing pains, if you will, for rolling out a new form that has caused the delay.

That means everything is running behind, including the process for next year.

That delay has really impacted FAFSA completion rates, not just in Kentucky, but across the nation, because we've been working in a much shorter time frame than we typically have been used to in terms of helping students get into the form and helping them get through the process.

There are 13 KHEAA counselors available across Kentucky help get through that process, and they all say, in the long run, change is good.

As bumpy as this rollout process has been, when a student and family has successfully submitted it, we're hearing it's taking 10 to 15 minutes.

And that investment is worth it because more students are going to have options, more students are going to be eligible for that aid.

It takes away the biggest barrier, right, is cost.

Even if it's a perceived barrier, it helps break down.

I may have thought my whole life that I can't afford to go to college, and this is the first step to show you there is help available.

And that big price tag that you have in your head can come way down if you just kind of go through the process.

So, as tough as the process may seem, it is good in the long run.

We can all agree.

So we're going to break this down for you a little bit.

We're going to start with that point, everyone should fill out a FAFSA.

And the change in this year's application, I'm going to start with you, Joplin, to explain where things stand right now with the 2025 FAFSA.

Yeah, so as of now, we do have an opening day, which is December 1st, haven't heard any changes about that.

We're approaching that date, so I think that'll stay.

But really, this year, we've talked about a little bit as sort of a cleanup year.

Last year's FAFSA was delayed until this calendar year.

Most students weren't able to complete that until January through March.

And so in that short kind of intermediary period, Federal Student Aid has been trying to resolve a lot of those issues to make sure that December 1st this year, it's active, it's ready, and you can get from the first question to the submission screen successfully.

So, a lot of people, if they're used to filling out the FAFSA, this is the time of year in October, right, that you're used to doing it.

But you say, don't do it now because you might fill out the wrong form.

Right.

So the mistake a lot of students and parents make, and their heart's in the right place, they're trying to get in early, get that money, but you do want to make sure that the age year you're completing the FAFSA for is your student's first year of college, not their senior year.

So, if a student's doing that 2024-25 FAFSA, you want to make sure that's a 2024-25 senior.

If they're filling that 2025-26 FAFSA, you want to make sure that's their freshman year.

And it is a more simplified form in the long run.

And I'll go to you, Robyn, to explain what are some of the changes people will see in the form?

Well, like we just heard, it's shorter, a whole lot less questions, which was always very intimidating for a lot of families.

The other changes with the form is that, of course, everyone has to have an FSA ID when they go out there.

The connecting over to pull in tax information should be a whole lot more seamless, not as, I guess the word is kind of clunky, and you had to know specific information about your taxes or you were keying in all, which led to errors.

So, those are just a couple of the most obvious changes that people will see that have ever filed a form before when they get from, like Joplin said, from the beginning to the submission.

And you mentioned the FSA ID, who can explain what that is?

Yeah.

So your FSA ID, we're kind of transitioning now to calling those student aid accounts.

That is basically your login information for the FAFSA.

So, that's going to be like your username and password, email address and password, phone number, password.

And the important thing to remember is that that account acts as a legally binding signature on the FAFSA.

So, you can only ever have one of those accounts.

They can't be deleted, which is a roundabout way of saying, please write down your password.

Please have access to that email address and phone number, because resetting that password can kind of be a hassle sometimes.

Right.

And one thing too with that is, I told you all, I have a daughter quickly approaching that senior year.

And so this is becoming more and more of interest to me.

But the FSA ID, I think it's important to tell people too that you can't create one for your kid, right?

Right.

We want to make sure that each person has their own individual account.

They're using that account.

It's their email and phone number, their password, because again, it is a legally binding signature.

If you went to sign off on a bank loan with your kid, you wouldn't sign their name at the application.

And the same way your student needs to be the one kind of taking the initiative here, maybe even for one of the first times in their young lives, sort of say, hey, this is your ball game now, so ball's in your court.

And that is really step one.

Step one is you've got to create the FSA ID.

And so when can people do this or when should they start thinking about doing this?

Yeah.

Do you want to take that, Montanna?

I can.

I would say what I do is for juniors in the springtime, I start setting up FSA IDs for juniors and parents as well too.

They get it done, the easier, the better, just because sometimes some parents have issues and things like that.

But at springtime, I would say for juniors.

Okay.

Juniors, springtime, as you're just starting to think about this, this is an easy -- it's a fairly simple process, right, just your username and password, step one, okay.

And then, step two is this FAFSA form, correct?

Yes.

And as we mentioned, this is the gatekeeper for everything.

And a lot of people may think, I don't need to fill that out.

Maybe my family won't qualify for financial aid, or that kind of thing.

Tell me some of those things that you hear from folks who maybe say they don't need to fill it out.

Why do they?

Yeah, I'll take that one.

So a lot of people when they think that, they think grants, okay, specifically, the federal Pell Grant.

