FINANCIAL AID Newsletter

Summer 2017

IN THIS ISSUE2017-2018 FAFSA Changes

Federal Work-Study Update

2017-2018 Loan Information Changes

Financial Aid Hourly Assistants

Financial Literacy / Wellness Platforms

Financial Aid Counselors

BankMobile Vibe Updates

Make sureto visit usonlineat

financialaid.fullcoll.eduSabrina JenkinsFinancial Aid Counselor

Dorothy GuiterrezFinancial Aid Hourly

Christina MillsFinancial Aid Hourly

Susanna AbadzhyanFinancial Aid Counselor

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t2017-2018 FAFSA CHANGESWritten by Christian Esparza, Financial Aid Technician

1. Students will now have the ability to submit their FAFSA application at an earlier date. Students have been able to submit their FAFSA application for the 2017-2018 school year since October 1, 2016, rather than beginning on January 1, 2017. This is a permanent change, therefore students will be able to submit the FAFSA on October 1 of every year.

2. Beginning with the 2017/2018 FAFSA, students can now complete the application using prior-prior year income data. For example, on the FAFSA application for 2017-2018 you will be required to provide tax information for 2015, rather than your 2016 tax information. This will be beneficial to students as they and their parents will have already filed their taxes by the time they fill out the FAFSA application.

FEDERAL WORK-STUDY UPDATE Written by Elaine OropezaFinancial Aid Technician

Grace KriklFederal Work-Study

The Federal Work Study Program is an excellent opportunity to offer students with the valuable work related experiences needed to enhance their skills. There are other benefits to working for work-study, such as gaining valuable work experience (helps build resume) and the opportunity to use supervisor(s) as a reference when applying for jobs after graduation.

The Federal Work-study program has allowed students to earn money by working part-time jobs to help pay for college expenses. Eligible students earn at least the federal minimum wage, currently $11.00. What is even more exciting is that Federal Work-Study earnings are excluded as income on the FAFSA, helping students receive more aid as to the earnings from a regular job.

Since this is a Federal Financial Aid award, the funding students are paid from comes directly from Federal Student Aid. This will offer departments the opportunity to participate without the concern of salaries.

The Federal Work Study Program is to help students at Fullerton College gain experience and the financial assistance needed to better assist students’ success. We would like to take this time to create as many employment opportunities for students, please let us know if you would like to add any jobs to the Federal Work Study Program or if you would like to make any adjustments to jobs you currently offer. If you have any questions please feel free to contact the Financial Aid Office.

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Visit studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa for general information

2017-2018 LOAN INFORMATION CHANGESWritten by Christian Esparza, Financial Aid Technician

Students receiving a federal student loan will be required to repay the loan with interest. Therefore, it is important students are aware of the interest rates, loan processing fees, and changes to student loans. For the 2017/2018 academic year, 2 major changes will be implemented, both of which students should be aware of. The two changes are as follows:

1. The interest rate for Direct Subsidized and Direct Unsubsidized Loans will now be 4.45 percent for undergraduate students.

2. The loan processing fee for Direct Subsidized and Direct Unsubsidized Loans will now be 1.066 percent for all loans processed after October 1, 2017.

FINANCIAL AID HOURLY ASSISTANTSWritten by Christina Mills Financial Aid Hourly

Hello fellow staff and students, my name is Christina Mills and I am currently an hourly assistant at the Fullerton College Financial Aid Office. I was previously a work-study student last academic year, but am returning staff for the time being. In the fall, I will be transferring to Cal Poly Pomona to advance my dream in becoming a Registered Dieti-cian. My goal here at the office is to be as thorough and helpful to the best of my abili-ties so that all students may succeed in their academic careers. I am looking forwardto assisting you!

Financial aid awareness

FINANCIAL LITERACY /WELLNESS PLATFORMS Written by Maria Aguirre

Financial Aid Technician

In our Spring Newsletter we introduced you to our new Financial Literacy / Wellness Platform- iGRAD. This platform is a web based program designed to supply students with resources and skills to become more financial literate.

iGrad serves as an intervention and guide, leading all students, faculty and staff to be mindful of their finances and lead them to become a healthy financial individual.

