Understanding your Financial Aid Presentation

Yeah, I've definitely noticed how fuzzy my hair can get on camera.

Good morning, welcome to BGSU's virtual presidents day. It's actually presidents day. Monday, February 15th. We have been celebrating and engaging and connecting with students and families all week. The irony is that a big snowstorm is hitting the state of Ohio.

Normally this would be a big in person event today where they would come hundreds, thousands of students and families to campus, but because of the snow, probably a lot of people will cancel. But because of the pandemic and us being on line, I feel that more people are going to be engaging with us throughout the day. So that is super super exciting. My name is Brandy bar height. I'm the director of enrollment communication here at BGSU and I am on campus and we are doing tours even though it is snowing and I am with Emily Hubble stabili.

And she is with the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships. And we are here today to talk about understanding your financial aid presentation. I think you might be seeing in our chat. There are moderators are introducing themselves. They're going to be here for you for the next 3045 minutes to answer your questions and also maybe have a little bit of fun. Ask a few questions, get to know you. I'm gonna pop off camera, turn it over to Emily for a formal introduction in her presentation will start collecting the questions to bring back to Emily. Maybe around 10:30.

I will do a live Q&A at that time will try to answer some of them in the chat, but we might save most of them for the end. With Emily. The other thing I want you to remember is because we're talking about financial aid. Some of it might be like sensitive information, especially this about your personal finances. So if we can answer that question out loud or in writing, we'll make sure we connect with you after the presentation. So without further ado, I'm turning it over to Emily CS.

Good morning everyone. Like Brandy said, my name is Emily Hubble. Staib Leanne. I work in the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships, and today I'm going to spend about 1/2 an hour talking to you about the financial aid process at BGSU. So I'm going to go over a few different things. I'm going to start with at BGSU timeline, so some dates that have already passed some things that you should be doing now and then. Some things to look forward to later this spring. An over the summer.

I'm going to talk about the financial aid process, so what's actually going on behind the scenes? Once you submit that fasfa to BGSU, I'm going to go over different types of financial aid. BGSU offers and then finally, I'm going to talk about that financial aid offer so that thing that you're waiting for to see what financial aid you're going to receive from BGSU. I'm going to show you examples and talk to you about important next steps to make sure that everything runs smoothly for you. When it comes to your financial.

Need so we'll go ahead and get started with that timeline and the first date on my timeline is actually going back in time and that is October 1st now. October 1st was the very first day that you could complete that 2021-2022 fasfa. So that is when it opened in October 1st is when it opens every year, so it's a really good idea to put that on your calendar too because you'll be at BGSU for only a couple of months and you already have to start thinking about completing the fasfa.

For the next year, because the fasfa you do it every year you're at BGSU the next day on. My timeline is also back in time and that is January 15th now. January 15th was the priority deadline for BGSU. So that was our deadline to apply for all BGSU scholarships and that is also when we were hoping that you would be admitted and have your Fastpass submitted to be considered for maximum financial aid.

Now don't worry if you did apply after that date or you got those documents into us after that January 15th date, that's OK too. You still absolutely can qualify for financial aid. It might just look a little bit different.

The next date on my timeline is one that's in just a week from today and that is February 22nd now. February 22nd is the day that you can expect to see your financial aid offer, so that is when you'll be able to log into your my BGSU student center. Click on that financial aid tab and see any financial aid that BGSU has offered you. Now this is going to include financial aid both from the federal government. So loans.

Grants work study as well as any BGSU scholarships you may have been awarded a little later on. I'm going to show you some samples of what a financial aid offer may look like, but we can talk a little bit more about that in a little bit. The next date on my timeline is May 1st. Now May 1st is the very first day that you can start taking action on that federal financial aid, so you're going to get an offer. You're going to see that you are offered certain kinds of financial aid.

But you won't be able to do anything in terms of accepting that aid until at least May 1st. So that's when you can go ahead and accept student loans as well as take next steps on student and parent loans. If you're choosing to utilized that type of aid. And of course I will go over all the different types of aid that BGSU offers as well, and then the last two dates on my timeline are July 1st and August 1st, and I know these seem really far down the line over this summer, but I like to include them.

