Tagged: grad students

Tonight’s Top Ten Category … Things You Need to Know About Using Your Financial Aid …

Note- this post has been updated since its original publication in May 2013
Okay, I couldn’t resist adding one more to the myriad of over used Top Ten Lists out there (David Letterman what have you wrought in our society!!). But this is a pretty important one to at least take a look at because it’s all about what you need to do to insure your financial aid actually materializes to pay your tuition bill and actually is accessible for you to pay your own bills. So… (drumroll….)

#10 – You will not receive a bill – it’s true..…not in the sense of a bill mailed or emailed to you directly. What you will get is an email that a July 1 billing (due August 1) for charges for the Fall  term is available for you to review on the Student Information System (SIS).

#9 – You may not need to actually pay the bill – if you have accepted enough financial aid between loans and scholarship funds to fully cover the Fall term (i.e. that’s 50% of your total aid for the year) your financial aid will appear on the July 1 billing statement as anticipated aid. Provided you have enough accepted financial aid to cover the bill, you will not need to make any payments on the due date of August 1. However, the only way that your financial aid appears on your bill is if you have completed the financial aid process by submitting all required tax returns and the Notification and Confirmation form.

#8 – You may need to actually pay the bill – if you have declined financial aid, intend to pay on your own or have not accepted enough financial aid to cover the Fall term bill you will owe a balance that must be paid by August 1st .

#7 – There are consequences (bad things) if you do not pay the bill in full by the deadline… including late fees added to your account and holds (including a registration hold if the bill is not paid by the time you get to YLS which will prohibit you from registering with your class and getting your course schedule).

#6 – Your loans are not really loans yet…there are steps that need to happen in the summer to actually “set up” your loans. You will get an email from Student Financial Services mid-summer (usually mid to late July) instructing you to complete loan paperwork electronically on the SIS system including a promissory note, truth-in-lending statements (TILAs), Title IV authorizations and an entrance counseling session (which are not counseling sessions at all but an online information survey). Documents will differ depending on what type of loan(s) you have and you will also need to complete separate promissory notes for each loan (including both the federal Direct Unsubsidized and Graduate Plus loans).

#5 – The Asset Verification Form is the final piece of the financial aid puzzle – this form must be completed within the window of after July 1st and by August 1st (no earlier and no later) allowing us to substantiate the estimate you made on Need Access for your total assets (and upon which we based the asset contribution in your aid award). Depending on the balances reported on this Verification form aid awards will be adjusted (both increases and decreases). Find this form in your Admissions Binder or on our website. Failure to submit by the deadline will put a hold on all financial aid funds.

#4 – Financial aid (loans and scholarship) disburse three days prior to the start of the term – with no exception. That’s in keeping with federal regulations and there is no getting around that. What that means is there is no “early” disbursal of aid for any financial reasons or hardships. So you will have to come prepared to pay for critical things you need (shelter, food, etc.) with your own funds from the time you move to New Haven through orientation.

#3 – Refunds on Financial Aid need to be requested in order to disburse. Refunds are the technical term for financial aid funds you have accepted for the sake of your own living expenses. Refunds are generated when all the Yale direct charges are paid and there are still excess funds on your account. However, in order to gain access to these funds you must “request a refund” on the SIS system. And you need to do this each semester or anytime you want a refund (i.e. those funds are not going to come to you automatically just because they are yours). And the earliest you are going to receive a refund is the first day of term. But again because there is no set or guaranteed date for the refund (albeit per federal regulations schools have 18 days from start of the term to issue and Yale does an extraordinary job of getting refunds to students in a timely manner) make the necessary allowances in your cash flow to survive.

#2 – There are things you can do to expedite the refund. First, sign up for automatic deposit so that the refund is deposited directly into your own bank account and you are not waiting for a paper check to be issued. Instructions on this process can be found on the Student Financial Services website . Second, request the refund a couple of days before the first day of term so that as soon as the excess funds are generated the refund process will already be in process.

