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Fill out the FAFSA January 1st!

(The following article is (c) 2012 by J.P. Paulus. This may article may be reproduced ONLY with the permission of the author.)

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as the FAFSA, is the backbone to getting federal and state financial aid for college. If you have a student going back to college, or starting for the first time next fall (or even thinking about it), then you as a family need to fill out the FAFSA, and do it as soon as you can right after January 1^st.

A completed FAFSA puts you in line for financial aid, not just on the federal level, but also for states, and other resources. (Scholarships are different category, and need another type of application and a separate article.)

The FAFSA is a key form used by the US Department of Education, much in the same way the 1040 is the fundamental form for the IRS.  After you fill out the FAFSA, you will receive a number called the Expected Family Contribution, or EFC. But rather than the number that you should expect to pay, consider the EFC more like a credit score – a measurement of your financial need. An EFC of 0 (zero) would qualify you for the maximum amount of federal and state aid, if it is available through the school.

In order to fill out the FAFSA, you need to make sure that you go to www.FAFSA.GOV and NOT the FAFSA.COM website. You might not trust the government for many things, but you can trust a .gov website.  Also, there is no reason for you to pay money to fill out the FREE application for federal student aid (which FAFSA.com will do).

There are three items that are important to filling out the FAFSA:

1.       Social security cards

2.       W2 Forms

3.       Bank statements

The student needs the social security card, not just for the number, but also the correct spelling of the student’s name on the card. Any mistakes or variations (like a nickname) can cause serious problem. The parent, however, does not need a social security card or number, though it is helpful.

A driver’s license or state ID can also expedite the process.

W2 forms are needed from the parents (and the students, if available). Please note that providing this information does not obligate the parent to pay for any of their child’s education.  And if you (as a parent) feel you don’t make enough money to contribute anything to your child’s education – then you contribution to this section will actually help your child get more financial aid than perhaps if they filed as an independent student.

Bank statements also provide a snapshot of a family’s financial strength.

Parents who filled out the FAFSA back when they went to school need to make sure they have a shift in their mindset. In the “olden” days” of the FAFSA (back when our family filled out the FAFSA), the conventional wisdom was that you filled it out after taxes. The idea was that the paperwork was hard to update and very cumbersome, and you would need to send in copies of forms to “verify” any estimates, which would delay your financial aid. The time, and the opportunity for information to get lost, were very legitimate concerns back then.

With the modern wonders of the web, FAFSA now has a one-click tool where you can download your tax information, as long you filed electronically (such as TurboTax, or a professional service such as H&R Block).  And rather than calculate each student (and each update) by hand, the computer can easily calculate and update information, so financial aid officers actually embrace this method of estimating your FAFSA information.

Students can fill out the FAFSA anytime after January 1. So right after you say “Happy New Year!”, you can do it. Or, more likely, when you wake at 3pm in the afternoon.

This can also be a great event for churches after Sunday service. If you have access to a computer lab, one advisor can help several families through the FAFSA process.

Who should fill it out? Obviously, those going into college next year, but especially returning students, and even adults who are even just thinking about going to college. There’s no obligation to go to a specific college by filling out the form. You can easily change which colleges receive your information. And again, for parents, there is also no legal obligation to pay for the college education, even though you have given your information.

Another reason to fill out the FAFSA: colleges can not give you a financial aid package without the FAFSA being completed. You will also need to have been accepted at that college as well, because good colleges will not offer money to students they don't think will succeed at their school. 

We must emphasize once more, it is vital that students fill out the form as soon as possible, after January 1.

For example, in Illinois, the MAP grant is worth up to $4820. Again, in the “olden” days, the MAP grant money ran out by August (when most schools start their fall semester). In 2012, the money ran out March 23, which is a month before taxes are due (and usually done).

There is much more information that could be shared. But one last note to consider: the FAFSA is just a snapshot of a family’s financial situation. Colleges are aware that things happen. The key to getting exceptions to financial aid (called professional judgment) is documentation. The FAFSA is the prime example of it, but certainly not the limit. Contact your financial aid office if you think the EFC does not accurately reflect your family’s situation. 

