Application Information, Instructional Videos for OK’s Promise and FAFSA

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Application Information and Instructional Videos for OK’s Promise, FAFSA and College Applications 

 

I. Oklahoma’s Promise

  1. Frequently Asked Questions about Oklahoma’s Promise
  2. Instructions for Filling out the Oklahoma’s  Promise Application
  3. Videos of Student attending Oklahoma Colleges with the help of the Promise program
  4. Other Information on the Oklahoma’s Promise Scholarshp

II. Oklahoma College Admissions

  1. General College Guide by the Oklahoma Board of Regents
  2. University of Oklahoma Webinar on Admissions,  Scholarships and Financial Aid
  3. Oklahoma State University Webinar on Admissions,  Scholarships and Financial Aid

III. Federal Application for Financial Student Aid (FAFSA)

  1. FAFSA Instructional Videos (English) and Written Instructions

IV. College Application Instructional Videos

  1. College Essays
  2. Letters of Recommendation from Teachers for College Applications Videos
  3. College Admissions Interview Instructional Videos
  4. High School Resumes

V. Making High School Count – Videos

VI. Online Help 24/7 – Tulsa County Library and “Brainfuse”

  1. Live Tutoring for writing college essays and resumes
  2. ACT and SAT prep and practice testing
  3. Homework help on many academic subjects
  4. Tutors Available for Spanish Speakers

VII. Tulsa County Library and other Oklahoma Libraries

  1. Videos, DVD’s and Books on College Applications and Scholarships

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I. Oklahoma’s Promise

1. Frequent Questions About Oklahoma’s Promise

  • What is the family income limit?  A. Currently $60,000 for a family with two dependents,   $70,000 with 3 to 4 and $80,000 for five or more  
  • What financial information should parents include on the applications to verity income?
  • A copy of a tax return. if you do not file a tax return, a copy of W-2s from an employer, Social Security benefits statement, unemployment comp or statements from other sources.
  • Do Guardians have to provide income information? No. Guardians only provide the legal document appointing them Guardians.
  • What if I am the parent but do not take the tax deduction for the student? A. It does not matter if the parent does not take the tax deduction for their student. The Regents who administer Oklahoma’s Promise are only interested in verifying family income. 
  • What courses must the student complete to qualify of Oklahoma’s Promise?  A. The TPS Work Force Ready/College Prep curriculum includes the required coursed.
  • What are the advantages of applying online versus mailing the applications? A. Since the data does not have to be manually entered by the administrators, the application is processed faster. Go to College Bound Resources at YPNG.co to learn more about how to complete the application and scan and upload documents using a cell phone.
  • Who can view my application and financial information and is my privacy protected? A. Only the staff at the OK Regents for Higher Education who run OK’s Promise. They do not share it with anyone including the IRS, ICE or any other State or Federal agency.

 

2. Video Instructions on How to Fill Out the Oklahoma’s Promise Application

Link to the Video

 

2. Written instructions on how to complete the Oklahoma’s Promise Application

We suggest using your smart phone to complete the application. That way you can use your phone to  scan the required documents and then upload them rather than having to mail them or locate a scanner at a school or library.

To get started, go to  https://www.okhighered.org/okpromise/

Then click on the red “Apply Now” button in the upper right-hand corner to begin.

This will take you to a page that lists the nine requirements for Oklahoma’s Promise including a 2.5 GPA. After you have read them, go to the bottom of the page and click on the blue box that says [Apply Now] This will take you to to the Sign In page.

Click on the bottom box [ CREATE AN ACCOUNT]. TPS encourages students to use their TPS e-mail and password, so they are easy to remember. Once you have signed in, you will see a page that lists Promise application requirements for parents and students and OK’s Promise Scholarship Benefits. This is the first page of the four- part application. This first page once again describes the requirements for Oklahoma’s Promise. Read through the requirements and go to the bottom of the page and make sure to click the blue [Agreement] button. Not checking this box is one of the most frequent reasons an application is labeled “Incomplete”.

After you have checked the blue [Agreement] button, click on the [Save and Continue] button at the lower right and you will go to a page where the student will find items for both the student and parent to complete including contact information, the student’s social security number and a confirmation number that is issued to the student when they first apply for a username and password. Make sure the name of the parent matches the tax returns, W-2s or any legal documents appointing an adult as the student’s guardian.