#1 – Reach out to the Financial Aid Office for questions and help. As as you have just read a lot of fairly complex things need to happen on a certain timeframe, in a certain order over the next few months to ensure that you actually have funds in hand come the first days of classes. Don’t let a missed step leave you without the money you need. (Try as some have you can’t survive by living off the free candy that the Financial Aid Office always has available in our candy dish). So call us, email us or come visit us anytime if something in the process needs to be clarified.

The Price of Solitude … the cost of living with or without a roommate

I know that this is the time of the year when our new admits are scrambling to find housing and put deposits down before someone else snatches up a good apartment. Lots of pressure to insure that you have a place to actually “land” when you get here in August.

And not wanting to add any additional pressure onto those tough, timely choices but…. thought it would be worth just throwing out a few numbers which show why we advocate that students give serious cost consideration to finding roommates. Yes, I know that the thought of sharing space with someone you barely know at this stage of your life probably just makes you groan. Are they going to “mistakenly” eat your peanut butter… probably yes? Are they going to play some unbearable (you fill in the genre) music night and day … most likely. And are they going to have a whole warren of dust bunnies living under their bad? Absolutely. They will invariably do things to annoy you and impede your independence.

But what they will also do is save you considerable money in your student budget. Here’s why we know that… as some of you may have read on the blog post “The Means to Live Within Your Means” we do an annual costs of living survey among current students to assess if the number we use for “living expenses” in the student budget is accurate (which it is). What that survey also shows us is the overall cost differential between living alone, living with one roommate and living with two or more roommates.

COL Roommate Chart

Using the example of the cost differential of single to one roommate.. that’s $203 per month or $1,827 per academic year or $5,481 over a 3 year JD degree. So let’s say that you chose to live alone and let’s suppose that you then have to borrow ( in a Grad Plus loan) the additional funds of the cost differential in loans in order to make up for that extra expense of living alone. That $5,481 extra you borrowed over your 3 year enrollment translates to $7,946 on a 10 year loan repayment and $12,582 on a 25 year loan repayment. (And that is not factoring in the interest that is building on the borrowed amount while you are enrolled). So you just spent at a minimum $7,946 to live without a roommate. Is it worth it?

You are going to hear two things ad nauseum from me during your enrollment. First, you have a limited amount of money to live on in your student budget. Basically you are on a fixed income (and you didn’t even have to wait till social security). You can live adequately on our student budget provided you make some fiscally sound life choices. Second, any opportunities that you have to mimimize your borrowing saves you considerable funds in the future. Sacrifice a little now for long term financial gain. And choosing whether to live alone or with a roommate is one of the first choices you make that will impact both budgeting and borrowing.

Apples to Apples (or at least Granny Smith to Macintosh): Comparing Aid Award Letters

Note this blog was updated from its original April 2013 publication.

This is the season when our office gets a lot of requests to match aid awards from other Law Schools. But as a need-based institution we can only review or change an aid award if there is a change in financial circumstances which affects need. The existence of an alternative scholarship does not affect need or allow the leveraging of additional YLS funds.

What we will do when you reach out to us with this request is two things. First, we will do a re-review of your Need Access and FAFSA applications to ensure that we have understood your financial situation correctly. We recognize the fact that the data on those forms often does not tell the full story of an applicant (or their parents) and as such it’s helpful to dig a little deeper into what has been reported. Sometime the student has miscalculated what assets they will have available as of September 1st (which is the key number we use in calculating the asset contribution – not the data that reflects the assets you had at the time you completed the application). Or sometimes we will note that the student or parent had a one-time influx of income which is not representative of what their annual income truly is. Again, adjustments to the aid award can be made if we determine that the financial need data should be revised.

Second, we will talk with you about how to look at our aid award in the context of other awards you may have received. We are big believers in the “look before you buy” philosophy. Often we share the following points in how to effectively compare aid awards:

— As previously stated, it’s not possible to do a direct (my apples to apples analogy) comparison of “merit” based awards vs. need based awards because they simply are not done on the same principles.