Timeline because these dates they don't change, so every single year on July 1st. That is when you'll receive your fall bill, so that's when you'll be able to log into your my BGSU and actually see the charges. BGSU is billing you and then August 1st. That is when those fall bills are due. And like I said these dates don't change so it's a really good idea to pop these in your calendar and it will only help you with that planning for.

Your financial success, so that is my quick timeline, low down. Not too many dates to remember, but just some ideas of where you have been where you are now and what to look forward to in the coming weeks and months. So now I want to talk just a little bit about the fast, but hopefully all of you tuning in have completed that 2021-2022 fasfa. However, if you have not done that yet, that's OK, you are still able to complete the fast but.

Now of course, we recommend that you complete it as soon as possible so that you can receive that financial aid offer on time along with all the other incoming students. Now just a reminder that 2021-2022 fasfa it will ask for that 2019 tax information, which means it's a good idea to have that information right next to you when you sit down to complete the fasfa, and then of course you'll want to make sure that you are including BGSU as one of your schools of choice.

We have our BGSU school code on the screen right now. Totally fine. If you can't remember that number when you sit down to do the fasfa, you can always search for Bowling Green State University.

So once you do submit that fast, but you're going to get an email that says congratulations, you successfully submitted the fasfa. Along with that, you're going to get what's called a student aid report or an essay are now. This is just a summary of everything you just put in that fast bus, so nothing new there. However, your student aid report does contain one very important number, and that is your EFC or your expected family contribution.

Now, this expected family contribution is what BGSU uses, along with all the other schools to determine how much financial aid you receive and what kinds of financial aid you receive. And I'll go a little bit over how we actually determine that as well. But then after you submit that fast food too, that's when you can start expecting to see that financial aid offer hit your inbox and your mailbox. Starting on February 22nd.

Now the last thing I like to talk about when it comes to the fasfa is this thing called verification. Now essentially what verification is is you submit that fasfa everything looks good on your end, it goes off to the Department of Education. The Department of Education comes back to BGSU and goes oh hold on. I'm going to need some additional documentation from the student to verify what's on their fasfa. So if you're selected for verification, we're going to request some additional documentation.

To finish processing your fasfa so that means two things. First, we can award you financial aid and two we can't even tell you what your financial aid is going to be until we receive those documents. So students, it is a really good idea that after my presentation today, you log into that, my BGSU student center and check on those action items you have A to do list and a hold list and if we need any additional documentation from you.

We will have it listed in those lists, so definitely take a look at those action items. Make sure they are clear, because if they are clear and good to go then you'll be getting that financial aid offers starting on the 22nd. However, if you have some items on there that you need to submit, definitely you'll want to submit those as soon as possible so you can get your financial aid offer as soon as possible.

So now I want to talk a little bit about where that EFC comes into play and what's actually going on behind the scenes. Once you submit that Fasfa so it all starts with this thing, that's called a cost of attendance. Now the cost of attendance, it is exactly how it sounds. It is how much it costs to attend BGSU, so this includes things like tuition and fees, right? Make sense. That's what's paying for you to attend those classes. This includes things like room and meals.

Again, we have that living on campus requirement, and if you're living on campus, you're eating on campus, so those are costs. This also includes things like books and supplies, so you're still going to need books for your classes. You're still going to be pens, papers, binders, whatever. You need to be successful. This includes things like transportation costs, so maybe you're not living on campus. Maybe you're a commuter student, but you're still driving to and from campus everyday, so that's a cost. Even if you are living on campus, you leave campus every now and again, so you leave that Thanksgiving break. Winter break summer break.

Maybe going home over the weekend, so that's a cost. And then finally, we're also considering things like those miscellaneous costs. So things like soap and shampoo because we want our students to be clean laundry detergent because we want to to wear clean clothes so when financial aid is considering how much we're going to award in financial aid, we are not just looking at what BGSU is going to bill you. Because when we award financial aid.

We want you to not only afford to pay that Bill, but we want you to afford to come to BGSU.