But the FAFSA was also going to fill you out for student loans, and it's also other types of scholarships, need-based scholarships.

So, it's really important that you fill it out because you never know what you might get.

And what do people need?

We mentioned too they can pull over the tax information.

Now, it's connected.

But what else do people need to have kind of on hand as they sit down to fill out the FAFSA?

Yes, I would say really two sets of information you need to focus on.

One, personal identifying information; so, names, birthdays, socials, email and mailing addresses, household information, number of members.

So, basically things I say your parents will know most of this off the top of their head.

But more importantly is that financial information.

And while the new direct data exchange was actually excellent last year, in my opinion, at pulling over people's tax information, there are still situations like unmarried parents living together or perhaps you were recently divorced or recently married so your tax filing status has changed.

There are still situations where you'll need to manually enter that information.

So, for this year's FAFSA will be those 2023 income tax returns.

You'll need to have the form 1040 if you're getting technical.

Okay, so is that it?

That's everything you need on hand to fill out the FAFSA?

I'd also add if you're a small business owner or you have assets that don't include retirement accounts, you'll have to have that information on file as well.

That's included too, okay.

So, this is important too to note that this is something you don't do one time and forget about it, right?

[laughs] Some would say.

[laughs] You're supposed to fill it out every year with it, right?

That's correct.

Every year.

And I mean, some people don't do that and then they miss out, right?

Yes, very much so.

And that's what we always try to tell students.

And I know, of course, KHEAA outreach counselors tell people the same thing.

But when we have new student orientations, we always reinforce that, "Parent sessions, be prepared.

You have to file the FAFSA every single year."

I think some people just lose sight of that or we've transitioned from high school to college and someone else is going to take care of that for their son or daughter.

But they do pay a price, because even though we've been very fortunate with state grants in the last couple years, that's not always the case.

And especially Kentucky residents, there's a point in time that those state grants can run out.

And if you miss that deadline, then you miss receiving those grants.

And those grants right now are very, very lucrative and make all the difference for some students of being able to attend college and pay very little, if any, out of pocket.

And the thought of losing those grants could make the difference of staying at your school, switching schools, or maybe not even being able to come back.

So, definitely, time is of the essence.

And like I said, I think people just lose sight of that.

Yeah.

There's an online estimator, which I think is helpful that people can kind of plug in what they think of that they're going to get as far as financial aid.

Is that what you would direct people to go to first and foremost?

Yes.

The schools are required to have what we call a net price calculator on our websites, and they can kind of go in there and estimate what kind of costs and aid they'll get, and those types of things.

Okay.

So, step one, FSA ID.

Step two is fill out the FAFSA.

What else do we need to know about some of the changes in the FAFSA?

We mentioned how the tax information is now linked, but we also heard how this means more students are going to be able to get financial aid.

Why is that and what does that mean?

Yeah, I could speak to that a little.

So, basically, I tell people to think of the FAFSA as a big algebra equation with a bunch of missing variables, which you put in about yourself, then it gives us an answer that determines your aid eligibility.

Now, in previous years, up until last year, that answer was called the Expected Family Contribution or the EFC.

For a variety of reasons, one of them being some confusion, people would think, "If that's my expected family contribution, that's what I have to pay out of pocket."

They see a very high number.

They think, "Well, maybe we can't afford to go to college."

So, that language was not only changed to the Student Aid Index, is now what it's called, but also the calculation within the FAFSA itself was changed.

That SAI number, that Student Aid Index, can now go below zero, as low as negative 1,500.

And what that has done has opened up more opportunities not only for more students to receive any Pell Grant money at all, but for more students to receive the full amount of the federal Pell Grant.

And for those unaware, receiving any of that Pell Grant is crucial because that's what will make you eligible for those state grants from KHEAA that Robyn was discussing.

And tell us more about those state grants from KHEAA.

So, to be eligible, like we discussed, FAFSA has to be filed.

And the criteria, there's actually two.

There's the College Access Program Grant, and then there's the Kentucky Tuition Grant.

College Access Program Grant, if the student is Pell-eligible, then they are CAP-eligible, as long as they meet the other eligibility criteria.

And that's for any school in the State of Kentucky.

The Kentucky Tuition Grant, however, is just for those profit schools.

So they're the ones that are located within the state of Kentucky.

So, you have to list those schools on your FAFSA, but as long as the information on the FAFSA shows that you have a need for those particular schools, then you're awarded the Kentucky Tuition Grant as well.

Again, just because you receive them one year doesn't mean you receive them every year.

So, it is contingent on filing the FAFSA and having that need component or receiving Pell eligibility.

Who can explain a Pell Grant?

For somebody who doesn't know, say.

So a Pell Grant is a federal grant, and it is based off of need.

So, of course, you got to do that FAFSA, and it goes off the Student Aid Index, as Joplin was explaining.

And as long as you're under a certain threshold, you can get a Pell Grant.