— With merit-based awards that support tuition only, you want to be conscious, therefore, of how you will then fund your living expenses (and what realistically are those living expenses). If you are borrowing loans to support your personal expenses and living in a high cost city this could be substantial loan debt. Which then leads to the question: is this loan debt borrowed for living costs covered under the institution’s LRAP (Loan Repayment Assistance Program)? Which in turn leads to the larger question of comparing that LRAP to other LRAPs available.

— LRAPS in general have to factor into any aid award comparison as a “back end” scholarship. It’s not just about what you are getting in the initial aid award to fund those three (short) years of law school, it’s also about what support you will receive to assist in the long term repayment of the debt.

— How was the aid award made? At YLS we make it a point to show on the aid award letter the entire progressive calculation: Budget minus Contribution (Student, Parent, Spouse) = Need. Need is first met by unit loan and then by Institutional Scholarship. You can see exactly how we are arriving at bottom line numbers. It’s all very transparent and equitably applied to all students. If you are going to do a direct comparison of aid awards you will need to understand exactly how each element of the award was calculated by each institution.

— The cost of living differential is critical. Many people focus on the tuition and fees in looking at their student budgets. But let’s talk about the importance of the cost of living allotment. The reality is that the cost of living allotment is the only part of the student budget which you can control (you can’t change tuition, fees or health costs or anything else that will be billed from the school) but you can live on less (and more ) that what is budgeted for living. So it’s important to understand how exactly each school calculates the cost of living and if it’s a realistic number. In the case of YLS we conduct a Cost of Living survey annually with all our JD students to assess how much they are actually paying for rent, utilities, internet, phone, food etc. This year (2014-2015) the average monthly cost for all living expenses was $1,631 which at a nine month academic year was an average of $14,679. And we presently budget $17,000 in our 15-16 academic year student budget so we provide a buffer for other expenses. Bottom line — we are pretty confident that the cost of living allotment is accurate and is going to allow you to make out okay here in New Haven.

— Another related issue is evaluating if increased scholarship support is only supporting a higher cost of living. For example, say you received $3,000 more in scholarship support from another institution than YLS but in looking at their Cost of Living allotment in their budget (assuming their budget includes that breakdown) you see that it costs $3,000 more to live there than the YLS New Haven allotment. You really haven’t gained anything in that extra $3,000 because it’s just going to pay for a cost of living differential.

We recognize that deciphering multiple aid awards (all usually looking different, calculated different etc.) is a challenge. We are always willing to talk about how YLS calculates our award.

Beyond Loan Repayment- “Big Picture” Financial Planning

Any of you who have ever been in my office may have noticed that I have two watercolor prints on my walls both of which are beach scenes. Why? It keeps me focused everyday on “the” goal…the little beach house in South (or North) Carolina that someday in retirement will be mine. It’s a tangible motivation and my continual reminder that I need to stick to a financial plan to get to that goal (because I won’t be transported down to Myrtle Beach by magic).

And to that point if you think post graduate money management involves only your loan repayment…it doesn’t. Certainly loan repayment is paramount to your immediate finances but it also needs to be coordinated and put in context with other more futuristic financial decisions. Because as you enter the “working world” you are going to be bombarded with a gazillion (yes that many!) financial choices particularly when you are faced with electing your employee benefits for health insurance, retirement, and life insurance, to name a few. And most likely you will be under pressure to make those choices and complete new employee paperwork asap so that you can begin your actual job. But the reality is that those short term decisions you are making now have significant long term consequences. So while you might be saying “retirement…but I just started this job”…the fact is that financial planning for the future needs to be on your radar now. (Need proof? A simple test is to use any of the 401K and 403B retirement calculators on the American Institute of CPA’s 360% of Financial Literacy site to compare what happens if you begin saving at age 25 vs. 35 vs. 45 etc.).

So it’s in your best interest to learn as much as you can about financial planning so that when you are faced with these choices, you can make the best ones. Financial planner John Caserta is a longtime friend Yale Law School who has presented workshops and has offered one-on-one counseling to YLS students to help them get their financial house in order post graduation. Check out John’s article on “Why some people may never find financial freedom“ for some key do’s and don’ts of beginning the financial planning process as a young professional.