So then what do we do with that cost of attendance? Well, we plug it into our very own equation, so we take that cost of attendance. We subtract that EFC or that expn.

Impacted family contribution that's coming from your fasfa and then whatever that remaining number is is a student's financial need and that means that BGSU can't award beyond a students financial need. So that is how we determine how much financial aid a student receives. And when I say financial aid, what am I talking about? Well, we have four types of financial aid at BGSU. We have scholarships.

Grants, loans and work study or working on campus now that first one we all know what scholarships are right. They are free money. You do not need to pay them back and they come in all different shapes and sizes. Hopefully you were able to apply for BGSU scholarships before that January 15th deadline. And like I mentioned earlier, if you are awarded any scholarships from that application, you will see those scholarships listed on your financial aid offer.

When you receive it on February 22nd, now right now is also a really great time to be applying for those outside scholarships scholarships that you can find in your local community. So I would recommend taking a look at what's available in your school district. Organizations, groups, churches that you may already be apart of. Scholarships like to hide in all different places so it's always worth checking about looking for everything you can find, because every little bit adds up. And of course we will accept your outside scholarships.

The next type of financial aid are grants now, like scholarships, grants their free money. You do not need to pay them back. However, grants are coming directly from the federal and state government, and they're all based off of your fasfa. So the number one grant is that federal Pell Grant, and for this upcoming year, the maximum a student can receive for the year is $6495.

The only way to receive that full amount is if a student's EFC or that expected family contribution is 0.

Now as that EFC increases, that Pell Grant decreases, so you may receive that full amount. You may receive a portion of that amount, or you may not be eligible at all. It is all based off of that EFC. Now the next grant on my list is these supplemental educational opportunity grants, which personally I think is a little bit of a mouthful, so we like to call it COG and this one is also coming from the federal government. However, instead of them giving you money.

They give BGSU a big pot of money and they say here you figure out who receives it. So at BGSU. In order to qualify for COG we like to have seen students apply and be admitted and have their Fastpass submitted by that priority. Deadline of January 15th and they have to have that zero EFC.

The last grant on my list is the Ohio College opportunity grants, and unfortunately, if I have any out of Staters joining us today, you will not see this on your financial aid offer. That's because this is a grant for Ohio residents attending Ohio universities, and again, that eligibility is based off of that EFC or that expected family contribution.

The next type of financial aid is federal work study. Now there is a specific question on the fast food that asks are you interested in federal work study? I always recommend just clicking yes by clicking. Yes, you are not agreeing to anything. You're not saying you're going to get a job on campus. You certainly don't have to pay anything back by clicking. Yes, all you're doing is you're saying, I agree for you to check my eligibility for federal work study so it doesn't hurt you at all by clicking yes. Now what federal work study is.

Our students going on to handshake, which is our job search tool at BGSU looking for jobs? Applying, interviewing and being accepted into that position and then working normal hours throughout the week making the same wages as all of the other students on campus and receiving that as a paycheck to their own account, which they can spend their money on whatever they need. So you might be wondering, how is this any different than just getting a job on campus? And really, it's not. The difference comes down to who's actually paying.

This student, so when you are on federal work study program, 60% of your paycheck is being paid by the federal government, whereas 40% of your paycheck is being paid by BGSU. So it does make you a little bit more of a desirable candidate, especially for some of our smaller offices on campus, which means they don't have to pay as much out of their pockets, but you are receiving the same amount. So if you are not offered federal work study, do not worry. You are still able to get.

A job on campus and you are still able to use that amount to whatever you need. Another thing to keep in mind for federal work study is if you do see this on your financial aid offer. Please note that the amount that's listed next to it is not coming out of your bill, so that amount is not paying your bill. Instead, that is the amount a student can make up to through a federal work study job.

Now the next type of financial aid are federal student loans, and every time I get here, I always feel like I need to go done, done, done because they can be a little bit scary and I know we have heard horror stories about student loans. However, they don't typically come from federal student loans, and I'll tell you why. So there are two types of federal student loans. There is a subsidized loan and an unsubsidized loan.