Here are important links to see

• www.FAFSA.gov (direct web address to the FAFSA)
• www.studentaid.gov (US Dept. of Education’s website on financial aid and the college-going process)
• www.knowhow2go.org (a national campaign to help students go to college)

Individuals who need help with financial aid issues should go to www.studentaid.gov or call 800-4-FED-AID (in Illinois, they can go to www.ISAC.org or call the Illinois Student Assistance Commission at 800-899-4722 ).

JP Paulus of Do-Gooder Consulting works with churches and nonprofits, and even businesses to help them integrate college access training into their programs. More information is available at www.do-gooder.us

We hope you LIKE to FOLLOW us!

Do-Gooder Consulting is on Twitter and Facebook, so we hope you will like to follow us!

We also want to explain our our internet presence is various fields.

Our website is found at www.do-gooder.us and has the basic information about our services.

We also maintain a blog, whch you can bookmark at blog.do-gooder.us and this is where we will give free advice in detailed articles.

On Twitter, @dogooderchicago, we send out short messages, such as reminders of meeting where we will attend (such as Chicago's Urban Youth Network and the Illinois College Access Network). We may also re-tweet relevent items, and other short thoughts and important links.

We also pre-schedule Tweets using Twuffer, so we can help get you information when you need it.

Our tweets are also automatically posted on our Facebook company Page. We'll use that page to also post polls, provide links to important items (with our own insight regarding the link), and items for discussion.

We can also interact with you as a Facebook Friend, with the ID of Do Gooder. We post tweets, similar to the page, but also have to the ability to message and realtime live chat with you as well.

If all of these technologies seems confusing, we also provide consulting to help you sort through it, and help you use it to benefit your organization.

You can also reach us in the "ancient" ways of snail mail, phone or e-mail.

Do-Gooder Consulting

P.O. Box 199233

Chicago IL 60619-9233

872-222-8008

blog@do-gooder.us

We look forward to hearing from you!

Illinois College Access Network meeting = November 14, 2012

The Illinois College Access Network will hold its quarterly meeting on Wednesday, November 14, 2012 on the campus of Roosevelt University, 430 S. Michigan Avenue, on the second floor, in downtown Chicago.

It is a free meeting. More important than the fabulous free breakfast that they provide, this is a great opportunity for networking as well as learning about issues and solutions in regards to the access of college for our students.

For more information or to RSVP, contact the Illinois College Access Network via e-mail at

illinoiscollegeaccessnetwork@gmail.com

or traditional mail at

Illinois College Access Network
PO Box 778
Chicago, IL 60690

This meeting will focus on topic of “Is College Really Worth It? If Yes, Is it
Affordable?” and use small group discussion to facilitate participation among the attendees, and to help everyone learn from each other.

Do-Gooder President JP Paulus will be in attendance, would love to join other attendees for lunch afterward.

See you at the CCDA National Conference

Do-Gooder Consulting president JP Paulus will be presenting a workshop at the 2012 National conference for the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA), held this year in the Twin Cities (specifically Minneapolis).

The workshop is Saturday, September 29 at 3pm, in Board Room 3.  We hope to see you there, or elsewhere in the conference.

Here's the link for the conference program.  Please give us a call at 872-222-8008 if you wish to connect.

See you at CCDA!

.church web extention coming in 2013

Earlier this year we talked to you about web domain extensions OTHER than .com, .net , .org or .edu


Two companies that are bidding to win control of the .church extension informed Do-Gooder Consulting (back between June 26-28) that they could start opening up that website extension in early 2013.

So today, if you were going to try for First Baptist Church of Chicago, you might have to go with something like FBChurchof Chicago.com  

That's a mouthful, and the odds are very good that people interested in the church will NOT remember the web domain name, and not look up that ebsite.

However, if we are able to take advantage of the new domain names, we could get a domain as easy to remember as www.firstbaptist.church


We at Do-Gooder Consulting, can help you secure a domain. Contact us immediate and we can set plans in place, so that when the domain (or a close alternative) opens up, we can take advantage of it.