And then, how much of your Pell Grant depends on how much your need is and then also what your enrollment status is, whether you're a full-time student or a half-time student.

That all goes into determining that Pell Grant eligibility.

Another change is the number of schools that can be listed on the FAFSA, correct?

What is the change there?

Twenty schools, up to 20 schools can be listed on your FAFSA.

That was a lot.

[laughs] Okay.

So, you don't have to know where you want to go before you start filling this out.

I mean, I do think that's a lot of, you know, they're like, "Well, I can't ask for money until I know where I'm going," but you really don't have to.

And so you can list any schools you might be interested in, correct?

Correct, yes.

And then, what happens to that information?

Your information goes to those schools, as in, I may be interested, correct?

Correct, yes.

And then, what happens then?

What do the schools do?

Go ahead.

At school, when we get your FAFSA on file, we'll determine what types of aid you qualify for, federal, state, and sometimes institutional financial aid.

And then, we'll start communicating that out to the students and families on what they qualify for.

Okay.

So if you do these things, you're going to start getting information from some of these schools about your possible awards?

Yes.

And one thing that I'll always emphasize this time of year to seniors is before you can be fully applied to a college and receive that second letter, because you'll get that acceptance letter first, but that second letter, that financial aid award offer, is the one you really want.

To be fully applied to those schools like Somerset Community College or Campbellsville, they'll need your application, your transcript, which a lot of schools will use free transcript sending services and will just be through the guidance office.

And then, they will need to be listed on that FAFSA.

All three of those things kind of have to be in place.

And the other thing, a question I got just last week from a student is, "Can I go ahead and apply to colleges or send my transcript before the FAFSA opens?"

I was telling them, do your applications by a certain date but the FAFSA is not up until December.

Any order.

Those three things can be given to your school in any order as soon as you can, but you don't have to wait to fill out the FAFSA to apply for colleges.

Okay.

Good point.

And why the sooner the better?

Yeah, a couple of reasons, I tell students a good soft deadline that's not written anywhere or anything like that for college applications.

It's kind of to have those turned in, completed before Thanksgiving break.

And I say that being the sooner the better, like you said, because after December 1st is when scholarship deadline dates start to fall from schools.

You really want to get that initial application in before those scholarship deadline dates.

And the other big reason is because you want to hear back from your schools in a timely fashion.

And the sooner you can get that application transcript FAFSA in, the sooner they can get your financial aid award offer, the more time you will have to make that decision, a good informed decision, about where to attend.

And I want to talk more about scholarships and grants, and that kind of thing, but just to kind of wrap up things on the FAFSA here, as far as what to expect for next year, when this does open up in December, fingers crossed, what can people expect?

Will there still be some technical things to kind of look out for?

I would say there could be, and that's why, again, we want to recommend they do it as soon as possible 'cause if there are those technical issues, you're giving yourself time to get those worked out, and you can contact your people at KHEAA, or you can contact Federal Student Aid, and you can get those issues worked through as soon as possible.

And I would say too, a great newer tool that federal student aid has, a lot of people will say, "Oh, I called the Federal Student Aid hotline.

I was on hold for a while.

I couldn't get anyone," because that hotline gets very overwhelmed when the FAFSA opens.

There is now a live chat feature, a live chat feature on studentaid.gov, and I have found, I hope I'm not telling a trade secret on Federal Student Aid, but if you type, chat with representative, you'll get connected to a real person.

And that live chat feature has been extremely helpful for me with getting questions answered, accounts recovered, things like that.

Great tip there.

And there's also another website too is KY Goes to College.

And this Kentucky-wise is a great resource to find all things Kentucky financial aid.

Definitely, yeah.

Okay.

So we mentioned grants.

We talked a little bit about scholarships.

I think a lot of people --let's kind of differentiate, I guess, the difference between a grant and a loan, and what you tell students about that.

Montanna, you want to start?

I can.

I feel like when I think about grants, they're like need-based.

And you said scholarships?

No, loans.

Oh, loans.

[laughs] Loans are money about repayment.

So, if I tell students, when you are filling out the FAFSA, you want to go for your grants, not the loans.

[laughs] So look out for those grants, scholarships obviously before you end up taking out a loan.

Yes, definitely.

And I will say another good source of financial aid that's overlooked a lot is a work study, which is an excellent source of financial aid.

And for those not familiar, it's when you can work a part-time job on campus as a student.

And I tell students, you do get a paycheck.

We have federal labor laws.

So, a lot of students think, "Oh, if I do work study rather than working off campus, the money goes right back to the college.

I don't get paid."

That's not true.

You will get a paycheck.

And that money can go toward books, living expenses, food, gas, whatever you need it to.

And on the FAFSA, there is a question, are you interested in federal work study?

I recommend always putting yes on that question because you'd rather be offered a position you don't need than be in a search of a position you can't get.

Yeah, great call on that.

And one thing we always add, because our work study and most are a specific amount, that they do have to work it to earn it.