A subsidized loan means that interest is not accruing while the student is in school, so the amount that you take out now is going to be the same amount that you have to pay back later.

An unsubsidized loan means that interest is accruing while you're in school, so when you go to pay back that amount, you're paying back the original amount. The loan is 4 plus the interest that has been building on that loan while you've been in school. Now, both of these loans, however, do not go into repayment until six months after you graduate or stop attending now this year, the interest rate for these loans was 2.75%. Now, the reason I say this year.

Is because I don't know what next years are going to be that typically gets announced by the federal government sometime over the summer. But of course, once we find that out, we won't let you know as well. Now, the reason I tell you that those horror stories don't typically come from those federal student loans is because there are set amounts as to what a student will receive. So every freshman in United States who does that fast though, regardless of that financial information, will be offered 5500.

In a student loan for the year.

Of that 5500, only 3500 can be in a subsidized loan, so we're even limited on how much we're able to offer in that subsidized loan.

Now from there sophomores, they're offered 6500 and juniors and seniors are offered 7500 period. Those are the loan amounts that students will receive.

Now parent plus loans on the other hand are a different story. Now parent plus loans are most likely you will see this on your financial aid offer and the way that we come up with the amount that we offer in a parent plus loan is. We will take all the financial aid the student was offered. So loans, grants, scholarships, work, study. We subtract it from that cost of attendance we were talking about earlier and then whatever that remaining amount is is how much we're able to offer in a parent plus loan.

So for some of you it could look like 5000 for some of you it could look like 20,000 plus. It all depends on how much financial aid this student was offered. Now, just like the name, a parent plus loan is for the parents, so that means it's not in the student's name and will never be in the students name. Now this is also an unsubsidized loans, so interest is accruing while the student is in school. The current interest rate for this parent plus loan.

Is 5.3% again, we won't know what next year's numbers are until over the summer. Now a couple things to keep in mind with that parent plus loan, especially when you're taking a look at that financial aid offer. Parent plus loans do require a separate application and credit check by the parent. So just because you see it on that financial aid offer does not mean you have already been approved for that loan. It still does require that application and credit check.

By the parents. Another thing is you might see a lot of money offered in a parent plus loan, but you may not need that whole parent plus loan and that is totally OK. Think of that offer as a maximum, not a suggestion. So we definitely want you to be smart borrowers. An only take out the amount that you need so you are able to take anywhere from zero to the full amount that is offered on the students financial aid offer.

The next type of financial aid that some of you will see is a teach grant. Now that each brand is specifically for students who are interested in going into an educational field and essentially what this is, is it cramped. That helps students go towards that educational field, and as long as they teach for at least four years within eight years of graduating in a high need low income area, any amount that the student received in a teach grant.

Is just that is a grants they do not need to pay it back. However, if a student receives a teach grant and they do not teach for at least four years within eight years of graduating and a high need low income area, any amount that they received in a teach grant turns into an unsubsidised loan with full interest accrual from the time in which they took it out. So that is why we caution our freshman, an even our sophomores from taking out the teach Grant. We want to make sure that.

Being in the classroom is absolutely something that you want major change all the time. I started off as an early childhood education major. I graduated as a double major in communications. An International Studies. Had I taken out the teach Grant, I would currently be paying it back as an unsubsidized loan. So we just want you to be careful. We want to make sure you're making the right decision, and we don't want you to be paying more than you want. You need to once you graduate.

And then finally, there are private loans. Now private loans are what we like to consider last resort, and this is where you can hear those horror stories from. That's because private loans come in all different shapes and sizes and it's up to you, the student, and your family to navigate that private loan and find the best interest rate and repayment option for you and your family. A couple of things to keep in mind is if you are choosing to use a private loan to cover additional costs.

Most freshmen and sophomores do require a cosigner, and that's because typically our freshmen sophomores do not have established credit to be approved for a loan on their own. We also want you to find those best interest rates and best repayment options. And of course, once you've looked at all of your financial aid, seeing what you're able to pay out of pocket or through a payment plan, and you still need that private loan, we will be here to help you navigate that process. We are more than happy to help you figure out.