As an extra bonus…John Caserta will be visiting YLS on April 11th and April 17th (12:00-5:00 p.m.) to offer complimentary individual counseling sessions to our students. These are meant as basic introductions to planning and students at all levels of “financial expertise” are encouraged to attend. You can sign up for your session with John by emailing financialaid.law@yale.edu – space is limited. Take advantage of this opportunity because when it comes to financial planning…the future really does start now.

The Means To Live Within Your Means

I could give a million and one euphemistic quotes on saving money. My personal favorite: “if saving money is wrong, I don’t want to be right” from that wise sage William Shatner (presumably as the Priceline Negotiator and not Captain Kirk).

The bottom line is that as a YLS student we expect you to live within a budget and,as such, assume that you will need to modify spending and make financial sacrifices along the way. The same budget or Cost of Attendance must be applied to all students within the same degree program. Why do we do this? Because the Department of Education Title IV federal regulations which allow us to disburse federal loans dictate that we must do this… “students must be awarded on the basis of a Cost of Attendance comprised of allowable costs assessed all students carrying the same academic workload”.

What the regulations do allow is that every school can develop their own budgets based on estimate “allowable” costs specific to their institution and their student populations. In the case of YLS we do something that not every school does… each year we survey our current students on their primary “living” costs to ensure that what we are allotting for this expense is (again as defined by the federal regulations) “reasonable”.

This year 44% of our current enrollment (including both JD and Graduate students) responded to the “Cost of Living” survey (up from 38% last year). That’s a very good response rate and as such probably gives us a pretty accurate sampling. Aside from the obvious data on “rent” or housing we individually poll on a variety of other expense types including utilities, phone, cable/internet, food and local transportation. We average those individual expenses by type and then add them together to determine a typical inclusive “monthly” expense which we can then project for the nine month academic year to determine an average “cost of living” . The result for 2012-2013 is:

COL Table Black White

The survey also yields other interesting facts on how YLS students live which we factor into our decision on the cost of living allotment:

  • The majority of our students (35.6%) make the decision to live alone and, as such, are most likely incurring higher monthly costs (Although we did see a slight increase (18% to 22%) in the number of students living with two or more roommates from last year to this year’s survey).Col Living arrangement Chart 3
  • Most students are paying rents in either the $600-$800 range (31%) or $800-$1000 range (25%) Though we did see an increase (from last year) in the number of students at the extreme low end $400-$600 of the rent scale. Again in the survey rent was defined as the portion of the monthly payment that you personally are responsible for.
  • Surprising (to me at least) …our 1L students have the lowest total living costs per academic year ($14,031) while our 3Ls have the highest ($16,074). I would welcome feedback on the blog from 3Ls as to why that occurs.COL by class color version

The survey also monitors some additional expenses including books/class supplies where the average of $849 per year is within the $1,000 allotment already included in the student budget as a separate allowance. Average childcare costs in the survey were $10,377 per year and YLS presently allows an additional $17,500 in childcare costs to be covered by non COAP eligible loans.

Finally, the survey asks an open ended question regarding “what other ongoing expenses do you have not captured elsewhere on the survey”? There is always a great diversity in the answers to this question – my personal favorites this year being the response of “Gym, Tan, Laundry” (did you seriously think you could slip a Jersey Shore reference in there and I would not get it?) .

Of these “ongoing expenses” the most common response was Travel- particularly as cited for the holidays and to visit significant others. YLS specifically budgets an equitable travel allowance into all student budgets based on home state (as reported on the Need Access application or FAFSA.) The allotment is based on making two roundtrips- getting to YLS in the Fall, going home for the holiday break in December, returning to YLS in January and going home at the end of the academic year in May. Any other travel beyond that schedule is a personal budget choice. However always be aware that if emergency travel or if a personal crisis arises which necessitates travel, we can exercise professional judgment based on a justifiable expense to increase the travel allotment. As much of a romantic as I am, visiting a love sick significant other does not constitute “emergency” travel.

