Financial Aid

The first piece of financial advice for students looking at colleges is to ignore the price tag. You simply do not know what a school will cost you out-of-pocket until you see a financial aid award. It is entirely possible that a $40,000 school could cost you less than a $30,000 school if the former provides a more favorable award package.

About 80% of COA students receive at least some form of financial aid. Many have low expected family contributions based on their financial aid application, even $0 for some. We offer merit scholarships as well as need-based aid, making COA affordable for many students and families, regardless of income.

You should apply to schools you are most interested in, independent of the sticker price!

Acronyms: EFC, CoA (Expected Family Contribution; Cost of Attendance)
When you file an application for financial aid, your ability to contribute to the cost of education is determined by assessing your family's finances and other information. This is known as the expected family contribution (EFC) and it is generally the same regardless of what schools you apply to.

The cost of attendance* of a particular school minus your EFC equals your "financial need". The financial aid officer will look at your need and determine what kinds of aid you are eligible for. This may include loans, workstudy, scholarships and/or grants.

ABC College cost of attendance is $40,000. Your EFC is $12,000, therefore your need is $28,000.

XYZ College costs $30,000. Your EFC is still $12,000, therefore your need is $18,000.

* Focus attention on the cost of attendance figure (CoA), not the tuition. The cost of attendance generally includes tuition, fees, room, board, books, travel and miscellaneous personal expenses. Not all of these expenses are billed and some are based on estimates, for example, books, but it gives you a more realistic expectation of what your educationally related expenses will be.

The Details
Acronyms: FAFSA, SAR (Free Application for Federal Student Aid; Student Aid Report)

Here's an awarding example for these hypothetical schools: If ABC gives you a financial aid package worth $26,000 and XYZ offers a package worth $15,000, then ABC actually will cost you less! (You pay your $12,000 EFC plus $2000 not covered by financial aid as opposed to XYZ where you would pay the $12,000 plus $3000 of need not covered.)

After filing the FAFSA you will get something back from the government called a Student Aid Report (SAR) and that will have your federal EFC on it. When you file the FAFSA, you can indicate up to 6 schools where you would like to have copies of your SAR sent in addition to you at the email address you provide in the student section of the FAFSA.

If you are admitted to a school the financial aid office will then calculate your financial aid eligibility and provide you with the results, hopefully with your letter of admission or soon afterwards.

Acronyms: FAFSA; EFC; SAR (Free Application for Federal Student Aid; Expected Family Contribution; Student Aid Report).

1) You file a FAFSA with the federal government (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)

2) Most institutions have you file either The Profile or their own institutional form. They may also ask that you file a noncustodial parent form if your parents are separated, divorced or were never married. Be prepared to provide tax forms and W-2s if requested. Download COA's financial aid application here. (pdf -77k)

The Details...
Filing the FAFSA online is the best way to go. It's quicker, more accurate and gives you quick access to your information should you need to look at it or update it later. You cannot submit the FAFSA until January 1, but you should do so as soon thereafter as possible. Provide estimates if your taxes are not complete and then complete your taxes at the earliest possible opportunity - you'll need to go back and update your FAFSA information at that point. Visit www.fafsa.ed.gov to find out more. English and Spanish versions of the FAFSA are available.

You can file a paper FAFSA if you need to but it is not recommended. They are usually available in high school guidance offices, at colleges and universities and often at libraries.

The FAFSA gathers information about your family and finances. It looks at things such as income, assets, number in family, number in college, age of older parent (in order to protect his or her assets), taxes in your home state and more. After you submit the FAFSA, you get a Student Aid Report (SAR) emailed to you and copies are sent to schools you listed on the form (up to 6). The SAR tells you what your federal "expected family contribution" (EFC) is - a reasonable expectation of what any family with similar circumstances should be able to put towards the cost of education, regardless of what school you choose to attend. Keep in mind that it is supposed to be reasonable, not necessarily a reflection of what you have in ready cash. The formula used to derive this estimate does not take most debt into account or some other factors that are generally considered discretionary, such as a second home, a private high school education, etc.