And in the mean time, we can help you use one of the othe ravailable web domain extensions, such as .org, .me and .us as an alternative.

Reload Chicago = April 6, 2013

From Reload Chicago's Facebook page:

Save the Date! Sat, April 6, 2013. We have Steven Pemberton as our keynote speaker. He is a dynamic author, speaker and diversity officer at Walgreens, whose story includes strong faith in God and a love and passion for the adults in his life who cared about him along the way. Watch this clip to hear more about Mr. Pemberton and his story.

Reload is one day training for Christian urban youth workers. Whether a full time youth pastor or a volunteer worker, or even a high school youth-who-is-a-leader, this is a day of training, fellowship and networking. Reload is in over 20 cities and is sponsored by the Urban Youth Workers Institute. 

Locally in Chicago, North Park University's Center for Youth Ministry Studies has been at the forefront of Reload. Chicago's Reload has been one of the most well attended of the national conferences. And speaking of local, Chicago's owm Amy Williams will be the closing speaker!

If you have been touched by the KingdomWorks/CompassionWorks conferences that were annual events in Philadelphia and other cities in the 1990's, then you will appreciate Reload
.

Here are some of the core workshops that will be presented. additional workshops will be developed for Chicago.

Angry Ministry:  What Do You Do When A Student Shows Up At Your Program More Angry Than Happy Every Week?

Do you really have enough program time to spend in order to impact a student that never smiles?  Most youth workers have wrestled through this same challenge unable to connect biblically or relationally.  This workshop will provide you with effective relational approaches, practical responses to teach your teens, and spiritual foundations that students can adopt to help manage the missed smiles in their heart.

 

Building Blocks of Urban Youth Ministry (First Two Years)

If you’re new to youth ministry or need a fresh start, this one’s for you! You may be asking questions like: Where do I begin? What is most essential? What are the best ways to build a volunteer team? How can I better connect with youth in the church and beyond the four walls? Learn a step-by-step process for mapping out your first two years in urban youth ministry.

Core Values of a YouthWorker: Laying A Foundation For Ministry

You’ve heard it said that “Values are caught, not taught.” Is there a set of core values that every urban youth worker should live through and live out? If so, what are they and how should we integrate them into our life, ministry and youth ministry? This session will help you to find a foundational theology on which to build values for ministry that will help you stand strong against the tests and adversities of life.

Feeding Father Hunger: Understanding And Ministering To The Fatherless Generation

Oftentimes both kids and adults are unaware of the lifelong effects that an absent father has in the life of a child.  The emotional response of the fatherless can be linked to poverty, high school dropout rates, crime, drug use, and teenage pregnancy.  The fatherless live a lifestyle living with a father they don’t see, while filling the empty space with painful outburst and pseudo-comfort realities.  This Workshop will provide you insights for helping youth to discover their identity, pinpoint side effects that are gripping them from growth, and discover practical mentoring approaches to free their souls and not block their blessings.

Call of Duty: Building Assets Every Student Needs
(Junior High Adult Leader Track)

This track will teach how to build sustainable assets for Junior High Students and interface with realities without being controlled by them.  As a youth worker, our relational time with students is minimal; therefore, it is important for us to focus on the right things.  Kingdom ministry to students shifts our efforts to play it forward by teaching them to spend less time trying to control problems and troubles…in an exchange to visit their capabilities in strength and potential.  Students must learn the value in not being a joystick to the challenges in their lives.

Teen Track:  A Facebook Without Love

In years past, sex, alcohol, and drugs were a few of the leading influencers that “helped” teens feel as if they were gaining ground relationally with other students.  When these were coupled with media and music, it seemed like adults were always 10 steps away from a youth’s daily reality.  In today’s world, teens can connect visually without ever having to confront who they really are!  In fact, through social media avenues, teens can bypass life – yet still feel alive and in the mix!  This session will remind students of who they really are, and how loving themselves first will help them lead their lives into a personal book they can face forever.

 

See you next year at Reload!