I also want to address a survey comment that YLS cost of living is less than other Yale Graduate and Professional Schools. The reality is that we have one of the highest cost of living allowances because on top of the basic living expense we build travel and books/supplies as separate budget items. Most of the other G&P schools are incorporating those costs in their general living allowance.

So… the reality is that the current $17,000 allowance well surpasses the average costs of $15,003 per academic year as documented in survey and provides a buffer of almost $2,000 to support those other “ongoing expenses”- however you may prioritize them. As such, we feel the $17,000 living allotment, in addition to the travel allowance by state and with the book/supplies allowance of $1,000, meets the federal guidelines as “reasonable” expenses for the 2013-2014 student budget.

Does it meet your own personal needs? Maybe not. Does it allow you to maintain a standard of living to which you are accustomed? Maybe not. But it’s still an equitable allowance to live “like a student” for the short time that you are here in New Haven. Will you need to make some sacrifices or make priorities? Probably. Is it going to be a challenge to live on what is essentially “fixed income&rdqurdquo;? Most likely yes. It is going to be a difficult to receive an influx of funds at the start of a term (no more weekly paychecks) that then has to stretch for several months? Of course. Ultimately will you need to carefully budget your funds? Absolutely yes.

And that’s also where the Financial Aid Office comes in… to support you as you face the potential challenge of living within that allowance and to assist you in that budgeting process. Our office has many budgeting tools and web resources that we can share with you. We can also sit down with you through one on one counseling to actually develop a personal budget based on your own financial aid, your expected refund and your monthly expenses. We also offer workshops throughout the year which provide basic budgeting how tos, manageable spending tips and credit dos and don’ts .

Because despite the preconceived notion that the budget in some way “hinders” you, the reality is that the budget parameters actually “help” you minimize your overall loan borrowing and , ultimately, ensures that 25-30 years from now you are still not paying off the lifestyle “choices” you made in law school .

The “Execution” of YLS Financial Aid- A Welcome Message for the Class of 2016

With our Class of 2016 beginning to take shape, I thought it was appropriate to reach out and extend a welcome on behalf of the YLS Financial Aid Office. You’ll find our office tucked in the York St./Grove St. corner of the Law School in M13. In order to get here, you’ll have to pass through one of the Law School’s carved stone archways. But this one has a very vivid depiction of a man with a head in the guillotine and the executioner above (with a big smile on his face no less). Will that be symbolic of your financial aid experiences at YLS? Is there a little foreshadowing going on?
executionLet me give you all assurances that it will not be. Here is my solemn promise of no beheadings. I do, however, reserve the right to fill the moat outside my office with small alligators. (Yes, there is an actual moat outside our office windows).

Because for us, financial aid at YLS is a very personal process. Our small class size allows us to not only carefully review all the application forms and documents you submit , but also reach out to you directly if we see something that perhaps was done in error or doesn’t make sense. We also recognize that applications and forms may not truly capture unique personal circumstances and as such, encourage you to contact our staff and share those situations that may impact your aid award. And because managing financial aid may be a whole new world for you, don’t ever hesitate to ask the most basic questions related to the application process or the aid award itself.

Our office believes we have an obligation to ensure that our students are “saavy financial aid consumers” – we want you to understand the financial decisions you are making while in Law School, know the options and choices you have, and also leave here with a plan for how those financial decisions you made will then impact your life going forward. That’s why we counsel students not only as they enter YLS but all through their enrollment (and beyond because of our loan repayment assistance program COAP).

All Financial Aid Offices have their own “culture” and ours is to have an open door policy – literally the door in M13 is always open. You don’t have to make an appointment (although it helps), you can drop by and you won’t have to go through a “gatekeeper” to reach either myself or our Assistant Director, if we are available, we will welcome you in and try to help in any way that we can.

Because the real secret is this…I have the open door policy for a very selfish reason. The best part of my day is actually when I get the chance to sit down with a student and chat. Far better than preparing aid estimates on Excel charts or running statistical analysis. It’s those counseling sessions where I get to know our wonderful (and they are) students on a different level than just a paper financial aid application or a tax return. And FYI- we always have a full candy bowl in the Financial Aid Office as another temptation to drop by…just to say hello and grab a handful of chocolate. (Trust me, you may need that sugar rush some days here).