[laughs] I think there's some confusion sometimes like, "Oh, you like me," but that they do have to work it.

So, even though the award might be a specific amount, if they only work half of what the intended hours are, they're only going to receive half of the award.

So, it's crucial.

And a lot of the positions have built their position for the number of hours that goes hand in hand with it.

So, when they hire someone, the intent is that they do work the 10 hours a week or 12 hours a week, or whatever it may be.

And this is something where you're working for the school.

What are some of those types of jobs?

Clerical, a lot of hours.

The first one I think is in our space we have, they might work the front desk, answering the phones, speaking with students.

They might be scanning information, filing different things.

This sounds kind of silly, but going to the mailbox, just things like that.

We also have like the physical plant.

So, the ones that keep the grounds, clean the buildings, computer labs, even working with the AV, the audio-visual things during different presentations, different things we have on campus, different events, ball games.

So, a lot of it is, I always say, we don't play students.

We want you to find something that you're truly interested in, because I think we all know if you have a love for what you do, you're going to enjoy it a whole lot more.

Right, right.

And, too, I mean, those are great options because the student is normally already on campus.

You don't have to go to a job, and they're flexible hours, something that's easy to do, easy to get to, and understanding of your schoolwork situation.

And the other thing is we all have, anyone who receives federal work-study has the added job, I guess, requirement that we have to put people into positions that offer reading tutoring and math tutoring.

So, that's called community service.

So, those students that are interested in that can go off campus and work in different -- and we partner with our local school districts and allow the students to go in and help with different tutoring after-school programs.

And that is a real big hit with, of course, education, obviously, but also even with social work.

So, that's a good way that we can fill those positions as well.

It looks great on a resume, right?

I would hope.

Right, yeah.

Okay, so say we're junior year, thinking of this type of thing, and where do we go to look for some of those grants or scholarships, or things that are available?

I know KEES money is -- my daughter just got her first letter that said, "You have this money in this account."

Who can explain what that is and where that comes from?

You want to take that, Montanna?

You can take it, Joplin.

[laughs] Yeah.

So, KEES is the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship.

So it is a scholarship.

The two things that make it a scholarship rather than a grant or a loan is that it is earned.

It is based on merit, and you don't have to repay it as long as you remain a student.

So, students are able to earn KEES money through their GPA in each individual year of high school.

So, we're not looking at that overall cumulative GPA.

We look at each year individually, kind of a clean slate every year.

Their highest ACT score, just one ACT bonus for the highest score, no matter how many times they take it.

And students whose families individually qualify for free or reduced lunch are also eligible to receive bonuses for passing AP or advanced placement exams.

All of this money comes from the Kentucky Lottery.

So, just yesterday, as I won $7 on a scratch off, I looked on the back, [laughs] it was a $10 scratch off, I lost $3.

But on the back -- You contributed $3.

I contributed.

I was creating imagination, funding education.

[laughs] And right on the back, it does say Kentucky Lottery proceeds go to fund the KEES and other scholarship, and grant programs.

And to add that on for the AP reduced lunch, that is unlimited.

Yes, those AP bonuses are unlimited.

Unlimited, so it doesn't matter how many AP classes you take, as long as you get the score, get the money.

And I'll say too, another thing that a lot of students aren't aware of, is you can take AP advanced placement exams without taking the advanced placement class.

And while you may think, "Well, how in the world would I pass that," a lot of students will say, "Take dual credit," another option to earn college credit in high school, take dual credit history or dual credit English, and then take those AP English or history exams to try to -- You never know.

Yeah, you can't double up on the college credits, but you could get those bonuses for KEES money.

The other place I would always direct people in, let's say, junior year, that spring before starting to apply, is to kheaa.com.

So, we have a couple of great publications.

The first one I'll mention is called Affording Higher Education.

It is a very thick book.

Your school libraries will have two copies.

Every public library in the state will have two copies.

But I prefer to access it online, just on kheaa.com, go to the search bar, Affording Higher Education.

That is our scholarship encyclopedia.

So, we have multi-county sessions, county by county, public, private, university, statewide, national, any kind of scholarship you can think of.

The other very important resource that I've been hauling all around the state is our book called Getting in.

That is really our late junior to early senior year handbook for those students on here's what you need to do to apply for colleges.

The first half of the book is kind of a step-by-step guide.

But the second half of that Getting In book is really just, like I joke to kids, a phone book, if they know what that is.

[laughs] It's like a phone book with just every college in the state listed, how much they cost, their majors, phone numbers, ACT requirements, admission deadlines, everything.

And again, that can be accessed anytime just on kheaa.com, go to the search bar, Getting In will be the first result.

That's great.

Great resource.

And it's important to note too with that KEES money, it can only be used if you're going to college in Kentucky, correct?

Correct.

Right.

So, with few exceptions, the money does have to stay in Kentucky.

That is part of the statute that was written when the lottery was created.

