for high school seniors and their families, especially with new changes in this year's FAFSA application process.

Welcome to KET, as Kelsey Starks and a panel of experts share advice, discuss these changes, and answer frequently asked questions on College Financial Aid 2024, Education Matters.

Kelsey: Good evening and welcome to a special edition of Education Matters.

In this program we'll be discussing issues concerning college financial aid for the academic year of 2024.

I'm your host, Kelsey Starks, and with me are a panel of experts we've gathered from around the state.

We want to introduce them to you.

Keith Ritchie is the Assistant Director of Outreach for KHEAA, which we'll be talking a lot about.

Amy Smith is Senior Director of Enrollment Management Compliance for Sullivan University.

We also have with us, Michelle Standridge, Director of Financial Aid for Spalding University.

And Bob Fultz is the Associate Director of Financial Aid Assessment at the University of Kentucky.

And in addition to our panel here, we encourage you, our viewers to visit the KASFAA Facebook page.

That's K-A-S-F-A-A.

We'll be showing you that address at the bottom of your screen during this program.

And hopefully we will get most of your questions answered as we kick things off.

Now, financial aid can be scary, confusing, and very complicated.

And to make matters a little more complicated, there are a lot of changes to talk about for this year.

So I want to start with you, Keith, to explain some of those changes, particularly for this year with the FAFSA.

Yeah.

So, thank you, Kelsey.

The FAFSA stands for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

And it's essentially your money application for college or technical school, or really anything post-secondary, when it comes to education.

They are making a huge overhaul of the FAFSA this year.

And this will go hand in hand with the 2024-2025 cycle.

So this would impact current high school seniors going into college next school year, in the fall of 2024.

And the whole point of these FAFSA changes is to make this FAFSA easier, quicker, more automated.

And here's the icing on the cake, more people than before will get money for college, specifically grants to help pay for it.

In fact, just recently, Federal Student Aid has projected that nearly two thirds of FAFSA filers will be eligible for Pell Grant.

And to give you an idea, in a normal year, that number floats somewhere around 35% to 40%.

So more people than ever before will be able to get a piece of that pie.

And that's really exciting stuff.

So that is a great change for people who are trying to navigate filling out the FAFSA.

Bob, I'll ask you to explain the timeline is changing and there's some other things.

If people may have been familiar with it in the past, they're going to need to know about how it's different this year.

Yes.

So in years past, for families who've already have completed a FAFSA for another child, had the October 1st as the opening of the FAFSA, that has now changed.

It is now going to be in December.

That date has not been finalized at this time.

So it could be December 15th, it could be December 25th, 31st.

They just tell us that it is going to be in December.

What families can do now is to go ahead and apply for what's called an FSA user id, and that's what they're going to use to log into the FAFSA.

That's what they're going to use to sign the FAFSA and then submit it.

Kelsey: One important note about the FSA ID that you guys told me that people cannot use your high school email address and that's kind of a roadblock.

Yes, that is a strong recommended -- excuse me, recommendation.

The reason being is because that email expires.

We want them to use a, like a Gmail account or a Yahoo, whatever, other source of an email they can use so that they can carry it with them past high school.

Okay.

And you also told me that you have seen sort of a preview of this new FAFSA website.

What, is it a lot easier to navigate you think?

It is a lot easier to navigate.

It teases out a lot of the information that families have maybe been confused about in the past.

It really breaks it down to where the student knows who really needs to be on that FAFSA, who needs to be what's called a contributor.

A contributor is someone who is actually going to add their financial information to the FAFSA and then this will tease out what exactly or who needs to go on the FAFSA.

And, Amy, if you can just explain some of the significant changes that you think are most significant that people need to know about it, specifically the estimated family contribution I think is one of the most significant?

Yes.

So the estimated family contribution, that will no longer be what it is -- passed out through the FAFSA.

One of the major changes is it's going to be the Student Aid Index is what will be instead of the EFC or the Estimated Family Contribution.

Another huge change that we have is if a student is a dependent student and their parents need to put their information on the FAFSA, it may not be if the parents are divorced or separated.

It may not be the parent that the student is living with, that will put their information on the FAFSA.

It will be the parent who contributes the most financially for that student.

So it may be the other parent that they're not living with that will be on the FAFSA.

Kelsey: Okay.

And one of the other changes is this working together of the IRS and how this is integrated with the FAFSA.

Can you explain that, Michelle, and why that's so important?

Sure, yeah.

In the past, families would actively seek out the information and do the data retrieval tool with the IRS so that they went and accepted and asked for the IRS to push that information in.

With this change in the FAFSA with the 2024-2025 year, the contributors, so the student and whichever adults are considered to be the contributors on that student's FAFSA will consent.

So when they log onto the FAFSA, they have to actively consent that the FAFSA can then go pull that information on its own for them through a data process where it's pulling it in, without the extra steps of confirming with the IRS.

And that is so important.

Keith: It is, yeah.

And really when it comes down to it, Kelsey, you know, if a family doesn't provide that consent for that IRS information to be input onto the FAFSA, no money can be paid out.

So it's super important that that we do say yes to that consent question in order to get the ball rolling and get that tax information onto your FAFSA.

One thing that I've been asked quite a bit about, recently, this idea of the contributors.

And one thing I think is important to just clarify for anyone going through this process this year, when we say the word "contributor," we're really just talking about contributing information and not necessarily anything about financial contributions or paying for college or anything along those lines, that we're really simply talking about contributing that information onto a student's FAFSA.

Yeah, that's a good point.

