Financial Aid Update ~ Senior Parents and Guardians

On Thursday, Federal Student Aid unexpectedly opened the 2027-28 FAFSA, ahead of the announced October 1 date. We are sharing this so no one is caught off guard. There is no advantage to filing the minute it opens; however, time is still of the essence (to a degree). A good goal is to file by mid-October.

Applying to any college? The FAFSA is a must, best completed together. Not planning on college? No need to worry, though if plans might change, it cannot hurt to file.

• Create your FSA IDs. The student and one parent each need their own separate account. Create your FSA IDs here.

• Gather what you need. Federal Student Aid's checklist lists everything you need to complete the FAFSA.

• Confirm which parent to list. If parents are divorced, separated, or living apart, use the Who's My FAFSA Parent? tool. It is usually the parent who provided more financial support over the last 12 months, not necessarily the one the student lives with. Questions about this? Contact your student's college counselor.

• Check whether your colleges require the CSS Profile. Many private colleges and a few public ones also require the CSS Profile, on top of the FAFSA. It opens October 1. See the College Board's list of colleges that use the CSS Profile. Delaware schools (UD, Delaware State, Del Tech, WilmU, and Goldey-Beacom) require only the FAFSA.

• Check each college's financial aid website. Every college sets its own requirements and deadlines, and some have their own institutional aid forms. Each college's financial aid website is the source of truth, so check it for every college on your student's list to make sure nothing is missed.

College Financial Aid and Planning Session. On Tuesday, September 29 at 5:00 pm, immediately before Back-to-School Night, Newark Charter will host Nick Hoeschel, a Certified Financial Planner and college financing specialist, who will present valuable information to help families plan for college costs and minimize loan debt. Parents/guardians of students in grades 9-12 are invited, and parents of seniors are strongly encouraged to attend. Please RSVP to attend here. This is the same session highlighted near the top of this bulletin. Please note, this is not a FAFSA completion session.

Optional FAFSA Completion Workshop (Senior Families Only). On Tuesday, October 6, specialists from Stand By Me and United Way of Delaware will help families fill out the FAFSA in the high school library. Assistance will be available from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm (please plan to arrive by 6:30 at the latest). Please RSVP for the FAFSA workshop here.

• This session is optional. If you are already comfortable completing the FAFSA on your own (with the student and a parent/guardian contributor), you may find it unnecessary. Many families complete the FAFSA at home, or with private virtual assistance from Stand By Me (in English and Spanish), without attending.

• If attending, the student must also join. Families will fill out the FAFSA in one of our computer labs, so both the student and a parent need to be there.

• Not sure yet? You can return to the form and RSVP later if you decide the session would help your family.

• Come prepared. Use the checklist and Who's My FAFSA Parent? tool linked above before you arrive.

Launch Week Recap ~ Senior Families

Last week, seniors completed Launch Week, five days of activity period sessions built to get their college and post-high school plans moving. Launch Week picks up where Transition Day and our STARS completion visits to senior English classes left off. Students received a detailed recap email after each session, with the full presentations attached. Here's a quick look at each day, with the full presentations linked in case you'd like to dig in together.

• Monday: Deadlines and test scores. Every college a student applies to must be listed in Naviance with its correct deadline at least one month in advance, so our office can send transcripts and recommendation letters on time. See the Day 1 presentation.

• Tuesday: Test score reporting plans and local college options. Two sessions ran at the same time. Seniors applying primarily to 4-year colleges (and not solely focused on local options) built a plan for each college on their list: whether to report or withhold SAT, ACT, and AP scores, and how each college accepts them. Our office sends transcripts and recommendations, but sending test scores is always the student's responsibility. See the test score presentation. Seniors focused on local options, 2-year and 4-year alike, explored Delaware Tech, UD's Flex Pathways, Delaware State, Wilmington University, and Goldey-Beacom, along with the state's SEED and Inspire scholarships, which can cover full tuition. See the local college options presentation.

• Wednesday: Activities and honors, plus skilled trades. Two sessions ran at the same time. Seniors learned how to write the activities and honors sections of their applications, which admission officers read closely. See the activities and honors presentation. Seniors interested in the trades joined Mrs. Potter for a look at technical and trade school paths, including the Delaware Skills Center and Delaware Tech Workforce Training. See the skilled trades presentation.

• Thursday: Financial aid and supplemental essays. Seniors learned about need-based and merit aid, the FAFSA and CSS Profile, and how to use each college's Net Price Calculator to preview what that college will actually cost. Families can find any college's calculator through the U.S. Department of Education's Net Price Calculator Center, and the best place to start for outside scholarships is the Delaware Scholarship Compendium. See the Day 4 presentation.

Two places for transcript requests. Transcript and recommendation requests for colleges go through Naviance. Requests for local, community, and national scholarships that do not come directly from a college go through our scholarship processing form, one form per scholarship. Both should be submitted one month before each deadline.

how the college application process works @ ncs

A quick orientation to the procedures seniors are now working within. The process, generally runs in this order (though it is not always a straight line; there is plenty of fluidity):

1. Accurate entry of colleges and deadlines in Naviance, 1 month before each deadline

2. STAR completion

3. Drafting and completing essays (ongoing throughout)

4. Test score research and reporting, sending, or withholding

5. Financial aid application planning

6. Completing and submitting college applications

7. Matching STAR with application portals

8. Completing financial aid applications

• Naviance deadlines come first. College lists naturally evolve through the fall. The key is that each college a student applies to must be accurately listed in Naviance at least one month before that college's deadline, so our office can send transcripts and letters of recommendation on time. 

• Recommendation letters require student action. Teacher recommenders must be requested in Naviance (after asking in person), and counselor letters depend on a completed Counselor Recommendation Guide and résumé. Seniors who have not finished these spring and early summer requirements received a final reminder last week. Most completed these tasks long ago. These requirements only become optional if a student is 100% sure they will not apply to any college requiring a teacher or counselor letter, or to any college at all. Students often change their minds, so completing them is the safest bet.

• Support is built into the fall. STARS sessions in English classes begin the week of September 14th, and Launch Week (required sessions during activity period) occurs the week of September 21st, covering topics like the Common App Activities and Honors sections, testing decisions, and financial aid.

• Counselor matches. Each senior received an email clarifying which counselor they were matched with as their college/career counselor this year for all things college-related, including transcript and recommendation sending and strategy meetings.

And through it all, the core of college counseling at Newark Charter is the individual, personalized meeting. We encourage seniors to take full advantage of individual meeting time(s) with their college/career counselor.