The exceptions to that are, I believe it's 13 states to the east and to the south who are part of something called the Academic Common Market, who have pledged that if a student in any of those states, including Kentucky, wants to go into a degree field not offered in their state, they can transfer those state-funded scholarships to one of those other states in the Academic Common Market to do that major.

So, I've had students do audio engineering programs in Nashville that weren't offered in Kentucky, veterinary programs at Auburn, marine biology, or just some of those programs not offered in Kentucky.

But really, you'll find that with our great institutions in the state, that almost any major you can think of is offered in at least one college.

Right.

How would you even go about that?

I'm assuming that's where some of these outreach counselors can help you, right?

[laughs] It's all on their website.

If you look up the Academic Common Market, there's actually a great tool where you can put in, "I am from this state.

I am looking at this major," and it will tell you, these are the universities in Academic Common Market states that you could go to and use your KEES, or it will say, "Hey, this program is offered at this school in your state, so you're not able to do that."

It's a great tool.

When it comes to scholarships, a lot of people will hear different terms like a merit scholarship and an academic scholarship.

What's the difference?

So, a merit-based scholarship is strictly based on your grades, GPA, ACT scores, things like that.

And then, there are need-based scholarships, where those are based off of, they may look at your GPA and ACT scores, but they're also going to look at something like the FAFSA to determine if you need that scholarship or not.

So, there's a big difference between the two.

And a lot of people also think of financial aid as if maybe we're not need-based, that there might be fewer opportunities out there, but there are a lot of scholarships and other things available, right?

And something I would add to that too, one of the biggest mistakes I see seniors make this time of year with scholarships is thinking that when they apply for admissions to a college, that they are applying for every one of that school's incoming freshman scholarships, and the school kind of just let them know which ones they get.

So, really, we have another differentiation with those scholarships.

We have your automatic merit scholarships, which will say, "This ACT, this GPA, you're looking at this much money."

And those are great to look up on school's incoming freshman scholarship websites, because even as a junior, senior, you can kind of know, I'm probably looking at this much money baseline at the school.

But on the other hand, we have your competitive scholarships that have deadlines, typically in the winter or the spring, that have essays, resumes, letters of recommendation.

And not only are those going to be those scholarships that have other students applying for, but they're going to be the big money.

So, what I recommend to every student is when you apply to a college, just simply Google the name of that college and the three magic words, incoming freshman scholarships, that will bring up that school's webpage and find everyone you're eligible for.

And if they have an application, make sure you fill it out.

And reaching out to the financial aid office is a great source of information.

And one thing too we've talked about on this program in the past is that you don't have to reach out to the financial aid office at the school you're going to.

Anybody can help with any of this, right?

That's right.

Yep, absolutely.

Okay.

What about part-time students?

Do the same rules apply or are there some differences there?

They still want to do the FAFSA.

They still want to fill that application out.

But the amount of financial aid, it will adjust to reflect the hours that they're enrolled.

I would also want to mention, we have a lot of part-time students at the community college.

They take advantage of the Work Ready Kentucky Scholarship.

And that particular scholarship is for students who aren't getting their tuition covered by federal Pell Grants and state grants.

So, they have to do the FAFSA so we know they don't qualify.

And then, they can apply for that Work Ready Kentucky Scholarship.

And as far as those Work Ready Kentucky Scholarships, how do people know if they qualify or where it's the first step there?

So, that is a scholarship administered by KHEAA.

And so there's an application on their website.

But they also have to be in one of the five high-demand fields that has been determined by the state, and it's written in the state law.

But that application is on KHEAA's website.

So, they have to do the FAFSA first.

Then, they can go and file that application.

They'll have to let us know what school they're going to and what program they're going into.

And that helps them determine that scholarship.

Going back to the KEES money as well, we mentioned that's already in a pot for you.

Where can people go to find out where that is or how much they have?

kheaa.com.

Yeah, kheaa.com.

So, two ways, like you mentioned, we will send you a letter in the good old snail mail every year with an update.

[laughs] But if you want to check that on your own, please register an account on kheaa.com.

And it will need to be your student that registers with their birthday, social, email, not a parent account.

They'll log in and click MyKHEAA.

And then, they'll click High School Information.

And that will bring up their KEES money, grades 9 through 12, ACT bonuses.

And it will also tell them if they're eligible for those AP bonuses for free or reduced lunch students.

Typically, that is updated.

We will receive those grades from counseling offices sometime after the school year ends around June, sometime by the end of July.

Those will be reflected on the student's accounts.

Okay, so we talked a little bit -- well, this all applies.

We've been talking a lot about timelines, like junior year, do this, senior year, do this.

We talked about part-time students.

What about students or even adults who decide to go back to school and also need financial aid, where do they start?

Filing the FAFSA.

[laughs] Filing the FAFSA.

It all goes back to the FAFSA.

Yes, it doesn't matter what your age is.