And so as far as you give this consent, where does that information go?

I know people may be a little worried about giving consent for that to work out.

What do you tell parents about that?

So, first off, the consent, they were going to receive an email.

So the student is going to provide the email for the parent who needs to provide their financial information.

That information is secured through the federal website, so there's no chance of hacking or anything.

So then the parent receives that email, and then once they get that email, then they can log into the FAFSA and put in their information.

Like Keith said, if they do not provide that information, then the FAFSA is considered a "reject" and will not provide an SAI.

The student does have the opportunity though to provide or to state that the parent is unwilling to provide that information.

So, for instance, if there is some family situations such as abuse or neglect, that student can say that, no, my parent is not willing to provide that information.

The student will receive a provisional Student Aid Index.

So the Financial Aid Office can provide an estimated financial aid package.

But then, they're probably going to ask some questions to see exactly what's going on.

So is this student going to be truly independent, meaning that we're not going to have to go back and ask for that parent's information, that we can go ahead and move forward with that financial information.

Or we may have to ask for some additional documentation and say, I'm sorry, but that parent is going to have to provide that information for us to move forward.

Kelsey: As far as the FAFSA goes, we say this every year but different people are watching, who should fill out a FAFSA?

Who needs to do this?

The answer is& -BOB & MICHELLE: Everyone.

-Everyone, right?

Keith: Especially, you know, when we're talking about the 2024-2025 version of the FAFSA, again, it's getting money for the 2024-2025 school year.

So sometimes that can be a point of confusion, especially for a high school senior, when they log onto this thing, they may think, well, it's the 2023-2024 school year so that's the one I need to do.

But really the year that you want to complete that FAFSA for is the year that you're going to be receiving the money in college.

So in that case, if they're starting in the fall of 2024, that's why they would fill out that 2024-2025 FAFSA.

In terms of the IRS information, I also think it's important to note that at the end of the day, you know, it's not new that IRS information's on the FAFSA.

You know, they've always asked about tax information.

What I'm excited about from a family's perspective is that it'll make it a little bit easier to get that information on there.

So instead of filling out all of our tax information, for most folks you'll be able to provide that consent and the IRS will work things out behind the scenes with the FAFSA.

So instead of having to put in the address and the tax information, it kind of does a lot of that for you now.

I would imagine less room for error, -Keith: Absolutely.

-too.

Right?

Okay.

So it's important too to note that financial aid does not just mean one thing.

We're talking about scholarships, loans, everything available.

Let's talk a little bit about why -- and that FAFSA is the first step to get any of that, correct?

Yes, yeah.

So that FAFSA is the starting point for everything.

A lot of families will say, "Well, I'm not going to be eligible for grants.

I'm not going to do it."

But we want that FAFSA because it's a starting point.

And then the school is going to determine from the grants and the scholarships and the loans what each individual student is eligible for at that individual school.

And so once you decide where you're going to go to school or what schools you're considering, you want to make sure that you include every single one of them on the FAFSA and that you're applying to those schools so that they can receive the information and put together that financial aid offer that's going to come to you specific to their school.

And what if senior in high school changes their mind, as they do, what happens then?

So if you put the school on the FAFSA, all it's going to do is share it with that school.

And so if you decide that you absolutely don't want to go to one of those schools, you can log back on and take that school back off.

They'll still have that information out there on the transaction that they were given, but all the -- the most that it's going to do is allow them to give you an offer of financial aid so that you know what you would receive as a student at their school.

Kelsey: And?

Bob: You can list up to 20 schools going forward on the FAFSA.

And so if you do not have an idea of what schools you are thinking about, like you're still picking your choices, I would suggest that you at least put down a three bigs, a two-year public, a four-year public, and then a four-year private.

That way you've covered all your bases for all the need-based grants and scholarships that a student can qualify for.

So that leaves you 17 other schools on your list.

-Kelsey: Yeah.

-So that's my advice for families who are interested in filling out the FAFSA.

Keith: Yeah, that's a really good point, Bob.

You know, at the end of the day, our recommendation is simple.

At this point in the game, I would hope that you don't have it all figured out in terms of what school you would want to go to.

I think really the name of the game is, is to keep an open mind, apply to several different places, and send that FAFSA along the way as well.

And let's just see what happens with the money, because at that point, the more options you have on that FAFSA and the more schools you've applied to, the more leverage you have to make the best financial decision for you and your family.

And if you go, you know, you can take them off or decide not to go, can you add additional ones later?

Amy: Absolutely.

As long as the FAFSA is open, you can always make changes to that.

You can add any school that you want to.

And as Bob mentioned, it's good to put a two-year community college, a four-year public and a four-year private, because if you do change your mind, there are some grants that are geared just toward private universities and things like that.

So you definitely want to have your options open for that.

Sure.

And so people do this online and there's an app, correct?

-Michelle: It's online, yeah.

-It's all online now.

Michelle: It's all @StudentAid.gov.

And like we said, right now, what families can start doing is setting up the FSA ID, so their login, their electronic signature for all things federal aid, all of that is all on the one website, StudentAid.gov.

And then that'll get them connected so that they are receiving the information as that FAFSA comes open.

Because, as Bob said, we aren't sure which day that's going to happen.

Kelsey: Yeah, so it's pushed back a little bit farther this year.

And it's important to note this is something you do every year, correct?

It is.

And again, we can't stress enough the importance of getting that FAFSA done each and every year.

And it's a major part of the puzzle to get your college, financial situation put to bed.