Be aware that the EFC can change from year to year since you must file the FAFSA with new information on an annual basis. Changes may be small or large, depending on family finances and cirumstances and may move in either direction. For example, if two children are in college one year, each with a separate EFC, and the following year only one is in college, then that student's EFC may virtually double since family resources are now all directed towards one child instead of two. In this scenario, the individual student's financial need would likely decrease as would eligibility for need-based aid. However, the family's contribution to higher education would be about the same as the previous year if all else was equal; the money would go towards one student's expenses rather than two. Obviously, income, assets and other variables do come into play, but this is important in understanding how need-based aid is calculated in principle.

The Profile or school's institutional form, along with a noncustodial parent form, if applicable, collects additional information about your family finances and is used to determine if you qualify for institutional funds in addition to federal and state aid.

Don't be afraid to call the school's financial aid office to check if everything is on time and complete!

After you file the FAFSA online, you need to check your email for a notification that your SAR is ready for you to review. If you file a paper FAFSA, you will no longer receive a paper SAR as in the past - it will be delivered by email notification.

Acronyms: FAFSA, PLUS, SEOG, EFC (Free Application for Federal Student Aid; Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students; Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant; Expected Family Contribution)

Financial Aid comes in 3 basic varieties:
- Loans and workstudy are two categories referred to as "self-help" aid.
- Scholarships or grants represent the third category and are referred to as "gift aid".

Overview :
Self-help aid is often the first money put into a financial aid package since the primary responsibility of paying for a student's education lies with the student and his/her family. Because loans and workstudy require a form of student investment in dollars or time, they come under the category of "self-help".

If there is still financial need then often institutional grants kick in depending on the school, its budget and how much it would like to encourage the student to attend. Many schools may offer some form of merit-based aid that is awarded in consideration of academic strength or musical, athletic or other particular ability or quality that the student has. It is often offered completely independent of financial need.

For student's with particularly high need, federal or state grants may actually be the first thing added to an aid package. A Pell grant is a example of a federal grant.

And finally, many students may find additional assistance from outside scholarships. These are not from federal, state or school sources but from outside organizations that the student has contacted. Rotary International is an example of an organization that offers scholarships to qualified students. Check your school's policy on how they apply outside scholarship money to your financial aid package.

Loans
Student loans may include a Stafford loan, Perkins loan or alternative educational loan. Additionally, parents and graduate students may be eligible to borrow through the PLUS loan program.

Stafford loans are government regulated loans that come in two flavors - subsidized and unsubsidized. The government pays the interest on a subsidized loan while you are in school (good deal!). Subsidized loans are more common and amounts vary according to grade level - usually $3,500 the first year, $4,500 the second year, and $5,500 in the third and fourth years. As of July 1, 2008, newly issued subsidized Stafford loan interest rates were fixed at 6.0%. In the past, they were variable rate loans with a maximum cap of 8.25%.

Unsubsidized Stafford loans may be offered to students that filed a FAFSA but have no financial need, or to independent students (>24 years old), or to students whose parents were denied a PLUS loan. As of July 1, 2006, newly issued Stafford loan interest rates were fixed at 6.8%. In the past, they were variable rate loans with a maximum cap of 8.25%. NEW! As of July 1, 2008, most students that filed a FAFSA are automatically eligible for up to $2,000 of unsubsidized loan per year before any consideration of whether they qualify for additional unsubsidized Stafford loan.

Perkins loans are low, fixed-interest rate loans (5%) that are government funded but administered by individual schools and are available to high need students. Loan amounts may vary depending on school funding levels and the student's need.

Students usually do not have to start repaying on Stafford or Perkins loans until after they have left school or become enrolled less than half-time. Grace periods of 6-months and 9-months, respectively, usually apply.

Alternative educational loans are offered through many private lenders. Students often turn to these when they have additional need but have used up their eligibility for federal loan money. Often they require a cosigner. Terms are often not as favorable as the federal loans but the private market is competitive and so it's worth comparing terms. Maximum eligibility is usually restricted to whatever portion of the cost of attendance is not covered by the student's other aid.

