Applied to OU? Check! Admitted to OU and completed the Enrollment Commitment? Check! Set up your Ozone account and email? Check! Now what?!?! Well, if you need assistance with paying for college (and who doesn’t need additional funding after the holidays), it’s definitely time to learn the facts! Allow me to elaborate…

You’ve heard it before: Scholarships! FAFSA! Loans! Grants! So, what’s the difference? For clarification, I will define each part of financial aid, but my focus today is on the most fun of all…the FAFSA.

• Scholarships – Funding that you’re awarded based on grades, test scores or talent. Take time each week to apply for as many as you can!
• FAFSA – This stands for FREE Application for Federal Student Aid (visit http://financialaid.ou.edu or http://fafsa.ed.gov to apply). Families will need completed 2011 tax information to file the FAFSA.
• Grants – Free money awarded to students based on financial need. Qualification for grant money will be determined by filing the FAFSA.
• Loans– Money you will have to pay back which is also determined by completing the FAFSA form online. There are three types of loans:
  • Subsidized – Federal government will pay the interest on the loan while you are in school
  • Unsubsidized – You are responsible for paying the interest on the loan while in school
  • Parent Plus – Loan offered to parents of college students to help pay for cost of attendance; Credit check required for this loan

So, now that you know all the parts of college funding, let’s get into the details of FAFSA (no yawning, this is important!).

Should I complete the FAFSA form? YES! All students will qualify for an unsubsidized loan at minimum. Think about it. If you were to finance a car, how much would you spend? $32,000? How much will that car be worth in 40 years? Nothing! So, what if you financed the same amount for education? How much would that be worth in 40 years? Priceless! Seriously, statistics have shown that the average high school graduate will earn approximately 1 million dollars in his/her lifetime. However, by earning a bachelor’s degree, a student doubles his/her earning potential. Who doesn’t want an extra million bucks! If taking out some loans will help you make that investment in yourself, it’s worth it in the long run.

What do I have to do? Federal financial aid is essentially a race for the money. We recommend that all students apply for financial aid between January 1 and March 1. This is not a hard deadline, however. If your family doesn’t get the opportunity to complete the FAFSA until after March 1, still do it! We’ve just found that students who will qualify for aid and complete the FAFSA prior to March 1 normally get most of the aid for which they qualify.

Here are the steps:

1. Submit your application for federal student aid online by March 1, preferably. Your PIN number (that you are assigned during the application process) will serve as your electronic signature for your FAFSA form. Both you and your parent will need to sign the form, so you will both need a PIN number. (http://fafsa.ed.gov is where you can request a PIN). Note: There are many scams on the Internet which will charge you for your free application. Don’t fall for them!
2. Once the federal government receives your FAFSA, they contact OU to see if you have been admitted (and, of course you have because you applied early! Good Job!). If you haven’t been admitted to OU yet, that’s okay. It just delays the process a bit.
3. When OU verifies your admission, the federal government will release your FAFSA to OU’s financial aid department for packaging. Then, OU will contact you via OU EMAIL with all financial aid communication.

Whew! I’m sure you have it all down now! You are a Future Sooner, after all! However, if you do have questions, please visit www.financialaid.ou.edu. This site has a section called “Ask the Sooners” which contains a great deal of answers to frequently asked questions. If you don’t find what you are looking for there, you can always call Financial Aid Services at 405.325.4521. Happy fund hunting!

Boomer Sooner!