Applying for Scholarships Transcript
00:00:08:01 - 00:00:33:09
Unknown
Hi, I'm Brad Barnett, director of the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships at James Madison University. I'm going to take the next few moments to give you a high level overview of the process to apply for financial aid and scholarships here at JMU. Applying for financial aid for the first time can seem like an overwhelming process, but we've tried to make it as easy as possible by requiring only one form for all non scholarship assistance.
00:00:33:12 - 00:00:47:12
Unknown
That form is the 2022-23 Free Application for Federal Student Aid, called the FAFSA for short. You can find the Fafsa on the web at www.studentaid.gov
00:00:47:14 - 00:01:15:05
Unknown
I'll explain the scholarship application process in just a moment. When the FAFSA was completed, it goes to the federal government and then two things happen after that. The government sends a copy back to you, and then they send a copy to us. If you apply it online, then you'll receive your copy online as well. This is your opportunity to review the FAFSA and make sure everything is accurate, as well as receive some initial feedback from the government about your application.
00:01:15:11 - 00:01:42:19
Unknown
When submitting your FAFSA make sure it gets to the federal government no later than March 1st, as that's the FAFSA priority filing date at JMU. In some cases, meeting the March 1st date can increase your eligibility from assistance from certain financial aid programs. Most students submit the application online, and if that's your plan, I suggest you submit it a few days before March 1st just to make sure it gets received and processed by the government by that date.
00:01:42:20 - 00:02:12:00
Brad
When we receive your FAFSA, we'll use the information on the application in addition to your student record at JMU to determine your eligibility for assistance from the federal grants, state grants, university grants, federal loans, and federal work study programs. The culmination of this process will result in us sending you a financial aid award offer. That offer will list in the aid you may be eligible to receive from the before mentioned programs.
00:02:12:01 - 00:02:41:09
Brad
With that said, there are other opportunities to help cover your college expenses that might not be directly tied to the FAFSA. For example, institutional employment, which are part time jobs on campus outside of the federal work study program, off campus jobs in the community, and yes, scholarships. However, I should note that some scholarships do have a financial need component, and the FAFSA is used to determine need in those situations.
00:02:41:10 - 00:03:09:22
Brad
So even if you're only interested in receiving scholarships, we still suggest you complete the FAFSA, as doing so could open the door for need based scholarship assistance as it pertains to scholarships. I'm happy to report that most scholarships don't even require additional application outside of your application for admissions and the FAFSA. And remember, the FAFSA is only needed if there is a financial need component to the eligibility criteria.
00:03:09:22 - 00:03:34:18
Brad
It's not required for merit based awards. In short, the information from these applications is used to help us match students with available scholarships. However, there are a few scholarships that do require an additional application for consideration. We suggest visiting our scholarship website at www.jmu.edu/scholarships.
00:03:34:20 - 00:03:58:09
Brad
At that site, you'll be able to see the few scholarships that require an additional application, as well as find the opportunity to submit a general scholarship application through the Madison Scholarships Hub. Now, submitting the general scholarship application is not a requirement for scholarship consideration, but doing so could give us additional information about you that we don't already have.
00:03:58:10 - 00:04:28:07
Brad
And in the end, it could give you more exposure to certain scholarships. So in summary, to give yourself the greatest opportunity for consideration of financial aid and scholarships from all available programs, you should submit the FAFSA before March 1st. Review our scholarship website to determine if there are any scholarships you can apply for that require a separate application, and complete the general scholarship application in the Madison Scholarships Hub.
00:04:28:11 - 00:04:57:16
Brad
One thing we do want to note as you move forward in this process, is that the majority of the communication we send regarding financial aid goes directly to students, not to parents. So we recommend students keep an eye on their email for any communications from our office. In closing, we're happy to see your interest in JMU. If you have additional questions about the application process, feel free to contact us by phone, email or stop by our office on the fifth floor of the Student Success Center.
00:04:57:18 - 00:05:05:21
Brad
You might also want to check out our website, as we have a lot of great information out there that will probably answer most of your general aid questions.