So by way of further introduction, (yes we are indeed real people and not robots processing aid applications) … here are the folks you will come to know in YLS Financial Aid… …Roselyn, our Senior Administrative Assistant, is our office historian having been at YLS for 14 years (she has truly seen it all!) and, more importantly, is the undisputed “Queen of COAP”– our loan repayment assistance program. Kellie, our Assistant Director, came to YLS after spending 18 years at Yale Student Financial Services (so she is a great resource for dealing with that office on billing and loan issues) and now, in addition to making aid awards, also coordinates our Summer Public Interest Fellowship program. Fun fact about Kellie…she is an avid gardener and baker- two indispensable skill sets for the workplace! And myself, Jill, the Director, a relative newbie to YLS having joined the staff in 2011- returning to financial aid after a few years away in the student services field because I actually (gasp!) missed financial aid. Want to strike up a conversation with me (aside from talking about financial aid)- bring up college basketball (I live for March Madness!), cats (my husband fears I am well on my way to being the “crazy cat lady” of the neighborhood) or yoga (Om!) .

So now that you know us, it’s time for us to get to know you. We look forward to the opportunity to email, talk and meet as you begin and move through the financial aid process.

Just a reminder that we have a new website “ How to Apply for Financial Aid- New Admits” which will hopefully walk you through the aid award process. And this is the time when you should be submitting your FAFSA and Need Access application if you wish to receive a provisional financial aid award letter.

The Big Payoff- should you take care of student loan debt as soon as possible?

A very interesting (and timely as you will see below) article on the AP this morning which I wanted to share … “Should you pay off your student loans quickly?”… detailing the story of one recent Grad School graduate who felt that alleviating himself of his student loan debt burden was the key to his personal and professional freedom. His strategy for how he did this is a good replicable model for any new “loan repayer” to follow.

The article (as indicated by its title) also debates if paying off the student loan debt when compared to other pending debt (credit cards, car loans) is the best strategy. Basically it encourages students to develop a “debt stacking” model where debt sources are triaged for repayment based on the amount of total debt and the interest rate.

Want to know more about the value of “debt stacking”? It just so happens that Lori Moore, Financial Literacy Director for the Access Group will be here at YLS for two workshops in October both of which will incorporate the debt stacking strategy. On October 15th Lori will present “Loan Repayment… Pick Your Plan “- a workshop targeted to 3Ls for whom loan repayment is imminent and on October 18th Lori will be back to talk about “Borrowing and Budgeting Wisely”- a workshop geared to 1Ls and 2Ls addressing what proactive steps they should be taking as students to put their financial house in order now. Both workshops are from 12:10-1:00 p.m. in Room 127 and, in the spirit of strategies to save money, include a FREE lunch. Check the YLS calendar for more info.

“Upgrade” With Help from A YLS Technology Loan

In April, I made the big leap and ditched my dinosaur of a home PC for an IPad (such are the dangers of working a block away from the allure of the Apple Store). But for all of us there comes a time when no matter how trusty the old computer has been or what fond memories you may have of it … it’s just time to let it go quietly into the night.

So this is reminder that if you are at that point you can avail yourself of the YLS Technology Loan to make that new purchase. The loan is made on a reimbursement basis meaning that you will need to make and fund the purchase yourself (not just “ordered” but actually purchased). After doing so bring the receipts to the Financial Aid Office and complete a budget revision form.

Reimbursement is made by adding an additional loan to your financial aid award package. In most cases this will be an additional Graduate PLUS loan or Yale Graduate and Professional Loan (for international students). If you already have a Grad Plus or Yale G&P loan in place adding the extra loan requires no additional loan paperwork or promissory notes. There is one tricky thing in terms of cash flow… because student loans must disburse 50% for Fall term and 50% for Spring if you purchase a computer in the summer or at any time in the Fall term you won’t have the full reimbursement until the beginning of the spring term when the second installment of the loan comes in. Some students have waited to purchase until the very end of the Fall term or even into the Spring term itself so that the full reimbursement comes in all at once.