What private loan is right for you?

Alright, so let's talk about that financial aid offer. So like I keep saying, you can expect to see that financial aid offer starting next week. So February 22nd you will be receiving an email saying, hey, you can go see your financial aid in your my BGSU student center. We are also going to be mailing you a physical financial aid offer. This will arrive a week or two after that February 22nd date but it will have some really important information on it.

In addition to your financial aid offer, it will list out our costs as well as some important next steps and some additional information about what you're seeing on that offer. Now, like I mentioned as well, if you did apply for BGSU scholarships, those will be listed on that financial aid offer as well, so that is a really great thing to know, especially since I know some of you haven't heard from those scholarships yet. And then like I said, they will include next steps and some important.

Information now I want to show you some examples of what a financial aid offer could look like, so of course we don't have this years yet, so I grabbed one from last year and this is an example of what a student could receive. So this particular student was not eligible for any grants, meaning their EFC was not within range to receive that Pell Grant ECOG, or Ohio Community Ohio College opportunity Grant. This student also did not qualify for any BGSU scholarships.

So that means the financially that we were able to offer where that federal student loan and that federal Pell are a parent plus loan. So, but as you can see, we do have that subsidized and unsubsidized loan totaling that 5500. Then we take that 5500 subtracted from the cost of attendance, and that remaining amount is 21,600. So that is what we were able to offer in a parent plus loan and remember.

All of these loan amounts you can adjust yourself, so think of them as maximums, not as suggestions.

This is another offer and this one looks a lot different, so this student was eligible for grants. This student also received a scholarship so as you can see, you have that federal Pell Grants. You have ECOG, you have that Ohio College opportunity Grant.

This student received that University freshman academic scholarship as well, which something to note there. If you receive that same scholarship, remember that is a four year scholarship, so you receive that same amount all four years here at BGSU.

This student also received that subsidized and unsubsidized loan for that 5500, and then finally, they also received a parent plus loan. However, that amount is a lot different. That's because this particular student was offered more financial aid, so we added all of those things together, subtracted it from that cost of attendance, and then that remaining amount was what we offered in a parent plus loan.

So what should you be doing now? Well, right now I always recommend starting to have conversations about finances. Talking about money is never fun or easy, but it is absolutely necessary. Students, I am guessing the majority of you have not had a bill in your name for 8, ten, $15,000. How are you planning on paying that bill? Are you hoping for help from a family member or is it all on you so it is really important to start having conversations with your support group?

And figuring out how you're planning on paying that bill. If I have family members tuning in today too, are you planning on helping your student? Whether that's financially or emotionally or a little bit of both? What are your expectations of your student?

Having these conversations early will only set you up for success and make you prepared for when it comes time when those bills come out in July.

I also want all of my students tuning in today to check on those action items in your my BGSU student center. I want you to make sure that it is all clear that we are not requesting additional documentation and if we are requesting.

Additional documentation to complete it and submit it as soon as possible. Like I keep saying I want you to receive your financial aid along with all the other students receiving their financial aid. So the first step to doing that is making sure you don't need to submit any additional documentation.

Then of course, I want you to look out for that financial aid offer if you do not receive an email or a financial aid offer from us on the 22nd, chances are it's because we're still missing something from you, so checking that out now instead of next week is a really good way to make sure you get that financial aid offer in a timely manner.

And then finally, I want you to ask questions. Of course, our moderators are standing by an. I see that they've been answering questions this whole time, so if you continue to have questions, feel free to throw them in the chat. Brandy's also going to pop back on and we're going to ask or answer some questions live as well. However, we also have some really great people in this office of Student Financial aid and scholarships who are happy to answer your questions today, tomorrow, 4 weeks from now all the way down the line.

We are more than happy to not only put you on the phone or set up a one on one appointment, whether that be virtually or in person. So Brandy, what kind of questions do we have?

Back asking some questions already and getting those answers. There's been some really fun polls that I've noticed I wanted to pull the students to see if anyone else is eating food and Valentine treats. I know I have chocolate covered Oreos, cake pops. It's amazing what you can do when you're off camera, right? And still absorb information about BGSU. So there are a few themes I'm noticing in the question. I think would be great for you to address.

