Presentation Transcript

1. Net price calculators, Financial Aid Award Letter Review and the Shopping Sheet

   School Counselor Workshop November 14, 2012 Presenter: Jennifer Pollard, University at Buffalo
2. Lack of: Financial Literacy & Debt Literacy Together, these problems have major consequences for students. Only 31 percent of students from low-income families attend some form of postsecondary education, as compared to 56 percent of students from middle-income families and 75 percent of students from high-income families. Once students enroll in postsecondary education, one of the primary reasons they drop out of college is because they lack the financial resources to continue. And students who do graduate from college finish with more and more accumulated credit card and student loan debt each year. ~President Obama February 24, 2009
3. The Financial Education for College Access and Success The Financial Education for College Access and Success program is authorized under the Fund for the Improvement of Education Program (FIE), title V, part D, subpart 1, sections 5411 through 5413 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA) (20 U.S.C. 7243-7243b). Through the Financial Education for College Access and Success Program, we will support State-led efforts to develop, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of personal finance instructional materials and corresponding teacher training, with the express purpose of providing high school students with knowledge and skills to make sound financial aid and other personal finance decisions, particularly in relation to obtaining access to, persisting in, and completing postsecondary education.
4. SUNY Smart Track CampaignJune 26, 2012: Chancellor Zimpher, while in Washington, DC, urged university leaders to be more transparent about the costs of college, calling for 100 percent adoption of President Obama’s Financial Aid Shopping Sheet, which was announced in recent weeks and would provide prospective students with the type and amount of financial aid they qualify for, and easily compare for them the costs of college at every participating institution. New SUNY Award Letter Student Loan Service Center Expansion Early Engagement Smart Track Website Net Price Calculator
5. New SUNY Award Letter As the first to adopt the federal Financial Aid Shopping Sheet, SUNY has developed a standard format for presenting financial aid offerings at a campus while also displaying campus-specific graduation rates, default rates and the median student loan debt of the campus’ students. The new SUNY award letter will incorporate this information and enable students and their families to easily compare colleges and make informed decisions on loan borrowing.
6. Student Loan Service Center Expansion Currently used exclusively by SUNY’s state-operated campuses, the SUNY student Loan Service Center provides Perkins Loan servicing for students and their families. The Center will be expanded to serve all SUNY campuses and provide additional services to support Smart Track.
7. Early Engagement SUNY has partnered with the U.S. Department of Education to develop a data-driven early-warning initiative that will use SUNY enrollment and federal student loan data to identify the root causes of loan default. Additional services will be available for at risk students.
8. Smart Track Website Financial Aid experts will host online charts via Facebook, Twitter and other social media. The website will also provide financial literacy tools and services.
9. Net Price Calculator A requirement of all schools SUNY launched the NPC which enables prospective students to calculate the net costs of attendance at any SUNY school by providing tuition, room and board costs and fees for all campuses.
10. What more can be done? More education for students and families Honest discussions about debt and the impact of debt Families being honest with themselves on what they can afford Determine true cost before loans: Direct cost – grants and scholarships. Compare that cost when comparing schools. Debt should be equal to or less than the yearly earnings of the chosen career. Workshops and training for K-12 educators
11. Financial Aid professionals are here to help.