Understanding Financial Aid is a crucial part of the college application process. ISSA empowers immigrant high school students by helping them fully understand their financial aid opportunities to help support their college dreams.

After scholarships aid, our students do not pay more than $8,000 – $10,000 a year for a college education.

We offer free FAFSA workshops where students and parents can ask college financial aid professionals their questions.

  • Estimating Family Contribution
  • Finding 100% Needs Based Colleges
  • Grants (FAFSA)
  • Student Loans
  • Immigrant Based Scholarships
  • Institutional Aid (Merit Scholarships)
  • CSS Profile Assistance
.

Student Financial Aid Questions

What information is needed to complete for the FAFSA and CSS profile?

  1. FAFSA Requires: Your Social Security Number. (b) Your Alien Registration Number (if you are not a U.S. citizen). (C)Your federal income tax returns, W-2s, and other records of money earned. (Note: You may be able to transfer your federal tax return information into your FAFSA using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool.) (D) Bank statements and records of investments (if applicable) (E) Records of untaxed income (if applicable). (F) An FSA ID to sign electronically.
  2. CSS Requires: (a) Create a College Board account. You might already have one if you took the SAT. You can create a College Board account or login on the College Board website. (b) Gather your financial documents. Having the following documents on hand will make filling out the application easier:
  1. 2019 federal tax returns
  2. W-2 forms or other records of income for 2019 and 2020
  3. Records of untaxed income for 2019 and 2020
  4. Bank statements
  5. Mortgage information

Is there a deadline for FAFSA applications?

FAFSA application is open on October 1st each year. Even though there is no general deadline, each university establishes its own priority deadline to review the applications. You want to apply before this deadline to be eligible for financial aid.

What are some things the students should watch out for when filling out the FAFSA?

  1. Apply early incase you are chosen for verification
  2. FSA ID name must match the name on your Social Security ID
  3. Remember that the first section is about the student’s demographics
  4. Put in correct asset information: if you are filing to be a Fall 2021 student, include financial information from 2019
  5. Check your email once you submit your FAFSA regularly, you might be selected for verification

What is the year of the income taxes FAFSA is taking into account?

  1. For seniors applying to be students in the fall of 2021, you will need your financial information from 2019
  2. For juniors, you can use the financial information from 2020 to estimate using the Net Price Calculator

How to add additional school choices to the FAFSA and CSS profile?

  1. You can submit up to 10 schools on the FAFSA and resubmit after you receive your Student Aid Report (SAR)
  2. The CSS Profile costs $25 to submit to one school and $16 for each additional school. There is no cap to the number of applications.

Which conditions will determine the amount you received?

  1. The amount you receive is determined by the total cost of admission and the estimated amount that your family can contribute (Estimated Family Contribution).
  2. In the FAFSA, this will be determined by your 2019 tax returns including W-2 information, and certain assets including additional real estate and farm or businesses that employer over 100 people

Which parent(s) should file FAFSA and CSS if the student has a mom, a dad, and a stepmom?

For the FAFSA, the student will need to file with the parent they spend over 50% of their time with. For the CSS Profile, all parents including mother, father, step father, and step mother will need to be included on the application.

If you include multiple colleges in the application, does the aid depend on which colleges you have included? Also, does the order of colleges included matter in any way?

  1. Financial Aid can vary depending on the college you apply to. Each college or university may a lot you a different amount based on their merit scholarships or what they determine to be your financial need.
  2. The order of colleges included in your FAFSA does not matter.

How will the FAFSA aid be deposited to the students?

  1. Financial Aid will be awarded directly to the college or university
  2. Once you receive your award letter, contact your college or university for clarification and see if you are eligible to receive direct deposit or vouchers for books

Do scholarships and your parents loans become your money/responsibility during or after application (to college)?

Scholarships and loans are sent directly to the college or university after the student has accepted admission.

Which parent(s) should file FAFSA and CSS if the student has a mom, a dad, and a stepmom?

  1. For the FAFSA, the student will need to file with the parent they spend over 50% of their time with.
  2. For the CSS Profile, all parents including mother, father, step father, and step mother will need to be included on the application.

Can I submit the FAFSA before I submit my college applications?

You should apply for admission to the colleges you are interested in BEFORE filing your FAFSA. It is possible to file your FAFSA before applying for admission to a college, but the schools will generally not package an award offer for you until you have been admitted to their school.

What grants more money other than merit-based scholarships? A work study student job or a loan? Does work study affect you like a loan in the long term?

Financial aid is granted to each individual after the cost of attending the college or university and the expected amount the family can contribute is determined. Grants, merit-based scholarships, and loans vary depending on each person’s unique financial situation and on the standards and requirements of the college or university they are applying to.

Do children inherit their parents or even grandparents loans after their deaths?

Children or grandchildren do not inherit student debt, but it is important to remember that even after declaring bankruptcy, student loan debt will not be forgiven.

Are you likely to get a larger aid if you submit the FAFSA earlier? Is the amount of aid dependent on the colleges you have mentioned in the FAFSA application?

Students are encouraged to submit FAFSA early and within the priority deadline of each school they apply to. The earlier they submit, the sooner their application will be reviewed and that also comes with the possibility of receiving more financial aid.

Can I get an estimate on how much financial aid I will possibly receive?

  1. You can visit FAFSA4caster https://fafsa.ed.gov/spa/fafsa4c/?locale=en_US#/landing where you will get an estimate on your eligibility for federal student aid. Your estimate will be shown in the “College Cost Worksheet” where you can also provide estimated amounts of other student aid and savings that can go towards your college education.
  2. You can also contact each university you are applying to and ask for a pre-read of your FAFSA application. More often, universities can scan through your application and tell you how much financial aid you will likely receive.

How long does it usually take for a student to complete FAFSA and CSS profile?

If the student has all the documents ready, the application can be completed within as soon as 2 hours.

Financial Aid Terms