As a whole, and I was really impressed with this particular question because often students don't think about after graduation and paying back the loans because I've seemed so far away. So we did have a student asked, like when do you start paying back the loans and how do you actually pay them back? Is it on line? Is it sending the check to the US government? Like how does that work?

Yeah, so when it comes to federal student loans, that repayment begins six months after you graduate, so we wait six months and then you go into repayment. That's when you have to start paying those loans back. Now, once you that loan is actually dispersed. So the very first semester you use a federal student loan, you're actually going to get an email from who your loan lender is, so.

Even though it's a federal loan, the federal government uses other companies and loan lenders to actually distribute those loans. So you'll get an email from whoever that loan lender is. For example, mine is Nelnet, so that is who I go through to pay my loans. And then it works really just like any other bank. So you're able to go online. Usually they have an app you can log in and start making those payments, and then of course they will give you what their suggested payment.

Is but there are a lot of options in repaying those, so there's income driven payments, which means you submit your current income at the time, and they will then lower or adjust your loan amount or your repayment amount to something that may be a little bit more manageable for you. There's also graduated payment, so you start off small and then they grow overtime and there's deferred payments as well, so maybe you haven't found a job or you don't have an income within six months after graduating.

You are able to defer payment a little bit longer if you don't have an income, so there are a lot of different options. And of course, four years is a long time from now. Things can change, things can adjust, but that is how it is working currently.

Thanks for that information. There's a student Dylan who would like to see the slide again with all of the different loan types. So maybe you can pull that up because I know that can be you know, confusing for students and when we start to pull that up this might be a good opportunity to talk a little bit about the difference again as well as are there any steps that students need to take once they are offered the loans? Like what do they have to do or they just get it automatically?

Yeah, so I'm hoping that I pulled up the right slide here so this goes over that subsidized and unsubsidized loan from the federal government. So just a reminder that subsidized loan means that interest is not accruing, so the amount that you take out now is going to be the same amount you go to repay when it's time to repay those loans. And unsubsidized loan means that interest is accruing. So when you go to pay that loan back, you'll be paying up the amount that you took out, plus the interest that has been growing on that loan.

Since you've been in school now.

Both of these loans junk on your payment until six months after you graduate. Randy, I forgot the other half of that question.

I'm going to see if I can remember it as well. Um, I think he just wanted to see the slide and then you've explained the difference. But also are there any steps to take in order to be like? Yes, I want this loan.

Yes, so for all financial aid, so loans, grants, and scholarships. BGSU automatically accepts them on your behalf. However, any first time borrower does need to complete three steps, the first step is you need to complete entrance counseling.

Next step is a master promissory note, which is essentially just your official signature saying if you agree to take out this loan, you agree to pay it back and then you also need to complete a student loan acknowledgment form. Now all of these can be done at student Aid Gov. And of course we provide links when all of those open because you won't be able to complete it starting February 22nd. All of that doesn't even open until May 1st. So good news is.

You have a little bit of time to get those done. Bad news is you can't do him right away. Have to wait until that May 1st date.

No, that's a really good reminder because we just got a question about when will BGSU's tuition for 2021 and 2022 be released? So maybe it be helpful if the moderate are dropped. Our cost summary right now, which is based on this years rates. But maybe you can explain when some of those decisions are made and when the bill comes out, because after you get that financial aid award it's a little bit of waiting like hurry up. You really want the offer, but then you then there's some time.

Yeah, so actually listed in your financial aid offer. We will have those estimated costs so you'll have a really good idea as to what that tuition is going to look like. Typically that gets announced later in the spring over the summer, but the good news is, once all of those numbers are finalized, so housing, meals and tuition, they are then locked in for the next four years.

So you don't have to worry about BGSU changing tuition prices, changing housing prices, changing meal prices while you're here because you have that Falcon tuition guarantee, which means it's going to be the same price for all four years. You're at BGSU.