PLUS loans (Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students) generally let parents borrow whatever portion of the cost of attendance is not covered by the student's financial aid. As of July 1, 2006, newly issued PLUS loans are offered at a fixed rate of 8.5%. Previously they had been variable rate loans with a maximum cap of 9.0%. Repayment on PLUS loans usually starts 60 days after disbursement and is spread out over 5 or 10 years, depending on the amount borrowed. PLUS loans are also now available to graduate students that may have used up their annual Stafford loan eligibility. NEW! As of July 1, 2008, parents may choose to defer payment of a PLUS loan until the student has graduated or enrolled less than half time.

Workstudy
Workstudy generally refers to a federally funded program subject to certain eligibility rules. Many students think workstudy is simply the college offering to pay them for a job but in most cases students must have financial need based on the FAFSA in order to qualify. Usually students receive a check made out to them for work completed and then they can spend the money however they wish. The amount of hours a student is eligible to work depends on the amount of the award and the hourly rate they are paid. At COA, a student may not work more than 20 hours per week in a workstudy program but the average amount of hours is much less than this. COA uses Maine State minimum wage for entry level positions which is currently higher than the federal minimum wage.

Grants and scholarships are free money that may be awarded based on financial need, merit or a combination of both. Sources may include federal or state governments, outside organizations (e.g., Rotary International) or the school you are applying to.

A Pell grant is federal money that may be awarded to students with an EFC lower than $4,042. It generally varies in size from $890 to $4,731 for full-time students.

SEOG is another type of federal grant - Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant - that is administered by individual schools but funded in part by the government. Eligibility and grant amounts vary from school to school.

Some states offer grants dependent on a student's EFC. If your EFC is below a certain threshold, or you meet specific criteria, you may automatically qualify for a state grant.

Need-based institutional grants (money from the school you attend) may be offered if you still have financial need even after other aid you qualify for has been applied.

Merit-based grants may also be offered by your school if you have particularly desirable characteristics that the school is seeking (for example, in academics, sports, etc.). They may also be offered by outside organizations.

There are millions of dollars in outside scholarships available to qualified students in the US every year. By seeking out opportunities and applying you may be able to add to the financial aid package that your school offers. Be sure to check the school's policy on outside scholarships, though. There may be terms you have to meet in order to realize the maximum benefits of any outside scholarship. Also, under most circumstances you cannot legally be "over awarded". In other words, the combination of your EFC and your aid package (with outside scholarships included) cannot exceed the cost of attendance of the school. If this happens, your aid package must be reduced and schools will have different policies on how they handle this situation.

College of the Atlantic offers a special, merit-based award to students with exceptional academic achievements and citizenship qualities. Students are automatically reviewed for this award during the application process and financial need is not a prerequisite. Awards may vary but at a minimum they provide a valuable, flexible travel and research grant that can be used to augment a student's academic and/or extracurricular experiences on or off campus. This grant money can be used towards COA's own special programs in International Studies or certain other course areas but is not limited to these. For example, it might be used to help fund a study abroad program or summer travel or research opportunities.

Through the generosity of numerous donors, we help fund both need and merit based awards to a large number of students. A partial listing of these funds is included below and is continually growing and changing.

- The Maine Student Scholarship provides need based scholarship awards for students from Maine. It is funded through the Betterment Foundation, H. King and Jean Cummings Charitable Trust, the Fred C. Lynam Fund and Andrew Nixon of the Kenduskeag Foundation and Dead River Company.

- The General Student Scholarship Fund provides general need based financial aid. Funding sources include the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and COA's Silver Anniversary Endowment gifts.

- The August Heckscher Scholarship Fund provides two annual need based scholarship awards for students (one female, one male) with a preference for juniors focusing on public lands, government or the arts.

- The Maurine P. and Robert Rothschild Graduate Scholarship Fund provides need based scholarship money to graduate students with preference given to those pursuing work in the education field.

- The Alice Blum Yoakum Scholarship Fund was established by Mr. Robert H. Blum in honor of his daughter, Alice, to provide support annually to undergraduate students who plan to be actively working for biodiversity and especially for the preservation of underwater species in various parts of the world.

- The Merrill Scholarship, funded by Mr. Charles Merrill helps sponsor an annual exchange student from Palacky University in the Czech Republic.