The third part of the application is the parents’ family income, which will be verified in the fourth and last step by submitting a copy of a tax return, W-2 other financial documents. We suggest you go to the video before you fill out this part of the form. It answers the many questions that can come up because of circumstances like divorce, income levels that do not require filling a tax return, adoptions and guardianships.

Guardians do not need to submit financial information only legal documents that show a court has appointed them guardian.

  • YOUR FINANCIAL AND PERSONAL INFORMATION IS NOT SHARED. Only the staff at the OK Regents for Higher Education who run OK’s Promise see your application.
  • The student must be a U.S. citizen and resident of Oklahoma or lawfully present in Oklahoma. Parents DO NOT need to be US citizens.

To start the process of submitting documents online,  lay the documents you want to attach to the application flat on a table. If you have an iPhone, hard press the notes application and a bubble will appear that will let you choose “Scan Document”. If you have an Android, hard press the triangle shaped Google Drive. You will see a + sign in the lower right hand Conner. Hit that and you will see six the scan applications that has a picture of a camera. Then use the app to  take a picture of them with your cell phone. You will later be prompted to upload these photos.

If you are using a computer, send the pictures by e-mail to the computer you are using for the application. Click on the photo attachments in the e-mail and drag and drop them on the computer’s desktop.

To upload these documents, there is a blue link at the bottom of the application summary page just below the Mailing address and Fax number: okhighered.org/SEFT/Okpromise.aspx. Clicking that link will take you to the final page called “Send your files securely”where you can upload your document files. You then:

  • Fill in the student’s e-mail address and then the Student’s Name.
  • Copy and Paste the “Captcha Code” into the empty box and then hit “Send Your Files”

That’s it! In a few minutes, you will get an e-mail saying they have received your updated information. Please forward a copy of that e-mail along with the name of your school and the year you will graduate high school to Bill Langdon at wclangdon@ypng.co and we will take you off our contact list and alert your high school counselor.

If you are a TPS student/parent and need further help, YPNG has one-on-one, bilingual workshops where a bilingual instructor can answerer your questions and help you complete the application. Just send your questions to wclangdon@ypng.co. Please include the student’s name, student id number, the school the student attends and the year of high school graduation. If we cannot answer it by e-mail, we will call you or arrange to meet with you.

3. Videos of Students attending Oklahoma Colleges with the help of the Promise program

4. Other Information on Oklahoma’s Promise for High School Seniors

  1.  Individual College Promise Information

 

II. Oklahoma College Admissions 

  1. Guide by the Oklahoma Regents for Higher Education

The link will let you download the entire guide published by the Regents for high school counselors and is updated every year.

https://www.okhighered.org/students/publications/crb/full.pdf

    2. University of Oklahoma Webinar on Admissions and Scholarships

Link to Video

3, Oklahoma State University Webinar on Admissions,  Scholarships and Financial Aid

Link to Video

III. Federal Application for Financial Student Aid (FAFSA)

Completing a FAFSA is the single most important thing you can do to get free money for college or advanced vocational training and is the gateway to Tulsa area tuition grants and scholarships like TCC’s Tulsa Achieves, Tulsa Tech’s Independence Scholarship, the Oklahoma’s Promise Scholarship that pays tuition to all OK public colleges and $150 billion other scholarships around the country. Go to YPNG.co and look under the “College Bound Resources” pulldown to research scholarships and subscribe to the monthly YPNG Student Newsletter on our homepage.

 

 What to Know Before You Start to Fill Out Your FAFSA

  Make sure you have:

  • SS number or green card number.
  • Driver’s license if you have one.
  • Mailing address where you can receive mail for the next year.
  • Email address you can use after you graduate from high school.
  • 2020 Tax forms or W-2s if you are working and tax is withheld.
  • A list of up to ten Colleges or Vocational Schools where you want your FAFSA sent.

Note: You can switch the FAFSA between English and Spanish while you are filling it out by clicking on the upper right-hand corner of the application.

  1. Create a FAFSA Student ID

Here is a link to a short video that will walk you through the steps to create your ID.

