Financial Aid 101

This newsletter is intended to help families move from the "application" phase to the "funding" phase. By now, many students have determined where to apply to college and have completed any early applications. Now is the time to figure out how to pay for all of this! The items in this newsletter are designed to share a great deal of general information, while pointing out ways to dive deeper into the topics that pertain to you and your family. Please save this newsletter as a resource moving forward.

When you are completing the FAFSA or other pertinent financial aid documents, it is important to remember:

Seniors are in their 2025 - 2026 school year currently.

You are filling out 2026 - 2027 year forms (this is because that is the start of the college fall semester for your current senior.

You will use 2024 tax return information in order to complete these documents.

Officially, the FAFSA is a STUDENT driven form. It sounds counter-intuitive, but it is easiest to complete the FAFSA process by having the student begin. They will create their FSA ID (see video below), start the FAFSA, and then invite their parent to complete their portion. The parent will then create their own FSA ID (if they do not have one already), complete their portion of the FAFSA, and submit. It is really that simple, there are not a lot of complicated questions on the FAFSA any longer.

*It is important to note: if a parent attended college and has an FSA ID from that time, they should use that ID to access their child's FAFSA. The ID's are individually assigned to each PERSON by the government and are not connected to each other in any way.

If you do not think your family will qualify for federal aid, we still encourage you to complete the form. Many scholarships, including merit-based opportunities and delegate or senatorial scholarships, require a completed FAFSA.

If you think you will be attending CCBC, you should still complete the form. Both the County and State College Promise Programs require a completed FAFSA.

If you think you will be heading straight to work or joining the military/police/fire/EMS service, you should still complete the form. Life happens and plans can change. It’s better to have a “Plan B” in place and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

If your parents do not have a social security number, you should still complete the form. Parents no longer need a social security number to create an FSA ID.

Deadlines

• The Maryland State deadline to file your FAFSA is March 1st.
• Most colleges have their own deadline, often much earlier than March 1st, so be sure to check with each school.

This is KEY INFORMATION if a student is planning to attend school in their home state of Maryland. Students must create an MDCAPS account (Maryland College Aid Processing System) to be eligible to receive any aid from the State of Maryland. This is created in addition to their FSA ID, FAFSA, or CSS accounts. Additionally a student MUST list at least 1 Maryland school on their FAFSA in order to have state aid offered to them.

A suggestion: if there is room on your FAFSA, go ahead and add CCBC (School Code: 002063) - this way it can be a part of any fiscal decisions you will need to make. Attending CCBC for the first two years can save a student approximately $14,000!

Undocumented students (without a social security number), are still eligible to apply for state aid through the Maryland State Financial Aid Application (MSFAA). Eligible students must first create an MDCAPS account and then complete the online application through the MDCAPS portal.

After completing the FAFSA or MSFAA, students will be automatically considered for various state grant and scholarship programs.

Students will be notified via email if they have been awarded an Educational Assistance Grant or Guaranteed Access Grant. This normally occurs in late April.

Students must accept their award online through their MDCAPS account. They will have up to 6 weeks to accept or decline. Failure to accept the award within that timeframe will result in the award being canceled and the award will NOT be reinstated.

Students are encouraged to monitor their "Check Application Status" in MDCAPS to verify if any additional information is needed to claim their award. If additional information is needed, they must submit all required documents by the deadline.

Additional State Financial Aid Programs

The Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) offers several additional grant, scholarship and loan repayment programs that require separate applications. The applications for all of these programs must be accessed through the student's MDCAPS account.

Scholarships provide money that does not need to be repaid, and there are thousands of them available to students to help defray the cost of their postsecondary education. Amounts can range from less than a hundred dollars up to full tuition, room and board.

Some scholarships are merit based while others are geared towards a particular group of people like women, BIPOC, military families, etc. While most scholarships are specifically for current seniors in high school, there are many available to younger students as well.

Many schools will automatically review a student's application to award any merit based aid. Additionally, schools often have specialty scholarships available with separate applications and deadlines. Students should check with the school's financial aid office, or check the website of each school they are applying to.

If you are planning to attend school in Maryland, you may be eligible for MD Representative scholarships. Each Delegate and Senator are able to create their own scholarship applications, requirements, and deadlines. Students should find out who their elected officials are by clicking here and entering their home address. From there, they can contact the offices of the appropriate officials for application details.

Private scholarships are awarded by a number of businesses and community organizations. Students and their families should check with their employers, local rec councils or improvement associations, church groups, etc.

Towson High School will be coordinating a local scholarship application/program for the Class of 2026. Please be on the lookout for further information in late winter, 2026.

Xello - The same application that you used to search and apply for colleges will also help you to find money for college. From the home page, simply hover over "plans" and select scholarships.

Big Future/College Board - A fantastic resource for all things college. Their search engine is very easy to use. Simply go to https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org to learn more.

Schoology - Specifically the Group "Grade 12 THS School Counseling". This page is where Ms. Bures will be posting any scholarship opportunities she is aware of. They will be on the updates page, and also saved in the 'resources' section - in a green 'scholarship catalog' folder. The list will have deadlines in the title to make your search a bit easier.

Other quality websites - there are numerous websites to use - feel free! Even Google searching for scholarships is very helpful. Scholarshipamerica.org, fastweb.com, scholarships.com are three very good (and easy to use sites).

**IMPORTANT** NEVER pay for a scholarship search!!! All of this information should be accessible free of charge.