logoFAFSA for every student
  • FAFSA TRACKER
  • WHAT WORKS
  • THE GUIDE
  • GET SOCIAL
  • MORE RESOURCES

Month: November 2018

Liliana: Ignoring People Who Said I Couldn’t Do It

Posted on November 27, 2018November 27, 2018 by Barry Whitaker
Liliana: Ignoring People Who Said I Couldn’t Do It

“My dad used to work in construction. One day, he fell from the second floor of a house. He really hurt his back and it’s difficult for him to walk now. He’s been on disability ever since,” says Liliana.

Liliana’s dad has been an inspiration to her, especially when other adults in her life weren’t supportive.

“My dad is my main motivation. Even though he doesn’t have stability, he has always encouraged me to do better. My mom doesn’t pay much attention to me and wasn’t so good about the idea of me going to college. But my dad supports me. He said he was proud of me.”

Besides her dad’s encouragement, seeing her siblings struggle made her decide to go to college.

“In 11th grade, I started thinking about what to do with my life. I have five older brothers and one older sister. They all dropped out to help my parents out. I am the only one who has finished high school,” Liliana explains.

“Seeing my siblings struggle — I don’t want to be like that. They have children and I think they were not financially ready for it. I’m not saying kids are bad. They are a blessing to your family. But I want to get myself together and finish college and accomplish something first.”

Figuring out the FAFSA

Because Liliana’s family depends on her income, she decided to become a medical assistant. “I need to work and the program is faster. I started looking at how much it was going to cost me.”

Liliana learned about the FAFSA from Café College. “A woman named Melissa reached out to me. I went to her office right across from my high school to fill it out.”

“My first thought was, Oh, this is going to be so easy. It will probably take 15 minutes. But I didn’t have my parent’s income tax information, so I had to come back the next day.”

Liliana’s mom didn’t want to give her the information at first. “My mom didn’t want me to go to college. I had to tell her it is going to be good for me. Eventually, she said okay.”

Liliana finished the FAFSA with Melissa’s help. Then, another surprise came.

Getting help when she was asked for additional documentation

Liliana’s college selected her for verification. “They asked for a lot of information. My mom’s income tax transcript. Proof of my dad’s disability income. I had to go back and forth, back and forth.”

“It was a relief. I don’t have to pay out of my pocket and I don’t have to work extra hours.”

“I asked Melissa for help. She is more experienced with the FAFSA and I didn’t want to make any mistakes,” Liliana recalls.

She thought she was done, but there was one more issue. “The college said my mom didn’t sign the FAFSA electronically. They gave me a form I could take home for her to sign.” She did, and then Melissa even went with Liliana to the college financial aid office to make sure everything was right.

Liliana’s persistence paid off. She was awarded enough financial aid to cover the cost of school.

“I felt lucky. It was a relief. I don’t have to pay out of my pocket and I don’t have to work extra hours. I save up money, but I can’t save a big amount in order for me to go to college.”

Liliana’s advice: Be patient

“The main thing is not to give up and be patient with the FAFSA. It was worth it, all that stuff I went through,” she says.

Liliana hopes other students will ask for help if they need it. “Asking a question won’t hurt you. I was shy at the beginning — I’m not going to lie. Just ask counselors or go to an organization like Café College.”

She adds, “It doesn’t matter if you get any judgement from other people. People asked, ‘Why are you going to college? Why don’t you just start working?’ Just ignore that. I know I have the capacity to go for something that I actually like to do.”

“Once you receive that degree or certificate you are aiming for or wanting to get, you are going to be like, ‘It was worth it going through all of this stuff.’”

Liliana will be attending San Jacinto College to become a medical assistant. Later on, she’d like to study accounting and build her own business.

