financial awareness counseling tool julie aloisio u.s. department of education 1
TRANSCRIPT
Financial Awareness Counseling Tool
Julie Aloisio
U.S. Department of Education
1
Agenda
• Financial Awareness Counseling Objective
• Financial Awareness Counseling Tool Overview
• School Functionality
• Walkthrough
2
Financial Awareness Counseling Tool (FACT)
• A centralized, online source of financial literacy information for students
• Tools to inform postsecondary funding decisions
• School financial literacy resource
• Support efforts to improve financial capability
3
FACT Functionality Overview
• Available on StudentLoans.gov
• View NSLDS student loan information when signed in
• Disbursement of funds cannot depend on FACT session completion
• Cannot substitute for Entrance Counseling
4
FACT Overview• The 5 Financial Awareness Counseling
topics are…
5
School Functionality
• FACT information on COD Web – Financial Awareness Counseling
Responses– Counseling Search– Counseling Report– Batch Search
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Responses
• Receive– Yes or No– ‘On-Demand’
or ‘Daily’
• Default– ‘Yes’ and
‘On-Demand’
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Counseling Search• Date range
– Remains one week
• Defaults– Type
• “All Counseling”
– Award Year• Most recent
8
Counseling Report
• Existing DL Entrance Counseling Report renamed “Counseling Report”
• Each row represents one completed counseling session
• Possible multiple Entrance or Financial Awareness Counseling records per student
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Counseling Report
• Includes:– New Counseling
Type Indicator value– Sorted
• Ascending by SSN• Descending by
– Completion Date and Completion Time
– CSV with headers
10
Walkthrough – Introduction
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Topic 1 - Understand Your Loans
• Customized breakdown of loans and an overview of:– Common loan terms and concepts– Suggestions to maximize financial aid and
minimize loans– Student loan types
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Walkthrough – Step 1
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Topic 2 - Manage Your Spending
• Budget Basics– In-school expenses and funding– Planning for and controlling expenses – Benefits of paying interest while in school
to reduce interest costs
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Walkthrough – Step 2
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Topic 3 - Plan to Repay
• Post school budgeting– Living expenses vs. estimated income – Project loan balance – Compare basic repayment plans– When to contact the loan servicer
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Walkthrough – Step 3
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Topic 4 - Avoid Default
• Provides an overview of:– Options available to avoid default– Deferment and forbearance options– Loan cancellation and forgiveness terms– Consequences of delinquency and default
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Walkthrough – Step 4
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Topic 5 - Make Finances a Priority
• Key personal finance topics – Financial planning, saving, and spending – Taxes, deductions and their impact on
take-home pay– Educational tax benefits – Credit scores and credit basics– Protect credit and identity
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Walkthrough – Step 5
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Walkthrough – Notify Schools & Submit
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Walkthrough – Counseling Summary
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