It doesn't matter if you are brand new out of high school, a transfer student, or if you've been out, if you've started as an 18-year-old 20 years ago, and now you've decided to come back, first and foremost is filing the FAFSA and listing those schools.

And then, finding out a lot of times there could be programs that are specially designed for adult learners.

And a lot of those might be at a different price point than a typical traditional student.

So, those are things to look into and to see if those are benefits they can definitely receive.

But the main thing is start with the FAFSA, see what they're eligible for.

And if they didn't use all their state grant eligibility years ago, they could still have state grant eligibility.

KEES money does have a five-year amount of time to utilize it.

You get it for four years, but you have to use it within five.

So, that would definitely, for those 20 years later coming back to school, that would not be an option.

But definitely double check.

There's also Kentucky offices that offer money for these adult learners that a lot of schools can direct them to.

And depending on what program they are going into, what their major is, that could also be something that could help cover those costs.

And I'll say that that Work Ready Scholarship, do you want to talk about that one too?

You can talk about it.

[laughs] Yeah, that Work Ready Scholarship can really be invaluable to those adult students.

Just a few weeks ago, I was in my territory helping some nontraditional students who had never gone to college before and we filled out that FAFSA.

One of them luckily was Pell-eligible, and they were going to Somerset Community College, so they were able to be covered.

The other one was not Pell-eligible.

He had a pretty decent job.

And so he asked, "What are my options?"

And I said, man, this Work Ready Scholarship is going to be the way to go, because he wanted to do business, which is one of those five high-in-demand job sectors covered.

And the great thing about Work Ready is you can't be disqualified because of your FAFSA results.

You just have to have a FAFSA on file.

Because we don't want to give you that Work Ready money if your Pell money would already be paying for your college.

But if you fill out the FAFSA and it says, "Hey, we can't offer you any grant money, your income is too high," that's where that Work Ready can come in as a last-dollar scholarship to cover your remaining costs after things like KEES or institutional aid are there.

And again, as long as you don't already have an associate's degree, you're going to be eligible for that Work Ready.

There is no age limit to anything like that.

It's really great for adult learners.

Anything you would add on that, Montanna?

Just that it opens every year, May 1st, for those students or adults.

But it is open now if you want to apply to it now.

Okay, and that's not one of those that's on the timeline, like I need to wait for the year of, or is it?

So, it will open May 1st for the following year, starting in August.

So yeah, every May that it opens, that is for the next academic year starting that fall in August.

Okay, got you.

They can't just make it easy.

[laughs] No, we can't go off calendar years or anything to make sense.

It has to be academic years.

Got you.

Along those lines, I'm curious from all of you, is there a biggest mistake that you see people make -- in your experience, what would you tell people about don't make this mistake?

You want to start, Robyn?

I think the biggest thing is just making assumptions.

We've talked about we make too much money.

We don't qualify.

We know we don't.

My older child didn't receive anything, so our younger one's not going to receive.

And especially with the changes in the FAFSA, obviously, people who never qualified for need-based aid are receiving it now.

So, I think don't make assumptions.

And I know that's hard.

We all do it.

We're built to do that, but ask questions.

File the FAFSA.

We have people that come in to us like, "No, we're not going to qualify."

Just file the FAFSA one time.

Just file it and let us see that you don't, because like Patrick has said, that also helps us to determine you might not have need for this, that, or whatever.

But it is going to help us see, could you receive other institutional funding, endowed funding, restricted funding?

These people give the universities money, wanting it to go to students in certain areas a lot of time.

And if we have this to go off of, then you might receive some, thinking you weren't going to receive any.

So, definitely don't make assumptions and ask the questions.

And then, go with that information and make qualified decisions that are going to help the family based on that, yeah.

Yeah, biggest mistake I see is students don't ask for help.

[laughs] So this is obviously a confusing topic.

We wouldn't be here if it wasn't.

But you got to ask for help if you're not understanding something, especially when you get that financial aid offer in the mail and you don't know what's a grant, what's a scholarship, what's a loan.

You need to know those types of things.

So, you got to ask for help.

The people from KHEAA are great.

Go directly to the school that you're thinking about going to, your community college, and we'll sit you down and we'll explain everything to you.

But there are students that, and parents, that will just get frustrated with the process, and they'll just give up instead of asking for that help.

And there are plenty of people to help you.

There are lots of resources available.

Yeah, for me, I would say, other than not applying for those competitive scholarships like I mentioned, one of the biggest mistakes I see seniors make is really limiting themselves from the outset.

And what I mean by that is the student who says, "Well, I only want to go to this school.

I don't want to apply anywhere else."

And maybe they apply to one other school just in case.

And really, I tell seniors, "Your senior year has two goals.

The primary goal is to graduate high school.

Don't run 25 miles of a marathon and then go home.

We need to graduate.

But your second goal is really to get as many of those financial aid award offers as possible."