But at the end of the day, what's so nice about the FAFSA, as you all have mentioned, you can put several different colleges on this thing, but it really is a one-stop shop.

So even, you know, it gets you in the running for institutional money, potentially gets you in the running from aid from the federal government, but also here in Kentucky through KHEAA, we have state grant programs that are also tied into that information from the FAFSA.

So there's not like a separate Kentucky FAFSA or a Kentucky form that you would've to fill out or any sort of application through KHEAA to get in the running for some of our state grants.

It's simply filling out that FAFSA on StudentAid.gov and that'll get you in the running through all of these different channels that are out there.

And there's also a cost calculator that can be really helpful.

Would you direct people to start there as well?

Yeah, you can.

And one of the nice things about it, each institution has a calculator on their website, so they can certainly get information about individual colleges.

Also on kheaa.com, we have something very similar, we can kind of compare the cost, at least the starting point costs of different schools around the state.

One thing in particular that I think is a great resource that we have to offer at KHEAA, we have a publication called Getting In.

And this is something we print out to high school seniors across the state.

So every high school senior in Kentucky gets a copy of this, but if you'd like to check it out on kheaa.com, you can.

But that book shows literally every single college and technical school in the State of Kentucky, shows line by line their cost of attendance for a year.

And my favorite part, it actually shows each and every major that that particular institution offers.

So it's kind of like one resource where you can kind of browse through multiple different institutions that you might be thinking about.

And there's so many different situations.

We talked about some of them, but I know a lot of people have a question about that contributor, line of things, as well as when we fill this out every year you're in college, but what about an adult that's going back to college or other situations like that?

The FAFSA is just across the board, right?

-Keith: Correct.

-Michelle: Absolutely.

Undergrad, grad, doctoral students, everyone that's going to be attending a college or university in 2024-2025 is going to want to get that FAFSA filled out.

And as a student who is in graduate school, they're going to be considered independent, meaning they're not going to need the parental data on their FAFSA.

But if they are married, I would go ahead and have that spouse go ahead and get an FSA user ID as well to be a contributor on the FAFSA.

Because if they were married, filed separate, that student is going to have to give consent to that spouse to go in and add their information to the FAFSA.

Kelsey: And why is it so important for the other people to get involved with the student's FAFSA?

It's protection of the IRS data.

So, each individual that's going to put financial information on that FAFSA has to give consent for the FAFSA to have the IRS data come over.

One of the new things that we've got with this new FAFSA is that that only the person that's logged in, so when the student is logged in, they're only going to see their information.

And so then when the parent logs in, they're only going to see the information that is that individual parent's information.

And so if there's concerns about data being shared between students and parents, they aren't going to see that IRS information.

It is only going to be for the person that's actually logged in at the time.

And you know, I told you all, I have a high school freshman now, and so some of these things are starting to go in my mind as well.

And you said even at that age, you can kind of get this process started a little bit just to even see what's available, right?

Yeah, if you're a younger high school student, I think it's a perfect time to start shopping around.

You really kind of do some soul searching on what you might want to do after high school, take any advantage of field trips or campus visits that your school might offer.

And the more of that work you can do on the front end, it'll make things easier when you're a senior in high school.

One thing in particular that that we at KHEAA administer is the KEES money scholarship, the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship.

That starts day one ninth grade year.

So the second a student in Kentucky hits high school, they have three ways of earning KEES money from us.

Number one is good grades.

Any year in high school that you receive a 2.5 GPA or higher, C plus average or better, you earn the money.

And the better your grades, more money you have.

Second way of earning KEES money is your ACT test.

Now, here's the cool thing about the ACT.

You know, a lot of juniors in Kentucky take that test, but you don't have to wait until junior year, and you can take it as many times as you want.

We will pay based on the best ACT score you can give us at any point all the way to graduation day.

The third way's a little bit trickier, but if you qualify for free or reduced lunch and you take like an advanced placement class at any point in high school, you can get some bonus money for that as well.

So those are your three ways.

But throughout high school, whatever you end up earning, you basically get that for up to four years of college if you decide to go that long and stay in Kentucky.

So there are some students out there who have racked up $10,000 from KEES money.

As someone who grew up in Ohio, I'm kind of jealous about that.

I didn't have that luxury living in Ohio.

So it's an awesome program.

And again, that starts day one ninth grade year.

So if anyone has younger siblings who might be tuning in tonight, super important for them to start thinking about this stuff as well.

Yeah, that's an amazing benefit.

And so important too, as a incentive too, to let them see that, how can they see that?

Mitchelle: So they can log in or create an account and log into kheaa.com, and they can watch from -- after the end of their first year in high school, they'll see that that freshman year KEES amount that they've earned.

And so it's really motivating for a high school student to see that money tally up each year and know that they're going to have access to that once they do go into a Kentucky college.

And you'll also get a letter in the mail.

I know some people who've gotten that letter.

Do you hear from people too that are surprised?

I know I hear, they're like, "I didn't know I had this money."

Absolutely.

My daughter actually is a sophomore in college, and when she first got it, she was very excited too.

She was like, "I've got money, mom."

So, yes, when students come in, a lot of them will bring that letter in and make sure that we have it on their award letter as well.

Yeah, the beauty of KEES money is the simplicity of it.

It's the easiest scholarship any student will ever get.

-Absolutely.

-There's no application, there's no paperwork, there's no form you got to fill out with us.

It's simple.

You show up to school every day, you do your work, you do what you're supposed to do as high school student, and you're rewarded for that hard work throughout.