- The Davis-United World College (UWC) Scholars Program is funded by Shelby and Gale Davis. This award provides scholarship money that covers the full financial need of UWC graduates that enroll at COA. To learn more about United World Colleges, visit their homepage here.

- The Craig Greene Scholarship and Campus Stewardship Fund was established in memory of our longtime faculty member, Craig Greene; his passion for botany, natural history and human ecology inspired a generation of students. Funds support need based scholarship and campus stewardship.

- The Rebecca Clark Memorial Scholarship was founded to honor Rebecca, a graduate of COA, who tragically lost her life in the tsunami of December 2004 while conducting research on sea turtles in Thailand. The scholarship provides merit based scholarship money with a preference towards juniors with marine science and/or policy interests.

Definition: Outside scholarship money (Money not from federal, state or institutional (school) sources. For example, a scholarship from Rotary International or the local Horticultural Society.)
Acronyms: EFC (Expected Family Contribution)

Summary
There are two basic strategies for finding outside scholarship money that we recommend:

- using the Web to conduct free searches, and
- calling local clubs, organizations and small businesses to see if they offer scholarships (many do!)
It is important to note, however, that different schools may have different policies on how they apply outside scholarships to your financial aid package. COA's policy is listed at the bottom of this page.

Searching the Web...
There are literally millions of dollars of scholarship money available throughout the US - all you have to do is figure out where it is and whether you meet the criteria for submitting an application.

Many Websites offer free searches. Two examples include FastWeb.com and the College Board's site, collegeboard.com. Generally, you answer a few questions and then the site will suggest certain scholarships that you might consider applying to. We recommend that you check the privacy policies of any search sites to ensure you are comfortable with them.

Beware of organizations that try to charge a fee for searches. While they may be reputable, there is plenty of free help available from other sources!

The local connection...
Consider calling every club, organization and even small businesses in your town, city or county. You may be surprised at how many offer scholarships - you just need to find out whether you meet qualifications. For example, the Italian-American Society may offer scholarship dollars but you must be at least part Italian-American to qualify.

Some outside scholarships are merit-based (independent of financial need) but most are need-based or a combination of both. They may ask for confirmation of your need or they may ask you to write an essay... just be sure to provide what they ask for and meet all deadlines if you wish to qualify.

COA's outside scholarship policy...
At COA, we have a generous policy in dealing with outside scholarships:

If a student applies for an outside scholarship and notifies us by July 1 of the award year, we will apply 100% of the amount awarded towards any unmet need. In the event that unmet need is then met and an over award* situation exists, we will reduce a Perkins loan before any reductions in institutional aid are made.

* When a student's EFC plus their financial aid package exceeds the cost of attendance, this is know as an "over award". You cannot have more resources than the cost of the school if certain federal, state or other types of aid are involved. Therefore, in an over award situation, the financial package must be reduced and this is one situation where school policies may vary.

Cost of Attendance (CoA) - Not just tution; it usually includes room, board, books, supplies, transportation and miscellaneous personal expenses. It should provide a reasonable estimate of your educational expenses.

EFC - Expected family contribution. The EFC is reported on the Student Aid Report that is generated by filing the FAFSA.

FAFSA - Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The federal financial aid form that virtually all colleges require.

Merit-based aid - aid that is usually awarded independent of financial need and based on academic performance, athletics, music or other student qualities or accomplishments.

Need - Financial need is determined by subtracting your expected family contribution (EFC) from the cost of attendance (CoA)

SAR - Student Aid Report. After filing the FAFSA, a SAR is returned to you via email and forwarded to schools you included in the school code list. It lists the information you submitted and includes comments and the EFC that was calculated.

Self-help aid - aid that includes some form of personal investment from the student, such as loans and workstudy.

Verification - some FAFSAs/SARs are selected by the Department of Education for a process called verification. This may mean you will be asked for additional forms, such as the Verification Worksheet (the school should provide this for you), tax information (if not already requested) and any other documents deemed necessary to "verify" information from various sources or assist in reconciling any discrepancies.