It'd be like going onto a car lot and telling the salesman, "I'm going to buy that car no matter what you tell me."

You don't want to do that.

You want to be able to apply to a variety of schools, our community colleges, our private institutions, public institutions, technical schools.

So, when the spring does roll around, you have four, five, six of these award letters on the kitchen table.

And you will know for a fact, school A would cost us this out of pocket.

School B would cost us this.

Because students get turned off by sticker price and that's understandable, very understandable these days.

But I tell them, again, it's like a new car lot.

No one pays that price on the windshield.

You do a little negotiating.

You do the FAFSA.

You get your keys.

That number gets smaller.

Montanna?

I would say take the time and research the schools, see what they have to offer, not just for undergrad, but maybe graduate degrees and things like that.

And when they are filling out the FAFSA, take your time.

[laughs] They make a lot of mistakes on the FAFSA, and make sure all the information is correct, like it matches everything.

Because it is an easier process if it does match everything.

Right.

And these new changes though will minimize those errors supposedly, right?

Hopefully.

If they do it right, yes.

Yeah.

A lot more information is pre-populated.

So, hopefully, that will lead to less -- I always tell people, "The less you have to put into the FAFSA, the better.

The less information you put in there, that's good."

The FAFSA operates on what we call skip logic, meaning, that certain answers to early questions on the FAFSA will allow you to skip sections later if you don't need to answer them.

A lot of people get afraid of that.

They'd think, "Oh, it didn't ask me about this or I didn't see these questions."

Listen, if it doesn't ask you, it doesn't need to know, and you don't need to tell.

Right.

It's like doing your taxes online, right?

Exactly.

Yes, a similar process.

So, be prepared for that.

Now, when you do go back to do it the second, third, fourth time, is it even easier because it already has your information, I'm assuming, right?

Very much so.

Okay.

So, the first time is the hardest?

Yes, and last year was the only year -- we call those FAFSA renewals rather than starting a new FAFSA.

Last year, renewals weren't available just because the form changed so much, they weren't able to pre-populate that information.

Okay.

So, everybody had to do it.

Everyone was starting fresh last year.

But this year, you will -- students, if it's your sophomore year, junior, senior year in college, you'll have two options.

Start a new FAFSA form or FAFSA renewal.

Always go with renewal, because basically, information about you that's not going to change, your name, your email address, your social security number, that'll all be pre-populated for you.

The things that can change, those will be the only, the income questions will be all you have to answer.

And that's also where it goes back to having your login information.

Put it somewhere safe.

Make sure you know where that safe spot is from year to year because you're going to use that every single year to log in, not only as an undergraduate, but if the student decides to return it and receive a graduate degree or even go further than that into some doctorate or PhD program, that's going to be their login information.

It also gives them access to perform other tasks or just keep an eye on what their loan, if they have borrowed loans for education, it's going to help them keep track of that as well.

So, that information is key to keep on top of that information.

And I think a lot of students, when we say, "Put this in a safe spot, you're going to use it again," they do not listen at all.

[laughs] But it is definitely very, very important just to stay on top of that and for the ease of FAFSA completion.

And one huge tip that we preach to students, high school seniors specifically, is do not use that at stu.yourcounty.kyschools.us email address on your FSA ID, on your studentaid.gov account.

Because as Robyn mentioned, that account will stick with you as long as you were in a post-secondary education program.

And undoubtedly, you will need to reset your password at least one time, and you want to receive those communications from Federal Student Aid.

So, for all my seniors out there listening, if you have not yet, make yourself a personal Gmail, Yahoo!, and not only personal, but a professional Gmail, you know, skateboardboy22, maybe not that one.

[laughs] Maybe go ahead and make a professional one.

But make sure that's an email that you know the password to, not that it's your Gmail that's been logged in on your phone for six years and you don't know the password, because those are the situations where we could potentially lose thousands of dollars because someone can get into an email address.

And that's devastating to even think about.

That'll cost you, yeah.

And you mentioned, and we haven't talked a lot yet, about loans.

And I know you all want everybody to look towards grant scholarships as much as possible before doing loans, but most people do have to take out a student loan of some type.

What is your best advice for students as they attempt to go for these loans?

So, you're going to be automatically eligible for your direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans through the federal government from the FAFSA.

For undergraduate dependent students who are freshmen, it's going to be $5,500.

Independent students, it's $9,500.

I preach to students, it's not all or nothing.

You can take out any amount of that loan.

But the other thing that I try to tell them is to look at different loan options.

So, for instance, KHESLC, which is KHEAA's sister agency, offers the Kentucky Advantage Education Loan, which is a good alternative to say the Parent PLUS loan, which is the second loan that a lot of parents get into trouble with.

And the reason for that, other than the high interest rate, is that the limit to that loan is the cost of attendance at a school.

Meaning, they will let you borrow up to that school's cost of attendance.

So, the mistake people make is thinking, "Well, if they let me borrow it, clearly I can pay it back."