Bob: And there's nothing that the student needs to do to ensure that their school that they attend receives it.

So they just need to be enrolled and attend.

And then once we verify enrollment, once the college verifies enrollment, then we will request that KEES money to be sent to the school on behalf of that student.

Do you have to fill out the FAFSA -to get the KEES money?

-Keith: You do not.

So that's actually a scholarship that does not require the FAFSA, in order for that to pay out, as Bob mentioned.

You don't even have to tell us at KHEAA where you go to school.

If you go to UK or anywhere else, they call KHEAA and we kind of work it out behind the scenes automatically.

But it can only be used for Kentucky colleges?

For the most part.

So what funds KEES money primarily is lottery revenue.

So if anyone ever wondered what happens to scratch-off tickets in Kentucky, that's kind of where that goes.

Because of that, by and large, you have to stay in the State of Kentucky.

There is one exception to that rule, if a student finds a program that's not offered at any college in the State of Kentucky, then technically they can take KEES money out of state to certain places, mostly in the South.

There are about 10 states that have an agreement with, with the State of Kentucky to allow KEES money to exit the Commonwealth.

But to be totally honest, we're super blessed to live in Kentucky to have so many different options to choose from when it comes to post-secondary institution.

It's very difficult to find a program that's not offered at, at least one public or private college in Kentucky.

So, let's talk about scholarship money a little bit more.

What are some other types of scholarships available and how do students and parents find that out?

Sure.

So scholarship money is going to be the -- each school's going to have individual scholarships that they offer.

A lot of schools will offer merit scholarships that are based on your high school GPA.

So in addition to earning that KEES money, you also can be working towards having a GPA that's going to put you in the running for some merit scholarship money.

A lot of institutions will have a need-based scholarship that they help, and each school's going to be individual on, on how they determine that.

And then there's outside scholarships.

So what I tell a lot of families is if you're considering a school, go on and apply to that school and ask the admissions counselor, is there anything extra I need to do for scholarships at your school?

But then also look at the websites on all the different colleges and universities, 'cause a lot of them will have websites that are -- pages that are specific to scholarships.

It may list outside scholarship opportunities.

I do encourage people that are going to do searches for outside scholarships to open up a separate email account that's just for scholarships.

Because once you start applying and using some of the search engines and things to look for outside scholarships, you're going to get a lot of email that's marketing and things like that, so.

-Kelsey: That's a great tech.

-Michelle: Yeah.

So, what is the difference between the merit scholarship and an academic scholarship?

Are those different?

Bob: Merit can account for -- merit and academics can go hand in hand, but also that you have the athletic scholarships, performance scholarships, that are all part of the merit realm.

And then you have your need-based scholarships, too.

So an institution can offer a need-based grant for that student who has filed a FAFSA that they see a need to help that student out.

And then, of course, with that need is also comes to federal and state grants as well.

And I think, Michelle, you mentioned that a lot of people may think, well, I'm not going to qualify for a scholarship, because most people consider it a need based, but there are so many different options there and you're not going to get them until you apply.

A lot of them do require the FAFSA.

So we tell everyone, just follow the FAFSA, just get it done.

And since COVID with the merit scholarships, a lot of schools have offered test optional or test positive scholarships so that, say, you have a strong GPA but your ACT is not the level that you would like it to be or needed to be, they also may have a separate grid for those scholarships that just only look at GPA as well.

Another Kentucky scholarship is the Work Ready Scholarship.

Tell us about that, Keith.

It's one of my favorites, Kelsey.

Not that I'm biased or anything.

But the Work Ready Kentucky Scholarship is a really awesome program, and it's relatively new in Kentucky too.

It's only been around for a few years, but we can now pay up to a 100% of the community college tuition rate in the State of Kentucky as long as the program is in one of the top five in demand job areas in the state.

Right now, those five areas are business and IT, healthcare, transportation and logistics, advanced manufacturing, and construction/trade, so like plumbing, HVAC, electrical, so on and so forth.

So if you have a student or if you are a student who's interested in one of those five areas, and trust me, there are hundreds and hundreds of programs that fall into those five umbrella categories.

If you're interested in one of those, all you have to do is, step one, you got to fill out that FAFSA, as we keep talking about the importance of that.

And step two, in May each year is when our Work Ready application opens up on kheaa.com.

You log in, same spot that you check your KEES account, and you'll be able to see a button that says "Apply for Scholarships" and you'll see that link for Work Ready.

And I'll tell you, it's a super quick, easy scholarship application.

It's like five questions.

It'll be, are you a US citizen?

Are you a Kentucky resident?

Are you graduating from high school or have you graduated from high school?

Have you done your FAFSA?

And literally, the fifth thing is a dropdown menu to tell us which school and program you're interested in.

And the rest is kind of worked out behind the scenes.

When I mentioned that, that the Work Ready scholarship pays up to a 100% of the tuition of the community college in Kentucky, that doesn't necessarily mean you have to go to a community college.

There are some four-year institutions that participate in that program as well.

It's just the dollar amount is tied into that KCTCS or community college tuition price.

Kelsey: And so what are some other kind of underutilized scholarships out there?

Keith: When I think of certain scholarships, you know, I kind of put them into two categories, right?

Two buckets.

We have our institutional scholarships that, you know, that's the stuff that comes straight from the college, you know, whatever college is offering you X amount of dollars either because of your academics or, as you mentioned, Bob, athletics, music, community service, could be a number of reasons.

The other category that I think a lot about are what we call private scholarships.

These are more, the best way I can describe, it's almost like a contest, could come from a church or a bank or some nonprofit organization.