Posted in Student StoriesLeave a Comment on Liliana: Ignoring People Who Said I Couldn’t Do It

10 Key Tips and Tools for Helping Students Understand Financial Aid

Posted on November 4, 2018November 6, 2018 by Ryan
10 Key Tips and Tools for Helping Students Understand Financial Aid

By guest bloggers Diane Cheng, Research Director at The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS), and Erica Rose, Senior Director of Programs, Massachusetts, at uAspire

Affordability is a key issue for many students and families when choosing which colleges to apply to and attend, but the financial aid process can seem overwhelming. At the recent NCAN conference in Pittsburgh, TICAS and uAspire shared specific ways that counselors can help students and families approach the issue of college affordability and understand their financial aid options.

Here are a few of the tips and tools we shared:

  1. The Financial Aid Toolkit from the U.S. Department of Education is an online “one-stop shop” for counselors, with information about financial aid and a searchable database of resources – including resources in Spanish and information for parents.
  2. To help decide where to apply, students and families can use the Education Department’s College Scorecard, an online college comparison tool with data on costs, graduation rates, debt, post-college earnings, and more.
  3. To look past sticker price and get early, individualized estimates of financial aid, students can use net price calculators. These online tools are required to be on almost all college websites, and can help students start thinking about affordability early in their college search.
  4. Students and parents can now fill out the FAFSA on their phones, using FAFSA.gov or the myStudentAid mobile app. However, certain functionality is only available on FAFSA.gov and not currently available on the mobile app (e.g., access for undocumented parents who can’t get an FSA ID, and students’ ability to view their Student Aid Report or make corrections to their FAFSA).
  5. Since students can now start filling out the FAFSA on Oct. 1 each year, they should start building college lists during their junior year. Those lists should include colleges that students know they have a good chance of being accepted to and can afford. Students should also fight the urge to make a deposit before receiving and reviewing all award letters – wait until National College Decision Day (May 1)!
  6. When filling out the FAFSA, students and parents should use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) to electronically transfer their tax data into the FAFSA. This tool helps simplify and shorten the FAFSA process as well as reduce how much documentation students have to provide if they are selected for verification.
  7. Students are not done with the financial aid process after they complete the FAFSA! Some will be selected for verification and required to submit additional documentation to colleges before they can receive financial aid. Counselors can help by having students request IRS documentation early (tax transcripts if they or their parents filed taxes, and verification of non-filing if they didn’t file taxes), making sure they keep an eye out for verification, and reassuring them that being selected doesn’t mean they did anything wrong!
  8. Our research has found that many financial aid award letters are inconsistent, confusing, or misleading to students. Counselors can help by providing a glossary of terms, analyzing and comparing award letters with students and families, and brokering communication with colleges. See more tips here.
  9. When reviewing estimated bills, students should consider savings, tuition payment plans, summer work, and outside scholarships before considering loans. If they need to borrow, they should turn to federal loans first, which guarantee consumer protections and repayment options that private loans do not.
  10. For information about student loans, check out TICAS’ resources on projectonstudentdebt.org and the Education Department’s resources on StudentAid.gov and YouTube. The Education Department also offers an online repayment estimator that can help students see how expected borrowing translates into monthly payments and understand the range of repayment plans available for federal student loans (including some plans where payments can be as low as $0).

For more tips, see our handout from the conference.

Posted in What WorksLeave a Comment on 10 Key Tips and Tools for Helping Students Understand Financial Aid

Danica: Leaving High School with No Regrets

Posted on November 1, 2018November 8, 2018 by Chris Hunter
Danica: Leaving High School with No Regrets

“I’m part of the New Mexico Leadership Institute, and we have to volunteer on an issue in New Mexico. I chose to work with a nonprofit organization that helps women break out of unhealthy or abusive relationships,” Danica says.

“I felt that was my way to give back. A lot of the women have the same personal background as my parents. Seeing the women actually trying to improve their lives was very important to me.”

Danica says she had a difficult upbringing with her biological parents. “My guardians are now my grandma and godmother. When I was with my mom — she was a teen mom — education wasn’t my top priority. I felt I had to take care of her rather than myself.”