Free EFC Calculator (estimate your expected family contribution without actually completing a FAFSA)

For free scholarship searches and other useful financial aid information, check out the following links. We recommend that you check privacy policies to ensure you are comfortable with them.

A. A new tool (April 2007) designed to help students and families determine what federal financial aid they may be eligible for. You provide information about your family and finances and it calculates an early estimate of eligibility for financial aid as well as the Expected Family Contribution (EFC).

Q. If the FAFSA4caster says my EFC is 10,000, does that mean that's how much I have to pay for college in dollars?

A. Not necessarily. The EFC is used to determine your need. Need is calculated by subtracting your EFC from the cost of attendance (CoA) of a particular school. For example, if your EFC is 10,000 and the CoA of a school is $30,000, then your need is $20,000. Financial aid offices then look at your need to determine if you are eligible for certain types of aid, such as a Pell grant, Stafford loan, state grants and more. Federal and state aid may not cover 100% of your need so many schools may help out by providing additional dollars, usually from their endowments. Financial aid packages can vary quite a bit, so your true costs could vary significantly from school to school and not be equal to your EFC. Don't forget that you might be able to augment your financial aid package with outside scholarship money. Details on all of this are explained towards the top of this page.

A. Probably not. Changes in your family earnings, assets, and status (for example, number of children in college) may change somewhat from year to year. The FAFSA4caster provides an estimate of your aid eligibility at the time you use it with the numbers you provide. The numbers that you ultimately enter on the FAFSA from year to year may vary a little or in some cases a lot. Also, certain types of aid may change depending on your grade level. For example, Stafford loan eligibility typically increases from the freshman to sophomore to junior year.

Student loans are still in the news and changes may occur in the future but for the 2009-2010 academic year, the basics are still the same. COA is committed to maintaining a preferred lender list that provides choice and helps families steer through the process of picking a lender. While you do not have to choose a lender from our list, we offer Stafford and PLUS loan lenders based on a variety of factors with a weighting towards a strong regional presence and demonstrated quality service. While one lender from our 2008-2009 list has had to stop originating federal education loans, we have another Maine state organization, the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME), to take their place for people that would like an in-state choice. Additionally, after a rigorous selection process initially conducted at the beginning of the last academic year, we have decided to keep a well recognized national brand, Nelnet, and a company familiar to some for offering other financial services, KeyBank, on our list for next year. Our Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) list has not changed.

The past year has reaffirmed our conviction that these choices in both loan categories offer borrowers variety and service we can count on. You can read last fall's update below or scroll down to the preferred lender list for links that will take you to each lender's website for additional details and information about the application process should you decide to select one of these companies.

Update: November 10, 2008

One thing that has changed and continues to be changing to some degree is the list of lenders available and the degree of benefits they offer. Financial incentives in the lender industry have narrowed considerably, especially in light of the credit crunch and new rules enacted with the new legislation. As we move forward we expect service to have an even greater weight in reaching decisions about what lenders to include on our list. While we will continue to seek out those lenders that may be able to offer tangible borrower benefits, it is getting increasingly difficult to find the range of benefits we used to see in the past. For those of you that may have a state agency that is in the Stafford and PLUS loan arena, you may find advantages that are not offered by other lenders. However, some state agencies have stopped administering these loans altogether due to the recent credit crisis.

For now, the information listed below from previous updates is still in effect. As we begin to look at the 2009-2010 academic year, we will be seeking new information from lenders about their borrower benefits and servicing options. We may modify our list but also want to remind you that you are free to choose any lender that is authorized to handle Stafford and PLUS loans that is willing to work with COA. Our students have a historically very low default rate (0% in the most recent year for which data was reported) that should instill confidence with most lenders. It should be noted, though, that some lenders have significantly reduced their school portfolios, sometimes even dropping larger schools that they have done business with for a number of years. Current legislation does not dictate that lenders be willing to offer loans at every school.

