College Financial Aid Presentation and Updates for Class of 2024 and Class of 2025

Dear Junior & Senior Families,

We wanted to provide some updates regarding the FAFSA and share the presentation here from the Financial Aid Night held on November 14th. While much of this will pertain to Senior class families, the information may also be helpful for our Junior families.

Presenter, Lexi Francisco, from Alma College's Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, wanted to share the following updates regarding the new FAFSA:

• With the new FAFSA, all business owners (of any size) will need to report their business on the FAFSA. For small business owners, the number of employees is the biggest change for them. Before, if a business owner had less than 100 employees they didn't have to report the number of employees on the FAFSA. Now, no matter the number of employees, this has to be reported.

• The Department of Education confirmed that the FAFSA will be released on December 31st. We recommend you file early, as it may take the colleges up to one month to receive the information. Additionally, as your daughter is deciding on a college to attend, ask if a FAFSA is required for merit scholarships. Remember, some schools automatically give you a scholarship if you file a FAFSA, even if you do not receive any other need-based aid.

We hope you find this information beneficial.

Sincerely,

Mercy Counseling Department