financial aid resources for students presented by janet mclaughlin, university of pittsburgh wendy...
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Financial Aid Resources for StudentsPresented by
Janet McLaughlin, University of Pittsburgh
Wendy Dunlap, PHEAA
Financial Aid Resources for Students
Where are your students going?
Who Are We Directing?
• Secondary students
• Post-secondary students
• Graduates/Borrowers
• Parents
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How Did I Get Here?
• Just because it’s on the web doesn’t make it real!
• Searching for items may be costly, take you to sites you aren’t looking for, or misdirect your search.
Internet Searches
• Searching for “FAFSA” – which one is correct?
• Search engine for “PLUS Loan - a big list of alt loans?
• “How to apply for Financial Aid?” I found some consultants, companies, etc.
• Why does this happen?
FAFSA
• www.fafsa.com
• www.fafsa.ed.gov
• www.fafsa.eduationconnections.com
• www.fafsaonline.com
• www.studentlaonnetwork.com
PLUS
• www.studentaid.ed.gov
• www.parentplus.com
• www.studentloannetwork.com
• www.studentfinancedomain.com
• www.student.loans.ed.gov
Stuff it, and Get First Place!
• Search engines earn their money through advertising, therefore companies that wish to advertise “stuff their jargon.”
• When you search a site, it picks up key words – be specific in your searches
Dirty Little Secrets…..
• How do the search engines work?
• Algorithms are built for placement of words, etc. in the search engines
• Advertising dollars drive the positioning
Dirty Little Secrets…..
• General rules of the algorithm
• Location, location, location!
• Frequency of key words
• Positioning of keywords
• Actual programming is a generally a well guarded trade secret
A Little Like Big-Brother
• Consider this, when on Facebook, if you click you “like” Skittles, now look at they types of ads you see on your page….do you now see a lot of candy ads? Coincidence??
• It’s not really spying, as it is driving advertising your way
• Some companies will “reverse engineer” or rewrite the webpage in hopes it will gain better placement in search engines
Rankings
• Look at big three – Google, Yahoo, MSN - different ways to rank sites
• Popularity contest
• Actual content
• Quality of information
• They also monitor sites to avoid spam
Be Specific in Your Search
• “Financial Aid Horror Stories”
• Consultant websites
• Blogs about certain schools
• Specific student experience
Common Scams
• Scholarships that cost – is it still free?• Scholarship prizes – some will ask for
personal identification• Listen to me pitch it – seminars that are
actually sales for other products• Application Fees• Everyone is eligible • Using your school logo…pretty tricky!
Sources of Information
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TwitterFBWeb SitesBlogsPinterest
Apps for your Smart Phone
Scholarship Explorer (Student Loan Finance Corporation)
College Bound (College Financial Aid Advisors)
• @mkant
• Follow Mark KantrowitzPublisher of Fastweb.com and FinAid.org
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Blogs – US News
The Choice
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• Even PHEAA is on FB
Scholarship Search Engines
www.fastweb.com
www.scholarships.com
www.collegeboard.com
www.collegeanswer.com
www.collegenet.com
www.careerinfonet.org/scholarshipsearch
www.scholarshipexperts.com
www.zinch.com
www.collegeprowler.com
College Prowler
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EducationPlanner.org
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Financial Literacy
• Youcandealwithit.com
• Mymoney.gov
• www.fdic.gov
• http://www.360financialliteracy.org/Life-Stages/College-Students
• www.jumpstart.org/
• www.moneysbestfriend.com
PA Dept of Banking
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Salary Calculators
• www.salary.com
• www.onetonline.org
• www.salaryexpert.com
Search for jobs in a location by salary range
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Should I go to Grad School
• http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/managing/college/gradschool.html?si=1
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Why Not Promote Your Own Site?
• Attach the sites you are comfortable promoting
• Warn families to use caution/ be a consumer
• Help your families to avoid identity theft
College/University Site
• Direct your students to your site for the specifics
• Build in links so that the student can have a one-stop shop opposed to stumbling upon less than desirable sites
College / University Resources
• Checklists for each type of student
• Target your audience – New– Continuing– Transfer– Graduate
College / University Resources
• Specific Deadlines
• Institutional Applications
• FAFSA/Profile
• Specific forms can be downloaded
• The concept may be the same but the process can differ from school to school
College / University Resources
• Orientations / Freshman days recorded for future viewing
• Keeping it updated can be tough for some schools
• If you have handouts at programs, post them
College / University Resources
• List the criteria / eligibility• List your tuition costs• Explain items students generally don’t
understand like– Verification– SAP– Over awards– Special Conditions – Summer financial aid
What Do You Want to Promote?
• How do you effectively promote the useful sites?
• Do you promote or include other offices that overlap with yours?
Billing, Registrar, Student Appeals?
• Is your site cohesive with other offices?
What Do you Specifically Target?
• Your specific site
• www.pin.ed.gov
• www.fafsa.ed.gov
• www.irs.gov
• www.studentloans.gov
• www.nslds.ed.gov
Account Access - PHEAA
• What can a student do with State Grant in Account Access?
• Update School • Update e-mail address• Complete a Summer State Grant Application• View award notifications• Fix an Incomplete record/State Grant Form
completion• View reject information
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NSLDS
• www.nslds.ed.gov
• Book mark it!
• Monitor it!
• Use it!
• Some schools are using this site as a default reduction tool
Consolidation
• Department of Education
• FinAid.org
• Internet searches will yield an array of companies who specialize in just consolidation
IRS
• IRS – Educational Tax Credits
• Tax Transcripts
• Return/Account
PHEAA Financial Aid Night
• pheaa.org• EducationPlanner.org• Youcandealwithit.com• Myfedloan.org• www.fafsa.gov• www.studentaid.gov – general financial aid info• www.studentloans.gov – information on federal
loans• www.americorps.gov
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