2) We are actively working to set up our Web-based administrative system to process loans for most lenders, including many that do not appear on our preferred lender list. While this part of the processing is invisible to the borrower under the terms our particular setup, we may have to handle any early request for loan by paper until the system is up and running or the loan certification requests may sit in a queue until we're operational. Slight delays in Stafford loans should pose minimal if any problems, however, PLUS loan processing is more time sensitive and we will do all we can to expedite certification requests and determine if these loans are approved AND ready for disbursement in a timely fashion (i.e., before the billing due date in August)

Given these considerations, COA began a rigorous Request for Information (RFI) process last summer and initially concluded it in December. During that time, the CCRAA was passed and the credit crisis in the financial markets began to gain momentum. The CCRAA, among other things, took away subsidies from lenders that had given them greater flexibility in offering potential benefits and savings to borrowers. Subsequently, two major events occurred that caused us to go back and re-evaluate our lender choices. The first was that one lender withdrew from the FFEL Program due to the loss of subsidies and the difficulty in raising capital with liquidity tightening in the markets. The second was that the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME), which had intended to subsidize fees for Stafford loans through certain lenders (two that were on our list) in their Higher Education Loan Purchase Program (HELPP), was unable to secure favorable bonds in order to finance that effort.

In these unpredictable times with dozens of lenders dropping out of the FFEL Program we chose to give some added weight to the third criterion in making our lender choices. While there are no guarantees that all the lender picks on our preferred list will stay in the federal and student loan markets, there is a general feeling in today's market that bigger lenders have more resources and a higher probability that they can weather the current uncertainties in the industry. Some of the larger financial institutions also may be willing to do business with lower profit margins because they recognize what they may gain by offering other financial services to their borrowers down the road. Unfortunately, we did have one larger lender decide to suspend our planned association until they can evaluate changes in the market.

All students and parents are free to choose any lender who operates in the FFEL Program. We will gladly accommodate and service loans through any of these lenders. Please realize that if you choose a lender who is not on one of our lists that you must take responsibility to make initial contact with the lender to begin the loan process. We recommend that you inform us of this so that we can anticipate working with your lender. That lender should automatically be in touch with us, either by mail, phone or online so that we can determine how your loan process is to be serviced. We have substantial capability to service many but not all loans online and through proprietary web portals and electronic fund transfers (EFTs). Please be aware that we may have to work with some lenders through the mail and with paper checks and that this may cause longer processing times; as long as you initiate the process with sufficient lead time (we recommend 3 weeks as an absolute minimum), paper processing should not cause many if any delays.

Congress and the President signed into law new legislation on September 27, 2007, known as the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 (CCRAA). Part of this legislation addresses issues with lenders and financial aid offices that have been in the news since last spring. As a result, guidelines have been codified for schools that wish to offer student and parent borrowers a Preferred Lender List. The purpose of such lists is to provide a service to borrowers by screening a variety of lending institutions and pick "preferred lenders" based on clearly defined criteria, making that information and process transparent. Students and families are free to choose any qualified lender they wish -- they are NOT required to select one from a school's list.

Here at COA we committed to developing a new preferred lender list with strict standards long before legislation was passed. Priority has been given to any available loan benefits (e.g., reduced fees or interest rates) that would benefit the borrower. Customer and school service have also been important in screening lenders as we want to ensure that any loan processing issues can be easily and successfully dealt with. While we anticipate providing a list of prefeered lenders that can offer competitive loans and quality services, we cannot guarantee that there are not other lenders that may have more attractive benefits or services given the rapid nature of change, the sheer volume of lenders and individual borrower preferences. In other words, there may not be a "one size fits all" lender. For that reason, we are striving to provide choice when considering competitive benefits and quality services.

Legislative changes and recent credit issues in the finance markets have been having an impact on lender benefits and causing some lenders to drop out of the federal student loan market. There are almost daily bulletins in the news about changes in the industry. There is even new legislation in Congress designed to provide liquidity and access to capital as we move forward into the coming academic year in order to ensure full access to loan opportunities.

We are hoping that by the end of the month of May we will have revised preferred lender lists completed for student Stafford loans and parent PLUS loans ready to publish on this website. If you have any questions on this topic, please feel free to contact me or Laurie Ward at 1.800.528.0025 or email us at the addresses listed on the top of the page.

Bruce Hazam
Director of Financial Aid