And in my opinion, the name of the game with those private scholarships, the reason why they're called private is because they're not necessarily attached to any particular college.

The name of the game is to really treat it like a numbers game and apply to anything and everything you can get your hands on.

I was in a school not too long ago and I was talking to a teacher there, she's like 25, 26 years old.

She told me when she was a senior in high school, she got like a thousand dollars and a free laptop from this farming group in her community.

She never once stepped foot on a farm in her entire life.

She had never been a member of this group, but she ended up getting the scholarship because so few people applied for it.

So part of our job at KHEAA is to help blow a lid off of some of these resources that we're blessed to have throughout the state.

So one way we can help with that, if you go to kheaa.com, one of my favorite resources is what they call affording higher education.

But if you go to kheaa.com and check that out, we have over 5,000 of these types of scholarships listed specifically for Kentucky residents.

And you can even really dive into the weeds and go into like county by county and find some local scholarships on there that, at least that we're aware of.

And these aren't necessarily scholarships that come from us.

If it's a legitimate scholarship opportunity, we do our best to update that each year.

Yeah, I'll add that when you're looking at those private scholarships or outside scholarships, something to keep in mind is don't ever pay for an application on those.

Or if they're asking for information that's making you uneasy and you don't feel comfortable giving it, then don't give it.

If you aren't sure, you might call one of the colleges or universities that you're talking to and ask them their thoughts on if that scholarship is legit, if it's something that you should be giving information to.

But there are so many resources out there that do go underutilized.

So, one that I tell a lot of families in Kentucky is look at the community foundation from your area.

A lot of community foundations have really strong support, to make sure that the students that are leaving their community have funding to go to college.

And if you don't know where to look, you can always have your child check with the high school counselors.

They usually have a list of community scholarships that their community offers.

Yeah, let's talk about that too, because I think sometimes the counselors and financial aid offices are underutilized.

You all are a wealth of information, and I know every year you will say, call us, come to our office, even if you're not coming to our college, we can help.

Right?

Absolutely, absolutely.

Because we want those students to get the most financial aid that they possibly can.

So financial aid officers and high school counselors, those are great resources that students can look to for guidance.

Okay.

So let's talk a little bit about the difference between these scholarships we're talking about and all of this money coming to you, and a loan, which is obviously something you have to pay back.

Another change this year is that you're going to have to start paying it back.

So explain how we've been on a hold pattern for a couple of years now.

Absolutely.

So, for the last three years, I believe students have not had to make any student loan payments due to the pandemic.

That is changing this month.

Students are starting to have to pay back their student loans.

One thing that is a huge concern is that since they haven't paid for three years, the lenders and the servicers do not have current information for students.

So it's very important to log into StudentAid.gov, see who your servicer is so that you can get them your updated information.

There are several types of different repayment plans that a student can look at for their loans.

But it's very important that they do log in, update that information and contact their servicer, because after three years of not repaying, that's a huge hit to some students.

So it's very important that they get that information updated.

-Yeah.

-Bob: There has not been accruing interest at this time too, -Amy: Correct.

-so that is very helpful to these students, but also they need to get in contact because the worst thing you want to do is default on these loans.

So it's very important that you do pay them back because it will affect your credit.

Right, and that was my next question, what happens -and it affects your credit...?

-Bob: Your borrowing power is diminished if you have bad credit.

So yes, to make payments on those loans is in your best interest.

Yeah, and the good news is, you know, if anyone feels like they're struggling with maybe some of those student loan payments each month, they do have things like Income-Driven Repayment Plans that can help alleviate some of that pressure and potentially lower payments on a monthly basis.

When we talk about student loans, I think it's important to note, going back to the FAFSA at the very least, if you don't get any scholarships or grants from the FAFSA, you are able to get in the running for those federal student loans as well.

So that is something that that is important about filling out that FAFSA each and every year.

As an incoming dependent student freshman year, they're going to be offered $5,500 in a federal government loan.

I know no one gets excited about a student loan, but if you need a student loan, it really is a pretty solid one to consider borrowing.

There are some, again, there are income-driven repayment plans, they have some loan forgiveness programs out there, and just a little bit more of an overall safety net that may not be necessarily attached to some other loans out there.

But I do tell all of our families as we're talking through the admissions process and financial aid process that the FAFSA is your application for your student loans.

And so when you start receiving those aid offers from all of the different schools, you want to look at those closely because they are going to include scholarships and grants and loans.

And so there is going to be a loan offered if you have filed the FAFSA.

And so it's up to you to decide if that's something that you want to take and use while you're in school, or let the school know that you're not going to utilize the loans.

But as we talk about repayment, it's important to know that one of the benefits of the student loans is while you're in school, you are not required to pay on those loans.

Those are in a in-school deferment status, so that while you're in school, you focus on going to school and you can use those loans, but repayment is not going to start until six months after you graduate or stop attending half time.

Okay.

So when we say that you have to start repayment, again this year if you're in school, you don't?

-Keith: Correct.

-Michelle: Correct.

Yes.

So the repayment is going to be for the individuals that have graduated or stopped attending in the last three years.

And so those student loans are the ones that are going to be hitting repayment.

Yeah, and I think that's important to note, too.

I mean, three years is a long time and that can be out of sight, out of mind.

And so it's really important to be proactive about that.

Where do they go first to figure out, you said financial, even the bank who has your loan could have changed in that time, so how do you -- where do you start?

They really need to go to StudentAid.gov.