Please log into www.igrad.com/schools/fullertonn to become Financially Healthy!

In addition to iGrad, there are two more Financial Literacy/ Wellness Platforms available for you. Cash Course and SALT, product of American Student Assistance.

An online tool for college students, offering a wealth of financial education resources. Through worksheets, calculators, quizzes, and articles, CashCourse provides students the resources to build the financial skills they

need to get through the college and prepare for their future financial lives.

Their websites provides the following: • Information that is easy to understand and continually updated • Helpful content such as articles, videos, and a financial dictionary• An e-learning center with quizzes, worksheets, calculators, and a Budget Wizard

Topics addressed on CashCourse include:• Budgeting and using credit and debit cards• Understanding financial aid and repaying student loans• Renting an apartment and studying abroad And many more additional features include.

An American Student Assistance product designed to aid with the most effective means of helping students recover from delinquency and default. SALT provides proactive financial education and teaches students the life skills required to make

informed financial decision at a critical juncture of their higher education experience. Salt gives students the proper tools to help create a budget, view their loan status, and schedule a plan to get back on track.

SALT also provides resource services for students and parents by providing scholarship information to assist with the cost of tuition, books, and supplies, and living expenses.

Salt software offers school services and financial education with easy to use online tools. Tools such as expert counseling, personalized dashboard that allows students to specify the type of assistance required based on their individual needs. Bilingual information is also available.

To learn more aboutCashCourseplease visit

www.info.cashcourse.org

STUDENTS PLEASE NOTE: Your ONE free soft drink from Fullerton College SODEXO

must be redeemed on or before April 29, 2017. No Exceptions!

Must receive a stamp from all vendors below and return to Financial Aid booth to claim free drink (while supplies last).

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To learn more about SALTplease visit

http://www.asa.org

FINANCIAL AID COUNSELORSStudent who are have maximized their financial aid due the number of units attempted, are eligible to appeal their aid, if they have changed their major. Student are required to meet with a financial aid counselor and get a comprehensive educational plan to submit with their appeal. The comprehensive educational plans are created based on discounting units not applicable towards the new major and adding back in units that the student still needs to complete their degree goal at Fullerton College. When students meet with a Financial Aid Counselors they are advised on all aspect of financial aid to ensure student complete their degree goals with minimal financial hardship.

Hope to see you there!

Written by Harold AndersonFinancial Aid CounselorHello Hornet Nation,

Here at Fullerton College, the financial aid program provides students with additional funding to cover the cost of attending Fullerton College.

In addition to providing state and federal funding. The financial aid program also offers counseling services that cover both financial aid and academic needs.

We also provide students with financial wellness information which helps students with plans to pay for college and learning how raise their financial literacy I.Q.

Fullerton College financial aid program proudly supports the California Community Colleges Systems efforts in helping students with meeting the cost of attending college.

Written by Sabrina JenkinsFinancial Aid CounselorWelcome to all staff and students to the summer semester!

My name is Sabrina Jenkins and I am one of the 3 Financial Aid Counselors at Fullerton College.

Financial Aid Counselors are here to assist students who have reached the maximum time frame (90 units attempted), have a change of major, or a default prevention hold.

If one of the above reasons pertains to you then it is imperative you only meet with a Counselor from the Financial Aid Office. This is particularly important for students who are appealing as the SEPP form must come from a Financial Aid Counselor.

Furthermore, please be sure the major you currently have registered with the Admissions and Records Office is upto date with your current educational goals.

I wish you all a great semester.

Hello, my name is Dorothy Gutierrez and I joined the financial aid staff last fall as a temporary employee. After my retirement from Long Beach City College as a Financial Aid Advisor in 2013, a dear friend asked me if I would return as a Temp employee to assist during the busy seasons. Of course, I said “No way”, but here I am.

I have worked several positions in Financial Aid and EOP/S during my 37 years of employment. Along the way meeting students, parents and co-workers who always reinforced my commitment to helping with the college application process and the complicated world of Financial Aid.