Create a FAFSA ID at https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch

You’ll need your Social Security number, full name, and date of birth. You’ll also need to create a username and password, and challenge questions and answers so you can retrieve your account information if you forget either one

  1. View the 12-minute instructional video on how to complete the FAFSA

 

FAFSA Instructional Videos (English and Spanish)   2023-24 FAFSA.

 

 

Link to Video (English)

Link to Video (Spanish)

 

     3. Start Your Application at https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa

Use your new FAFSA Student ID  to create this account.

  1. Determine if you are considered an Independent Student by FAFSA.

 If you are considered Independent, you will not need to put any information in the parents’ part of the financial disclosure form. Just click a box for one of the designations below and you will only need to fill out the student portion of the FAFSA.

Guardianship

If you live with a Guardian, check that box. While you don’t have to upload a copy of the Guardianship to the FAFSA form, you should still get a copy of your guardianship papers. The colleges you apply to often require a copy of the guardianship after they review the student’s FAFSA.

Foster Care

If at any time after you turned 13 you have been in foster care or a ward of the court, you are considered emancipated and an Independent Student.

Homeless

If you don’t have a parent, guardian, or foster parent, you may be considered homeless and not need a parent’s information. Colleges may require a letter from a guidance counselor, shelter administrator, or minister, etc. if this box is checked.

Circumstances where the student cannot get Financial Information from the Parent.

There is a section in the FAFSA titled special circumstance if you are unable to get financial information from your parent(s) or them to sign the application. One circumstance would be if your parent is incarcerated. Another would be if your parent is unable complete their part of the application because of a disability or just unwilling to fill out the form. If you claim special circumstances, the only disadvantage is you would not be eligible for Federal government grants like Pell grants. But you can still file the FAFSA and explain the situation to the college admissions office. The college may give you other scholarships and grants they control. You can also apply for many state and national merit-based scholarships.

  1. Dependent Students
  • Both your parents must provide income information if they live together even if they are not married.
  • If divorced, the custodian parent or the one providing the most support fills out the form.
  • If divorced and remarried, the parent and the stepparent must both submit information.
  • If no parent has a SS number, put in zeros. This can be intimidating if your parents are not documented. But assure them the Department of Education does not share information with the IRS or ICE and neither do college admissions offices.
  • Make sure the name and address your parents put on the FAFSA matches exactly what is on their tax returns and W-2s or FAFSA will not accept the application.
  • If your parent(s) filed a 2020 tax return, they can use the IRS retrieval tool to fill out the FAFSA financial information rather than typing in the information. Here is a short video that will show you how to use the IRS retrieval tool we recommend your watch before you try to use this tool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD4TTatm9oI

The FAFSA asks for information about family income, assets and demographic factors, such as family size and number of children enrolled in college at the same time. This information is used to calculate the expected family contribution, often referred to as EFC, which determines eligibility for federal student aid. For instance, if the EFC is zero, then the student will most likely qualify for a Pell Grant – a federal award based on financial need.

Most parents will not have an income level where they need to report other assets. When you come to this section, it will give you the option to click on “skip” and move to the next page. Click that button! Don’t be confused and fill out this section just because there are empty spaces on that page. But if your family does have a higher income and they ask for an asset listing, remember they do not have to report these assets:

  • Primary Residence
  • Cars
  • 401 k Retirement Plans
  • A business with fewer than 100 employees
  • A farm they live on or operate
  1. Other Things You Should Know

If your parents do not have a valid SS number, they cannot get a FAFSA ID to sign their part of the FAFSA electronically. But don’t worry. Just fill the SS line with zeros.  Never use a fake SS number. There is a box at the end of the FAFSA form your parents can check where they will be able to print and sign the FAFSA signature page. But remember, it must be mailed in 14 days after the FAFSA is submitted.

The FAFSA uses tax information from tax returns from two years ago. For example, A family completing the FAFSA for the 2022-2023 academic year, for instance, will use the 2020 tax return.

Some students may be employed full or part time and will have to fill out the same kind of financial information that comes up after the parent’s financial disclosure if they are getting W-2s from employers or have filed a 2020 tax return.

You and your family can save time with the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, called DRT, which automatically transfers tax information to the online application.