Then you really need to go to that website and there they can go pull their loan history through NSLDS or the National Student Loan Data System, and there they can see exactly what loans have been dispersed and who their loan servicer is.

And if they click on that loan servicer, there's a hyperlink there that gives them the contact information where they can contact that loan servicer and give them any update information where it may change such as their address, their mailing address.

So, for people who are going into the loan process for the first time, what do you tell families about weighing those options?

When is it a good idea to take a loan or when is it, if you're able to not, should you not?

Yeah, so we talk to families about looking at the entire aid package, and then if you need loans to fund your education, just borrow wisely, don't borrow the additional money that after your tuition is paid, after your books are paid.

If you don't need additional money from those loans, reduce those loans down to just what you need because it is a source of aid that you do have to repay.

And so it's working each year to know exactly what you need to borrow and then working with the school to make sure that's all you're taking.

And then if a student has the option of qualifying for a subsidized loan or an unsubsidized loan, a subsidized loan is a loan that does not accrue interest while the student's in school.

So when they do graduate or drop below half time, they're only starting off which is the principal.

And then there's the unsubsidized loan, which is not based on need that will accrue interest while the student's in school.

Both of these loans do have the option of making -- you can make payments on these loans while you're in school too.

So that when you do graduate, you're keeping down that loan payment as low as possible.

I think it's also important to note, as we mentioned earlier, when you complete that FAFSA and you're offered that $5,500 loan as an incoming dependent freshman, that may not be everything we need to get to the finish line.

And that's where other loans have to kind of come into that equation as well.

And sometimes, thankfully maybe you have enough scholarships and grants to get you to the finish line, you don't have to go down that route.

But the truth is there are a lot of families who are going to have to shop around and look for other loan products.

And the name of the game with that is to really, really dive into the details of what you're signing up for.

Interest rates can be very different from this lender to this lender and different institutions.

So you want to make sure that you're looking at what you're signing up for in terms of the fine print, the interest rate, because the way I look at it, if you can shave off a few points off that interest rate, that's almost as good as getting an extra scholarship, that might save you thousands and thousands of dollars over the life of repaying that loan.

Is there any place that families can go to kind of explore loan options like the places they go to explore scholarship options?

Yeah, a lot of banks offer loans, credit unions.

The State of Kentucky has something called the Kentucky Advantage Education Loan for Kentucky folks.

So there's no shortage of different avenues to explore with loans.

But again, what one family is offered for a particular loan might not be the same with, you know, credit scores being different, financial situations being different.

So kind of like what we were talking about keeping your options open when you're exploring colleges, you should also keep your options open when it comes to exploring loans.

Right.

And that brings up to, how is it determined how much financial aid a student gets and who makes that decision, can you explain that at all?

That is a loaded question.

So the base is going to start off with what's called a cost of attendance, which is basically the cost of what it will take for that student to attend your institution for one year.

And each school is supposed to have their cost of attendance listed on their website.

So you should be able to view the cost of attendance any time they mention their costs on their website.

From there, then the college has to determine what scholarship levels they want to make up.

So it is a numbers game.

So the colleges have to make some money too, and so they may put more scholarship money towards the better students.

They may offer scholarships to the lesser stellar students to qualify for scholarships.

But then they're also going to be able to use that money to apply for federal and state aid that can go towards that total cost of attendance.

Really, the families need to focus on those direct costs, of which direct cost is your tuition.

And if you're living on campus, the room and board, and then any fees that go along with the costs from those colleges.

And that's really what they really need to focus on as far as covering that balance.

And then if they need any additional funds, that's where loans can sometimes come into play, and that's where those conversations need to come in with the financial aid counselors as well.

And as far as scholarships, that is determined by a number of different things, obviously, depending on what scholarship you're applying to, but it also depends on who is applying to those scholarships.

So, as you mentioned, there are so many out there that are unused all the time.

And it's kind of the golden rule, whoever has the gold makes the rules, -Kelsey: Yeah.

-So when it comes to scholarships, you can find things for different things, and some colleges automatically put you in the running for any institutional scholarships that they have to offer.

Some have a separate form that you would fill out.

So it really can vary from school to school, but also organization to organization.

As we mentioned earlier, KEES money is an example of a scholarship that you could receive without filling out any forms or applications or anything.

But there are other scholarships like the Work Ready Scholarship where there is that additional application.

So it's super important to, to lean on the resources that are out there throughout the state.

Again, your high school counselor, your financial aid office at the colleges, KHEAA, there's no shortage of folks who are willing and able to help you, at least get pointed into the right direction.

And students need to really work with their admissions counselor.

So when they apply to a college, they will be assigned an admissions counselor who will help them through the college process at that institution.

And that admissions counselor is also going to direct them to any institutional scholarships that that student may qualify.

I always call the admissions team the cheerleading team.

They're the ones who really going to advocate for the student and show all the bright sides of the student to the financial aid office, because I have to admit we are very numbers driven in our offices.

It's very black and white as far as it's a number, this number, this student is going to qualify a scholarship based on their GPA or what they are doing in the sport.

And so that's where the admissions team is going to advocate for them and say, "Well, this student is also doing X, Y and Z, this is why we really need to try to get this student.

Here, is there anything else we can do for this student?"

The admissions team is also going to put them in contact with any coaches that they might be interested in.

So if they're interested in playing on a football team, they're going to put them in touch with their football recruiting team.

So then that football team or the athletic team will maybe evaluate that student.

This is where the student submits video or they come on campus and do a tryout, and then this athletic team will determine them how much scholarship they want to offer that student.