“Once I got in a stable home, I realized that education is so important. I saw people around me that did jobs they didn’t like and had to work their butts off. I realized education is the key to success and having a career that’s your passion.”

Explaining the FAFSA to her grandmother and godmother

“My school had a great college and career counselor named Ms. Delgadillo. When senior year came, she would advertise and go around the school to make sure students were on top of things that were important. One of those was the FAFSA.”

Danica remembers, “When I first heard about the FAFSA, I thought it was going to be long — way longer than it was. And I didn’t really know it was for financial aid for college. It was good that Ms. Delgadillo explained what it was.”

Danica started the FAFSA at school and then went home to fill out the rest.

“My grandmother and my godmother were very, very confused. They were asking, ‘What is this FAFSA, and why are they asking these questions?’ It asks personal questions and for tax information and everything,” she explains.

“I had to explain to them that FAFSA is something I have to do in the college process in order to get some money to pay for some college classes. Once they heard that, they were on board.”

Getting past the awkward wording

“Just understanding and answering the questions correctly took some time. The wording was awkward,” Danica recalls.

“Like, on the tax form, there is certain information you need. On the FAFSA, it asks for that http://www.myhealthy365.com/buy-tramadol-uk/ information, but it doesn’t exactly line up so it was hard to locate on the tax form.”

Danica went to Ms. Delgadillo for help. “I answered what I could, and then went back to my counselor to get it finished. It was tricky because I messed up on one of the questions, so I had to go back and fix it later.”

“When I found out what I was getting from the FAFSA, it was the weekend. My counselor texted me to check how much I got, so I did. I ran to my grandma and godmother and was like, ‘Look!’”

“I thought I wasn’t going to get as much aid as I did. I was glad I didn’t let the challenge of filling out the FAFSA stop me.”

Danica remembers how happy they all were. “They said, ‘That’s the form we spent a day filling out with our taxes?’ and I said, ‘Yeah!’ They were so excited. It’s a burden off their shoulders. I will be the first one going to college in my family. They said I’ll be a role model to my younger siblings, nieces and nephews.”

“I thought I wasn’t going to get as much aid as I did. I was very thankful and glad I didn’t let the challenge of filling out the FAFSA stop me.”

Danica’s advice: It’s worth the time

“A lot of people think, why even do the FAFSA? Because everything counts. Whatever you can get for college counts because college is very expensive and it is really helpful getting something when your parents don’t have it. It might surprise them to see what they can get in the end,” says Danica.

“It took some time. Creating an account took me a day, another day filling out the questions I could understand, and the last day getting help from my counselor. But those three days to get as much as I did was definitely worth it.”

“It feels like I have no regrets leaving high school. I am so ready to begin the next chapter of my life.”

Danica will be attending the University of New Mexico. She hasn’t declared a major, but hopes to go to graduate school and pursue a career as an obstetrician/gynecologist, therapist or in another health field.

Posted in Student StoriesLeave a Comment on Danica: Leaving High School with No Regrets

Recent Posts

  • FAFSA Renewals Down 12%, Nearly 900,000 Students Through March 31
  • Karina: From Rehab to College
  • 5 Key Components of State FAFSA Challenges
  • North Carolina Model Offers Promising Statewide Approach to Driving FAFSA Completion
  • NCAN’s FAFSA Tracker Returns for 5th Year Hoping for a Trendline Turnaround

Recent Comments

    Archives

    • April 2022
    • December 2021
    • November 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • August 2021
    • July 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • January 2021
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018

    Categories

    • Data
    • FAFSA Pros
    • Student Stories
    • Uncategorized
    • What Works

    Meta

    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org

    #FORMYOURFUTURE is sponsored by

    National College access Network

    About Privacy Policy
    cc creative commons

    Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license and a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International license.

    © 2023 NCAN. All rights reserved.