Seekonk Students Navigate the Financial Aid Process

This is the time of year students begin to fill out financial aid forms, and is hoping their Financial Aid Night helped clear up confusion about that process.

“Each year we offer a program for parents of juniors and seniors to learn about the financial aid process,” said Chris Whatley, Seekonk High's guidance director.

This year’s program, held Thursday, featured a presentation and question and answer session with Jan Combs, a representative from MEFA, a non-profit organization that provides financial aid information to families in the state.

The first part of the financial aid process for high school students is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which is required by all colleges for federal and state aid. It can be turned in as early as Jan 1 and is require to be done by March 15.

“We encourage them to apply as early as possible,” Whatley said.

FAFSA uses a largely income-based formula to determine an estimated family contribution to tuition, but also takes into consideration a family’s other assets as well as size. Combs says the formula calculates a family contribution to be anywhere between 23 and 47 percent of their income.

“It pays to save,” said Combs as savings do not heavily factor into the financial aid process.

In the 2009-10 academic year, $154.46 billion was given out in financial aid. About half 43 percent were loans, but the rest were grants, scholarships and tuition waivers. Aid can come from federal or state grants, state or college scholarships as well as outside scholarships from local organizations, such as Elks Clubs, businesses or religious groups.

The guidance office at Seekonk High School also provides a list of available scholarships that is updated weekly.

Fastweb.com is an online resource for finding available scholarships.

“You should never pay anyone to do a scholarship search for you,” said Combs, noting that there are companies that offer this, but that they do not do anything you wouldn’t be able to do yourself.

Need-based aid is based on a family’s financial needs like in FAFSA, whereas merit-based aid is awarded for academic, athletic or other achievements. Combs suggests that parents ask colleges if there is any merit-based aid available to ensure they are getting the most possible aid.

Some common mistakes parents and students make while filling out financial aid are filling in the wrong information in some sections, such as parents putting their income in the section that is supposed to contain the student’s income.

Additionally, FAFSA gives both parents and students a PIN number, but many parents only get both numbers in order to fill in both parent and student information. It is also important to keep the number in a safe place as it is used every year.

Students can get more information about financial aid by calling the school's guidance office and by going on the MEFA website.