I always tell students to not take it personal if it's not the scholarship that you were hoping for.

For instance, they may already have linebackers in their roster and they really don't need another linebacker at this point in time, but they may offer you something to try to get you here.

Kelsey: Can students supplement scholarships with grants or Work Study programs and that type of thing?

Absolutely.

So, we've talked a lot about scholarships.

There's also federal and state grants that students can be eligible for as well.

The Pell grant, of course, is the largest federal grant.

There's also a grant called the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant that student -- federal grant that students may be eligible for.

We also have two state grants.

We have the CAP grant, which is, I believe for all universities, public or private.

And then we also have what we call the Kentucky Tuition Grant that is for just private universities where students are going full time.

So the CAP and KTG grant is based off the FAFSA as well, but it is also a first come first serve grant.

That's why we strongly encourage students to go ahead as soon as that FAFSA opens to get that application in because those grants do, they do go out to students who complete the FAFSA at first.

So it's very important to get that in early.

Bob: And those grants are - for Kentucky residents only.

-Yes.

What is the difference you would say to explain between a grant and a scholarship?

So grants are, again, grants are the federal and state grants.

Now, some schools may offer their own institutional grants as well.

But scholarships are more merit and academic based and need based.

Whereas grants is money that they get from the FAFSA.

And that is just first come first serve?

Yeah, so KHEAA administers the CAP grant and the KTG here in Kentucky.

So, again, that FAFSA is your best friend when it comes to a lot of these sources of money that are out there.

So as soon as, you know, we identify that this student is a Kentucky resident who would be eligible for one of these grants, KHEAA begins working behind the scenes based on that FAFSA.

So when we submit that FAFSA, goes to the federal government, goes to all the colleges that we list on there, and it comes to KHEAA in Frankfurt.

And all those different sources start working out their piece of that puzzle and it all kind of comes together at the finish line.

What is Work Study and how does that play into scholarships?

Work Study is, essentially, it works a little bit differently than a grant or a scholarship and that you're working, basically you're receiving a paycheck.

So when you complete the FAFSA, that's another thing that you can get in the running for.

But essentially, as a Work Study student, you a lot of times would work for the college that you're attending.

So it would be like a part-time job, usually like 10 to 20 hours a week, and then in return you get a paycheck for those hours work.

The thing that can sometimes get confusing, you'll see that sometimes pop up on an award offer from a college, but it's not really the same as like a scholarship or grant that it's automatically being driven down on your bill.

It's more if you go and apply for the job and you get that job and you work those hours, you get that in the form of a paycheck.

But it is a great way to get some experience, get a little extra spending money in your pocket.

I can't say enough great things about Work Study programs.

If it is something that you are offered, my advice to anyone who sees that pop up on an award offer, take it and run with it and start exploring positions that are available, to have that.

So they'll let you know if you qualify and you say, "Yes, I'd like to," and then you have to go and apply for whatever job?

Yeah, you would apply just as any other student would apply for a position.

But because of the way Work Study works behind the scenes, it can sometimes give you a little bit more of an advantage to get that particular position because a portion of that paycheck is subsidized through some federal funds.

And you qualify for that.

Okay.

So what about the Work Study?

Would you encourage kids to do?

And why do you think that's so important?

Michelle: I think it's great because it's a resume builder for starters.

It could be, for a lot of our students, it's their first work opportunity and it's a direct connection to campus.

So we see that students excel better when they have that direct connection to campus.

And so, like we have work days in our office that if they have a problem on campus and they're not sure where to go, they have us as a resource to start with.

And so when the FAFSA asks if you're interested in Work Study, absolutely, mark yes.

And then, see if the school offers it to you and then if you find that you can't juggle classes and athletics in Work Study, you can always decline it.

But it's a great opportunity for all students to, to try to take advantage of.

Now, do all of these things that we're talking about still qualify for part-time students or how does that work?

-Bob: Depends.

-Sure.

So, for instance, the Kentucky Tuition Grant, you have to be a full-time student.

The College Access Program Grant or CAP is prorated based on the number of hours you're taking, above six hours, I believe.

And then, of course, federal loans, you have to be six hours or above to be considered half time.

A Pell grant is on a sliding scale.

So, depending on the number of hours you're taking, if you qualify for that Pell grant, then you'll be awarded based on the number of hours.

So if you're even taking a one-hour class for 2024-2025, you can still qualify for a Pell grant.

It will just be a prorated amount.

Yeah, I think the key to that is, is as you're applying and you're getting those aid offers from each of the schools, make sure you're calling them and asking them about each item that's on that aid offer.

What is the criteria?

Do I need to be full time?

Is it renewable?

Do I need to do any extra steps next year to get the same offer that I'm getting?

Just so that you go into it educated and know that the financial aid package that you have as a freshman is going to be similar to the financial aid package that you might have as a senior.

Yeah, that's a really good point to make, Michelle.

At the end of the day, when we talk about like the private scholarships versus institutional scholarships, I can tell you from my experience, a lot of those local community scholarships are like a one-time deal, and that's great.

I'm not saying you shouldn't apply for them because who doesn't want that?

But you have to also ask yourself when you're looking and comparing these aid offers side by side from the different colleges that you've applied to and sent the FAFSA to, you kind of have to think long term like, okay, maybe at this school I have everything covered my freshman year.

Am I going to be in that same predicament this time next year?

So you kind of have to think ahead and make sure you have a plan not just for your freshman year but all the way through to the finish line.