Every student has a story that needs to be listened too. Often times , when due to the high level stress of working in a Financial Aid Office, a student will say “Thank you” and I find the strength to come back the next day.

My advice to students is read your College’s website, especially the student services areas including counseling, admission & records and financial aid. Learn to develop goals and plans that will lead you to your educational goals.

Written by Susanna AbadzhyanFinancial Aid CounselorHello, my name is Susanna Abadzhyan and I am one of the three Financial Aid Counselors. As a Financial Aid Counselor I am able to assist students not only with creating an educational plan to reach their goals, but also with default prevention plan, financial wellness, and major change appeals. As part of a campus wide initiative for loan default prevention, we meet with students who have been borrowing loans to discuss their loan debt, educate students on repayment, interest, different types of loans and provide resources. Resources provided to students include scholarship opportunities, students are strongly encouraged to apply for scholarships and hopefully not borrow as much in loans. We advise students on the difference in financial aid between community college and four year universities. Students are given websites to monitor their loan status as well as their Pell grant lifetime eligibility. As part of the financial wellness plan, financial aid offers variety of financial literacy programs online. The programs are called IGRAD and SALT. Students are able to create an account online which creates a profile based on their budging needs. It provides students with resources and tips on budging.

UPDATES Written by Ray BustosFinancial Aid Technician

Another update from Bank Mobile Vibe, is their commitment to empowering all financial aid students with Financial Literacy. Currently their website bankmobiledisbursements.com has a Financial Literacy tab, which displays a program called $tart with Change. This initiative was created by Bank Mobile Vibe to assist students by gaining a much better understanding on how to manage their money, and thus create a better awareness for students to make smarter everyday decisions, and create the building blocks for a solid financial future.

We strongly encourage our Financial Aid students to visit the website and see how it can assist in building a stronger financial aid future.

Again, best wishes for a successful summer semester.

A warm greeting to all of our Financial Aid students and welcome to back for the Summer 2017 semester!

The Fullerton College Financial Aid Office would like to inform you of the latest updates regarding Bank Mobile Vibe Company.

Currently at this time, there are only a couple of minor updates to relay to our students from Bank Mobile Vibe.

We are pleased to announce that Bank Mobile Vibe will be partnering with Financial Aid TV, in order to provide our Financial Aid students with videos, in order to better assist our students in understanding how the refund process works. This is due to many of the Financial Aid Students having questions on how the disbursement process works, once they have completed their financial aid file.

We hope that the videos will answer the most frequently asked questions about the disbursement process, thereby reducing the need for students to either call or stop by the Financial Aid Office for the same answers, which they can receive from their computer or smart phone.

Welcome New Staff andMeet Our Work Study Students

Hi there! My name is Kierra Lewis and I am the new Administrative Assistant for the Financial Aid

office. I am a transplant from the rainy state of Oregon and couldn’t be happier that I am now drowning in sunshine. I received my Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociocultural Anthropology from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. From there, I worked in administrative roles within various departments such as marketing and HR. I am very excited to be with NOCCCD and will do my best to serve the students, faculty, and staff of Fullerton College. Have a great semester!

Welcome to the spring 2015 semester! My name is Isis Delgado. I have been working at the Financial Aid Office for approximately one year. I enjoy offering assistance and help to students that may have a difficult situation or problems. As I know from firsthand experience the importance of that help while attending school and the additional daily stresses. I am pursuing a degree in Kinesiology and hoping to transfer in the spring of 2016. I am looking forward to obtaining not only a Bachelor’s, but also a Master’s degree that I can use to reach my ultimate goal of being a Physical Therapist at the Children’s Hospital of LA.

Hello my name is Rosemary Vilchis and this is my third year at Fullerton College. I will be transferring to CSUF in fall 2015 to pursue my bachelor’s degree in Human Services. After that, I plan on going to CSULB for my

Master’s in Educational Counseling. In the future, I hope to work as an Academic Counselor for either a high school or a college. I have been working at the Financial Aid Office for about 2 years and I truly enjoy it. Working with students is great, and as a student it is definitely nice knowing the ins and outs of financial aid.