The reimbursement amount is based on your year at YLS. 1Ls are reimbursed at $3,000, 2Ls at $2,000 and 3Ls at $1,000. As such, if you are planning on taking advantage of this buying the computer in the 1L year will allow the maximum reimbursement. Any computer purchases made in the summer are reimbursable but only at the next academic year level (because the loans will not be put into place until that academic year). So if you are a rising 3L and purchase a computer in July- you will be set up with a $1,000 technology loan for the 2012-2013 academic year.

What constitutes “technology” for the sake of this loan? Well we are making the loan on the basis that the technology purchased is essential and necessary to your studies at YLS. That being said we maintain a fairly liberal definition of what we will allow under this reimbursement. In addition to a core computer we would allow accessories and or ancillary devices (printer, scanner etc.) up to the reimbursement level if all purchased at the same time. If you feel a tablet or IPad serves your needs better than a PC or Macbook that’s fine as well. But keep in mind it is a one time only reimbursement so whatever you purchase you will need to live with for the balance of your YLS life.

What Still Needs To Happen To Get Your Money Or The “Never Ending” Financial Aid Process

So I like to think we are in the home stretch of the financial aid process, applications have been processed, award letters are out and award acceptances (Notification and Confirmation forms) have come in. So very close… but the reality is there are still a couple of important things that need to happen to insure that the Yale bill is paid and that you have money in your pocket to live on. I have been getting a lot of our new admits emailing me with the basic questions below so I am gearing this blog to them but all the info is valid even for our veteran rising 2Ls and 3Ls.

When will I get a bill? You won’t… not in the sense of a bill mailed or emailed to you directly. What you will get is an email that a July 1 billing (due August 1) is available for you to review on the Student Information System (SIS). You’re going to pick up in this blog that the SIS system (www.yale.edu/SIS) needs to become your new best friend for the sake of financial aid – bookmark it and keep it close at hand . That July 1 bill is going to show your charges (tuition, fees and health) and is also going to show all your accepted financial aid totaled as an “anticipated financial aid credit”. As long as the anticipated aid covers the charges you need not worry about the July 1 bill. If there is a gap that you intended to pay on your own you must make arrangement to pay it (instructions will be on the SIS system how to make direct payments) prior to August 1. If there is a gap and you discover the need to borrow more loan funds that July 1 bill gives you the time to contact our office and do that prior to that August 1 payment date.

What happens if there is still a balance due on my bill as of the August 1 due date? On that date if there is any balance due a number of “bad” things will happen. First a $125 a month late fee will be assessed increasing what you owe even more. Secondly you will be put on financial hold which will prohibit you from registering with the rest of your class and receiving your course schedule. (In the cast of current students note that a financial hold will prevent you from getting transcripts needed for FIP!) Note, at any time before the start of classes if the balance is cleared then the financial hold is removed but the late fee is still payable.

How can I insure my loans will disburse on schedule? There is a critical step yet to complete to insure that your loans are ready to go and mark your calendars now to be on the lookout for this in mid July. After July 1 our office will certify the loans you’ve accepted with either the Department of Education (for federal loans) or Yale’s Student loan office (for our own Graduate and Professional International Loan or Perkins loans). When the certification is complete and the loan established you will then get an email from Student Financial Services that it is time to complete the loan paperwork which will include a promissory note and other supplementary documents such as truth in lending statements (TILAs) and entrance counseling session (which are not counseling sessions at all but an online information survey that you participate in and sign off on). Documents will differ depending on what type of loan you have- some will be on the www.studentloans.gov website (Direct Unsubsidized and Grad Plus loans) some will be available right from SIS (Yale GPI Loan and Perkins). Also note that you will need to complete separate promissory notes for each loan (including both the federal Direct Unsubsidized and Graduate Plus loans). Please wait for the email with instructions before going out to any website and doing the prom note on your own as its critical that it link with the completed certification loan (otherwise it hangs out there and goes no where)

When will my financial aid disburse? By federal regulations the earliest aid (both loans and institutional scholarships) can disburse is three business days prior to the first day of the term (for us the first day of the term is September 5, 2012). There are no exceptions to this rule ever. So what this means is that you need to come to New Haven with ample funds to get yourself established including rent (and security deposit), furnishings and food (New Haven has a lot of really good, cheap places to eat – talk to a local for tips).