That's why that's such a great point to ask those questions and make sure you really know what you're being offered at each particular institution.

Kelsey: Is that something you would tell people to keep doing all of this throughout their college time?

Like, as a sophomore, should you be looking for scholarships for the next year?

-Can you do that?

-Bob: Definitely.

Definitely.

Tuition, nine times out of ten will increase year after year.

And so therefore your out-of-pocket expenses is going to increase.

So therefore, it would be in the student's best interest to look for those outside scholarships.

And also, each year maybe have a conversation with the financial aid office just to review your financial aid package to make sure you understand it and just see if there's any additional resources that they could discover for them.

-I think it's... -Another -- go ahead.

I think it's important too, is this is airing in October that prime time to apply for any of those scholarships is going to be usually between October and March for the next year.

And so if you're waiting until August, when school starts to try to figure out how you're going to pay for school, a lot of times it's too late in the game, so.

Kelsey: You're going to be behind.

Yeah, so right now is really when we start making those plans and looking at scholarships and thinking about FAFSA and thinking ahead to what things are going to look like for you in August.

Keith: Along the lines of that time frame, a lot of families ask us at KHEAA, when's the best time to apply?

When's the best time to do the FAFSAs?

We mentioned already the FAFSA, as soon as you get the possibility of getting that completed you want to, because that line starts forming as soon as this FAFSA opens up.

In terms of applications, you also are going to be at a benefit of getting your admission applications done is earlier, you know, earlier the better.

Because the way we look at it is, you know, whatever college we're looking at, the longer we wait into the school year, the more some of these spots get filled up and potential scholarship dollars start dwindling down in budgets.

So we want to make sure that we are front of the line with all of this stuff.

So my advice to everyone is let's apply early on as early as we can.

Let's get that FAFSA done as quickly as we can and then you can kind of chill for a minute because all of this starts coming together on the back end.

Once we get the admission applications taken care of and we send that FAFSA out to all of our schools that we're interested in, that's what's going to prompt them to start working on these aid offers.

And when you get these aid offers, it could come anywhere from late winter into the spring.

You're going to get these aid offers and you can set them down side by side and really dive into the details of what each school is offering.

And then you can wait until like the spring to make that final decision.

So my advice to everyone is to, to really take your time on making that final decision, but it's a little bit of a hurry up and wait.

You want to get all the paperwork out of the way, you want to get the FAFSA out of the way, and then you have as much time as you need in the spring to really kind of iron it all out and figure out what's going to be the best fit for you and your family.

It really sounds like a lot to take in.

And I want to make sure that you all each have a moment to give kind of your final thoughts or advice to people who may be watching.

I would say, after listening to all of this, the main topic would be be proactive, right?

And really take all of this in, learn as much as you can, and you all are such a wealth of information and your doors are always open.

But I'll start with you, Amy.

Final thoughts on what the most important thing you think people should take away?

Again, be proactive.

Another thing, like Michelle said, make sure when you are reviewing your financial aid offers, you do look at all the years.

A lot of the scholarships, a lot of the time we see students who come in, their freshman year, they have everything lined out and then there are scholarships that they have to reapply for in order to receive them again and they don't do that.

So make sure that you know on all of your aid that you have what you need to do to keep that aid and if it's something that you can keep.

So important.

Bob?

I'd like to see the student to be proactive, too.

I'd like to see the students take initiative.

This is their first chance of being or going into adulthood.

I love it when the student contacts the admissions office or the financial aid office, and we are able to have that conversation with the student.

It doesn't mean the parent can't be right there next to the student, but I'd like to see that student taking that first step.

Kelsey: That's a great point.

I think so many parents, -it's so hard to let go -Bob: Let go.

and let them do adult things, but it is the best gift you can give to your kids to let them take the initiative and learn some of these things because they're going to have to do it the rest of their life Great point there.

Michelle?

I think I'm going to say, don't be afraid to ask questions.

No question is a silly question.

We do this every day.

So we take for granted some of the information we know, and so make sure that as you're getting aid offers, it's not a horrible thing to bring two in and ask a financial aid office, can you help me understand the difference between these two?

Because the biggest aid package is not always the best aid package.

-Kelsey: Great point.

-You have to understand that that tuition may be higher at another school and so they're able to offer more aid.

You want to look at the bottom line.

You want to look at all the free money that you're getting and what that net price is going to be for you when you're making those decisions.

Yeah, great point.

And like Bob said, you all are the numbers people, so bringing those to you all is a great option.

Keith?

Yeah, that sticker price is not that final price what we have to pay.

That's important to note.

For me, you know, we're in a year of a lot of changes, as we've talked a lot about some of these changes come down the pike with the FAFSA, but just remember what's not changed is that there is a lot of folks throughout the state who are available to help in any way, shape or form throughout this entire process, whether it be helping apply to college, helping with the FAFSA, so on and so forth.

Your admission counselors, financial aid counselors, every single student, no matter where you live in Kentucky, is represented by at least one KHEAA Outreach counselor.

And you're always more than welcome to reach out to us and we'd be happy to help.

A wealth of information.

Thank you all so much.

And again, for more information, the best place to start is @StudentAid.gov where you can find a lot of these resources and we've hooked you up with a lot of these resources as well.

You can also visit the KASFAA Facebook page for more too, that's K-A-S-F-A-A.

We thank you so much for watching College Financial Aid 2024.

Thank you all for sharing your experience and we hope we've helped you address some of the many issues of college financial aid as we bring parents and students together to some of these issues.

For KET and our guests tonight, goodnight.