Not always the case.

So, looking for other loan options like the Advantage Education Loan, which is a state-guaranteed option, is great.

And making sure, again, that you take out what you need because no one's going to stop you from, yeah, taking out that full $5,500, getting a big refund, and buying your friends all the fast food on campus for a couple weeks.

But at the end of the day, you are there to get a degree at the least amount of cost possible.

And taking out a fraction of those loans, if that's all you need, is a great way to minimize your debt.

Is there a best place to look for these loans or get these loans?

Well, initially, back to when you file the FAFSA,[laughs] that's our key phrase.

But when you file the FAFSA, a student automatically becomes eligible for the federal loan option.

Depending on like was mentioned, the $5,500 is the freshman amount for a dependent student, and it does increase from year to year, depending on their hours earned at that time.

So, that's an automatic.

So, they will go ahead and contact you and say, "Hey, we want to give you this money."

[laughs] And depending on the cost of the school, some schools might go ahead and add those loans on before the award notification is even sent to the student.

And other schools might not.

It really just depends on if those loans are needed.

But again, even though the loan is on there, it doesn't necessarily mean that the student needs to borrow to the full amount of the loan.

So, those are questions to ask and make those decisions with that information that's given.

PLUS loans, Parent PLUS Loans, those are, again, some schools put those on, on the front end before award notifications go out.

Some schools don't.

It's really just whatever the financial aid office preferences.

But those are definitely an option.

And a lot of times, it's when you're having the discussion and the student still has money that needs to be paid in some form or fashion.

A lot of schools have payment plans.

And so that's what is usually mentioned.

Here's the payment plan option.

Here's the Parent PLUS option, and then, like the Advantage Loan and other alternative loan options.

And then, the family can then leave with that information and make those decisions that work best for them, because what works best for one family might not be what's best for the other family.

So, those are things that any financial aid office or any KHEAA representative can definitely share when they're out on the road speaking with these families.

Help you navigate the process.

And we've heard a lot in the news about loans being forgiven.

What do you tell students about this?

Don't bet the house on it.

[laughs] Don't borrow with the assumption it will be magically evaporating anytime soon, would be my advice.

But on a serious note, borrow what you're comfortable with repaying.

And another thing we tell students is, the information is out there to look at the career field you're interested in, to see what the median income is in your state.

You can go off that, divide it by 12, see what you're making a month, see what you can afford in a loan payment.

There are loan calculators.

There's one on KHEAA's website that can tell you, if you borrow this much over this many years with this interest, here's what your payment might look like.

There's good options to know what sort of payment you can afford before you even get your degree.

So, take advantage of those tools.

It can get out of hand pretty quickly.

It can spiral.

And with so many options out there too, there are plenty of avenues to do before turning to that.

Well, we do have to wrap things up pretty soon.

So, I do want to get your all's best piece of advice before we go.

You want to start, Montanna?

I would say follow your path, not your friend's path, but find out what you want to do in life and see what school offers it and things like that.

And honestly, ask for help.

That's the biggest thing.

If you're having trouble, ask for help.

That there's plenty of help out there.

Yes, definitely.

Okay, Joplin.

Yeah, I would just say leave no stone unturned when it comes to financial aid.

Reach out to your financial aid professionals at your colleges, at KHEAA, and ask them, "I'm this kind of student from this county, I want to go into this at this school.

What's there for me?"

Even in KHEAA's publications, we list tons of scholarship websites.

Just make sure that you're not leaving money on the table.

And there is so much money available out there, and so it's just the process of figuring out how to find it sometimes.

Patrick?

Like I said earlier, just ask for help.

There's people there to help you.

And I'd also say, if you're an adult who's thinking about returning to school, it's never too late.

So we don't want to discourage anyone.

There's plenty of financial aid for those people, too.

So, ask for help and follow your dreams.

Good advice.

And Robyn, what would you say best advice for people they head off to college?

Well, I think it's just a summary of everyone else's, is that we're here to see people's dreams come true and to have them have success in the long run.

It's great when you see those students that you talk to as a freshman and they graduate.

And so we want to get them there.

We're not a roadblock.

And I think a lot of times people look at financial aid and different things because we're not giving them the answers they always want, that we're hindering.

But we're here to help in any way possible, even though this way might not work.

We probably have a hundred other ideas, ways, directions that they can go.

And we might, again, not always tell them what they want to hear, but we want to see success out of our students.

And so ask us the questions.

Be that family that ask all the questions.

We have those at Congo.

I'm so sorry to bother you again.

Bother us.

We want you to be more informed than not informed.

So, definitely, be that family, be that student that comes in just all the time into any office asking questions.

That's what we want and that's why we do what we do.

We want to help students.

So, yeah, definitely take advantage of the ones that are out there.

Great advice.

Well, thank you again for being here.

And thank you for watching College Financial Aid 2025.

Thanks to our panelists.

We hope you have a great time.

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