That's really helpful. Maybe one of the moderators can drop in the chat that Felkin tuition guarantee explanation, because that is very reassuring for students and families, so I'm going to quickly just say this answer out loud, but I think for the good of the group, students are asking when will I find out about scholarships. So the vast majority of our scholarship deadlines for incoming students was January 15th, so those awards will be listed then on your February 2720 second offer. But there are a few stray scholarships, and there's one that a student mentioned in the chat. When will I find out about a scholarship that I applied for?

There's a deadline of March 1st, so I don't know Emily. If you know that answer, it will probably be a few weeks after March. Search March 1st after the search committee kind of takes a look at the candidates.

Yeah, so for those scholarship, it does depend on when those scholarship committees meet and make their final decisions. You can expect it probably within about a month of that timeframe though, so if you did apply for any scholarships that do have that March 1st deadline, unfortunately they won't be listed on your February 22nd financial aid offer. But we will still let you know if you have been awarded and just to keep in mind too, because we have so many scholarships listed in our searchable scholarship guide, we won't.

Let you know if you did not receive it. We will only let you know if you did receive a scholarship from us.

No, that's helpful and I'm glad you mentioned the financially print piece versus your my BG issue account. So the print piece is frozen in time, whatever it is when you get it, that will not change but your my BG issue account. The student center will continue to reflect new changes to your financial aid or additional scholarship offers. And I saw a poll that up there. My BG issue account. There was quite a few, but you really do need to set that up because that is absolutely crucial for you to be checking that.

Taking the next steps, you know in the coming months. So I always like to say you need to put it on your phone. It becomes not important that BG issue email and that portal into those next steps. So great advice. Thank you Emily. We have a lot of parents with us so maybe a review on the parent plus loan if you have to take out that full amount that you're offered and then you can even make an application for the parent plus loan.

Yeah, so I just brought up our parent plus loan slide again just so you can see that refresher. So a reminder for that. So we parent plus loan is still a federal loan, so it's still coming from the federal government. However, it's for the parent, not the student. Anna's mind are the way that we come up with the amount that we offer a student or a parent is. We take all the financial aid the student was offered. So loans, grants, scholarships, work, study. We subtract that from the cost of attendance we were talking about a little bit earlier.

And whatever that remaining amount is is how much we're able to offer any parent plus loan. Now again, we offer you the maximum you're able to take out, so that does not mean you have to take out that full amount, because remember that cost of attendance that includes things that we are not going to bill you, so that includes things like that, soap and shampoo, the laundry detergent, the transportation costs, books and supplies. Those are all things that BGSU is not including on the bill.

But we still want to make sure that you have those funds available if you need them. So that is typically where you'll find those extra funds available is in that parent plus loan. But because of that you probably will not need that full parent plus loan to cover that full bill O in the application which you do need a separate application, an credit check through the federal government, you can indicate how much of that loan you want, so anywhere from zero to the full amount we offer you is available.

And another thing to keep in mind too, is just because you indicate an amount on that parent plus loan application. BGSU does have the power to adjust out loan amount so maybe you go OK. I just need 5000. Then you get your bill you see. Oh I we do need that new laptop. Maybe I need 6000. You can give us a call and say Emily I need 6005 thousand. We can update that loan amount for you now keep in mind just like those student loans you can't take.

Any action on a federal parent plus loan until at least May 1st. However, we do recommend that you wait until June or July to apply for that parent plus loan, and this is where it can get a little bit confusing. And that's a little logistical on our side of things. But essentially we want to make sure you have the flexibility to adjust that parent plus loan amount in spring semester and when you apply for a parent plus loan. You only have so many days.

Available for us to make those changes. So if you apply for a parent plus loan in June or July, you are giving yourself flexibility to adjust that loan amount for fall and spring semester. Now I know I just covered a lot on that parent plus loan, so remember to we're always here to help you navigate it. I am more than happy to explain everything I just said all over again multiple times. No one has ever taught you this, so if you are a first time parent going through this, I understand how confusing it can be.

So feel free to give us a call, schedule one on one and just say Emily. Explain it all to me again. I just want to hear it again so I know what I'm doing. So keep in mind too that we're here to help you along the way.