My name is Nahum Jaimes [ney-huh m]. I’ve been working at the financial aid office for two months. My goal this semester is to boost up my GPA, right now it is okay but I want it exceptional. I also want to get my A+ Certificate which would certify me as a computer technician. My goal is to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and maybe get a job as a web developer. I’m tired of seeing websites that are not compatible with cellphones and tablets.

My name is Ismail Khan and I have been working for the Financial Aid office for 4 months now. My current major at Fullerton College is Speech, and I plan on transferring to Cal State University of Fullerton. Once I transfer to CSUF, I plan on majoring in Human Services and receiving a minor in Speech Development. For my career, I would like to become a school counselor or speech counselor. You could say I have quite a passion for learning and developing one’s self, and having a career in which I can help people achieve that would be a dream career for me.

– CHANGES –to Financial Aid

Regulations and Processes2017-2018

1. Maximum Pell Grant will increase from $5,815 to $5,920

2. Maximum Pell Grant EFC will increase from 5234 to 5328

3. V6, a separate verification group, has been eliminated

4. Cash Course and iGrad, an online money management tool, is available on financialaid.fullcoll.edu

5. Beginning with the 2017/2018 FAFSA, students can now complete the application starting October 1, 2016 using prior-prior year income data (2015 tax year)

6. For the 2018/2019 FAFSA, students can complete the application starting October 1, 2017 using prior-prior year income data (2016 tax year)

7. Financial Aid disbursements will now be handled through Bank Mobile and not Higher One. Schools First is no longer in the approved network of ATMs

8. Dream Act students will now have the ability to use the Student Verification website to upload documentation (BOG-FW & SAP Appeals, FERPA and Verification).

AB540 students will have access through their FC student ID number.

Financial Aid Office 321 E. Chapman Ave., Fullerton, CA 92832 (714) 888-7588 www.financialaid.fullcoll.edu

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HOW FINANCIAL AID GETS TO YOU

When you receive your North Orange Card

in the mail, follow the steps to select your

preferences to receive your financial aid

disbursement. Your options are:

EASY rEFUND TO THE HIGHEr ONE ACCOUNT (refunds are available the same day Higher One releases them)

AUTOmATIC TrANSFEr TO ANOTHEr bANk ACCOUNT(refunds are available 2-3 business days after Higher One releases them)

Once Fullerton College disburses the funds to Higher One to be

released, there will be a negative amount on myGateway.

This amount is being processed to be released and can take

approximately 1-2 weeks.

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321 East Chapman Avenue Building 100, Room 115

Fullerton, CA 92832Phone: (714) 888-7588 • Fax: (714)992-9948

C OL L EG E

College/University Disbursement

Funds ordered from Department of Education

refund processed

refund disbursed based on selected

preference

After you have:n Been awarded a disbursable fund (i.e. Pell Grant)

n Registered for classes

You will be sent a Refund Preference Selection Kit via email and in the mail. Follow the steps to choose your preference on how to receive financial aid.

Your options are:

Once Fullerton College requests the funds to be sent to you, there will be a negative amount on myGateway. This amount is being processed to be released and can take up 5 to 10 business days.

Each refund preference has its own fees and features.Please follow the instructions on your Refund Preference Selection Kit for more information.

financialaid.fullcoll.eduPhone: 714.888.7588

Fax: 714.992.9948Bldg. 100 - Room 115

5 to 7 business days1 to 2 business days Funds are transferred to another account the same business day BankMobile receives funds. It typically takes 1 to 2 business

day to transfer.

1 business day If you open a BankMobile Vibe

account (upon Identity Verification), money is

deposited the same business day funds are received.

5 to 7 business daysA check is mailed the same business day BankMobile

receives funds. Typically, it takes 5 to 7 business days for the

check to arrive.

Electronic Deposit to Another Account Electronic Deposit to aBankMobile Vibe Account

Paper Check Delivered by USPS