How do I get a refund of my financial aid funds if I borrowed money to live on? We’ve already established that the aid comes in the three days prior to the start of the term. Then the direct Yale charges (tuition,fees and health) post against the financial aid and, (if your aid is more than the charges) generates a credit balance which has to be refunded to you directly. By federal regulation an institution has 14 days from the first day of the term to provide you the refund and Yale does an exceptional job of getting it to you as quickly as possible even as early as the first day of the term. But again because there is no set or guaranteed date for the refund make the necessary allowances in your cash flow to survive. To expedite your actual receipt of the refund there are two important steps. First, set up automatic deposit on the SIS system so that refunds are deposited directly into your personal checking or savings account. Second you must actually request the refund on the SIS system (i.e. the credit balance in and of itself will not generate a refund automatically). That’s a step that get’s missed alot and something you have to do each term and each time you want the refund to generate. Check out Student Financial Services website for detailed instructions on the automatic deposit and refund request process: http://www.yale.edu/sfas/financial/accounts.html.

That’s an abundance of information to digest so I will stop there. As you transition in (or back) to YLS don’t hesitate to ask questions (I readily admit that the financial aid process is overwhelming). The best way to reach our office during this summer period is using our main number 203- 432-1688 and our main email financialaid.law@yale.edu given staff vacations and summer hours but there is always someone checking that phone and that email who will respond right back to you. You’ve all done a great job of negotiating the financial aid process… just make sure you finish out the final steps and you will be in the money!

Next Blog- Life Beyond Ramen Noodles- budgeting your refund to live well.

How 3Ls Can Achieve “Low Debt, High Gain” (Workshop Series)

Beginning in April, the Financial Aid Office will be offering the “Low Debt, High Gain” workshop series designed to give some practical, real world advice for our 3L students as they begin their transition from Yale Law School. And while each workshop is individual, the most benefit will come if you participate in all three because, as a series, they have been designed to build on one another.

The workshops will be held on consecutive Mondays beginning April 2 from 12:10:-1:00 p.m. in Room 128. We start off on April 2nd with Lori Moore, Director of Financial Literacy for the Access Group. Some of you may have loans held by the Access Group and many of you may know them as the people who brought you the Need Access financial aid application each year. Lori will kick off the series by providing an overview of loan repayment – the various plans you as the borrower can choose from, understanding who holds your loan and who is “servicing” it, as well as your rights and responsibilities as a borrower.

Once Lori has brought you up to speed on loan repayment and options, it’s time to see how COAP then coordinates with your repayment plan. On April 9th, Associate Dean Asha Rangappa and myself will present “Coping Through COAP” which will answer all the basic questions on how COAP awards are determined, what loans are covered, how and when to make application, as well as deal with the COAP intricacies of spouses, dependents, clerkships and assets.

Finally, now that Workshop 1 and 2 has sorted out all your loan repayment, it’s time to move onto larger fiscal issues you will face. That’s where financial planner John Caserta comes in with his workshop on April 16th entitled “Your Financial Future Starts Now”. John, a Yale college alum, has been offering this workshop to YLS students for a number of years and it has always been well received. John uses the analogy of “building your financial castle” to talk about personal spending plans, investment and insurance basics, understanding employee benefit packages and even focuses on the need to start thinking about your retirement (before you have even graduated !!!).

Even more incentive to attend- since the workshops are at lunchtime there will be food (probably pizza) – as well as some home baked dessert treats courtesy of the Financial Aid staffs’ kitchens.

As I mentioned the workshops are designed for 3Ls getting ready to leave YLS but are absolutely open for any 1L and 2L students who wish to attend. We also plan to record the sessions and make them available on the Financial Aid website afterward for those whose schedule might not permit participating.