I'm glad you said that Emily, because there's no web and R, there's no email. There's no website. There's no print piece that will encapsulate everything that you need to know for your individual situation, so reaching out when you have a question or you're not comfortable or confused is absolutely crucial. Advocating for yourself, we are used to families calling and seeking help. We can lead you through it. There's a few questions about financial aid, and if it's based on merit.

Or just an need? So maybe you can explain that and maybe some of the opportunities. Once a student is here at BGSU to continue the scholarship search because we won't. I mean like there will be some people who might be disappointed at February 22nd, but the scholarship search does not end just because you've arrived at BGSU.

Yeah, so when it comes to federal financial aid so loans, grants and work study, all of that is based off of the fasfa, so we don't care what your GPA is. We don't care what those test scores are. All we're looking at is that fast, but excuse me, information.

However, scholarships are typically based on merit, so that is when we do start to look at GPA, those test scores, your extracurricular activities, and other things that may go into considering you for a scholarship. Now, like we've mentioned, that scholarship deadline was January 15th. However, it's reopens October 1st every year you're at BGSU, so we actually have scholarships that are specific to just.

Our current students or students who are already on campus. So each year you have new and different opportunities to apply for different scholarships. And the best part is we get to throw all that high school information out the window. So if you're coming in with a GPA that maybe you would like to work on or test scores that you would just like to forget about, that is totally fine too. Because when once you're at BGSU, all we care about is your accomplishments at BGSU and you get that clean slate.

So we're just looking at BGSU GPA. We're just looking at your extracurriculars on campus and you get a whole new list of scholarships to apply for every year and a reminder. They open October 1st every year, so it's a good idea. Pop it on your calendar and so you will be prepared for when it reopens next year.

Yeah, that actually is a reminder that I missed almost every deadline. As an incoming student to college. The vast majority of my scholarships were journalism scholarships. As a sophomore, junior and senior, and they were very generous. So I made up ground later which other students can do too. So I think this will probably be our last question and it is still talking about those scholarships. And you mentioned this during your presentation, but I, a student would like clarification on it. It says Emily made a comment that financial aid cannot be awarded for more than the calculated financial.

Need, does that also apply to merit scholarships or just financial need based scholarships?

So this is where it can get a little bit confusing and some math is required. So basically when it comes to all of your financial aid, we cannot award beyond what the costs of attendance is when it comes to need based aid. We can't go beyond what's what that need is, but that need based aid is federal loans grants, not loans grants.

We do have some need based scholarships. However, typically we go off of that EFC or that expected family contribution, so your EFC would have to be in a certain range in order for a student to qualify for a need based scholarship. So to answer your question, need based financial need can't go past that financial need number. All financial aid, including scholarships and loans, can't go beyond that. Cost of attendance number. Hopefully that answered that question.

Yeah.

I.

Yeah, but again, you know that gets complicated. It's very individual. That might be worth a phone call based on the scholarships you might be bringing in from outside of BG issue versus the scholarships that you have from BGSU. That's why we have entire office dedicated to this. It's not simple.

Exactly, and keep in mind to everyone may also have a slightly different cost of attendance, so you may be an in state versus out of state student. You may be in one of our Aerotech programs that costs more you know, so it does depend to what program you're in an what your particular cost of attendance is as well.

Perfect.

Agena said that that makes perfect sense, so she thanks you. Thank yes for that one, Sir. So with that we are going to wrap up. I thank you for being with us today. This was actually one of our very first sessions kicking off our last day of virtual Presidents Day Weekend, which is actually Presidents Day.

At other opportunities for you to connect with us throughout the day, pay particular attention to an evening presentation with our President, BG issue President Rogers, who will be talking about BGS commitment to students and families and serving families who do intrust their student to BGSU. So we have a brand new office that opened it. BG issue called the Office of Parent Family in new Student Connections. So they're going to talk about all those resources for you as a family unit.

So with that, thank you so much for participating to be with us this morning. Hope to see some of these names later today as we continue our virtual Presidents Day series. Bye bye. Thanks Emma.

Bye everybody.