The Deadline for state aid from the State of Oklahoma is in June. But Oklahoma distributes awards on a first-come, first-served basis. It really pays to file the FAFSA close to the Oct. 1 release date. 

After submitting the FAFSA, you will receive a Student Aid Report, or SAR. The SAR is a summary of the FAFSA data submitted, so review it carefully for any errors. Once you submit it, you can always later go back in and update your FAFSA. 

If the form is filled out correctly and they do not ask for more information, you will also receive your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) number. This number is the major “driving factor” in determining financial aid eligibility and the structure of the financial aid award. The lower the number the more aide you will receive. The Department of Education sends this report via email or postal mail.

If you need help or have questions about the FAFSA, you can contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center, known as the FSAIC, which provides support on behalf of the Department of Education at 800-433-3243, or 800-730-8913 for applicants who are hearing impaired. Questions can also be submitted via email or web chat.

IV. College Application Instructional Videos

1. College Essay Instructional Videos  

https://www.khanacademy.org/college-careers-more/college-admissions/applying-to-college/admissions-essays/v/writing-a-strong-college-admissions-essay

 

 

https://www.khanacademy.org/college-careers-more/college-admissions/applying-to-college/admissions-essays/v/writing-a-strong-college-admissions-essay

 

2.  Letters of Recommendation from Teachers for College Applications Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX6m4DbZ4DIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qY9icExjEw

https://www.khanacademy.org/college-careers-more/college-admissions/applying-to-college/letters-of-recommendation/v/requesting-letters-of-recommendation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9CmnkGf4k4

3. College Admissions Interview Instructional Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qY9icExjEw

4. High School Resumes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHh_ct0KzS8

 

V. Making High School Count – Videos

VI. Online Help with Your HS College Prep – TC Library and “Brainfuse”

Tulsa County Library members have free access to“Brainfuse” , a 24/7 online tutoring provider where students and tutors can communicate in real-time. In addition to personal academic tutoring, Brainfuse’s “HelpNow” also offers students a number of online services that will help you with your college prep like ACT and SAT practice testing and writing essays and resumes for your college application

https://www.tulsalibrary.org/homework-help-now.

Here is a summary of what you will find on this page at the Tulsa County Library’s Website:

  • Live Tutoring: You can Enter online classrooms and receive live, online help from a Brainfuse tutor.
  • Skills-Building:Helps you master an academic concept through expert tutoring and standards aligned online lessons for a variety of age groups and subjects.
  • 24/7 Help Center: Submit a question and a tutor will provide you with a response (usually within 24 hours).
  • Foreign Language Lab:Provides assistance and support for students who are learning Spanish.
  • Writing Lab:HelpNow offers two types of writing assistance.
    • Live Writing Assistance:Connect with an online tutor for expert writing assistance with our live help feature. Live help is particularly helpful during the initial stages of the writing process when you are working on the organizational and thematic features of your paper.
    • Intensive Writing Lab: For a more thorough analysis, simply select ?riting Lab?from the launch menu and submit your writing via our secure messaging feature. Within approximately 24 hours of submitting your paper, you will receive a detailed analysis of your paper in your message center inbox. Our writing experts are trained to focus their analysis on voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and organization.
    • STUDY TOOLS
  • Test Center:Visit our online assessment library to take practice quizzes in standardized tests like the SAT and ACT and practice subject specific tests, like math and science.
  • Flashbulb: Online flashcard sets on hundreds of subjects. You can also create your own flashcards and multiple choice quizzes for efficient self-study on both computers and mobile devices.
  • Collaboration:Study with your peers or school instructors online with “MEET”, which lets you easily schedule online meetings in the Brainfuse classroom. Use MEET to study for tests, work on assignments, or collaborate on projects.
  • Brainwave?:Brainwave? allows you to record a movie of your activity on the Brainfuse whiteboard for note-taking purposes or send them when an ordinary email isn’t enough. Brainwave is ideal for recording solutions to homework problems, class projects, or any other concepts that involve motion or sequencing. New Brainwaves are continuously added to the archive.

VII. Tulsa County Library and other Oklahoma Library Videos, DVD’s and Books

The Tulsa County Library has over 130 books, about a dozen DVDs and two instructional videos on all aspects of the the college application process, applying for scholarships and writing college essays and resumes. All you have to do is apply on line or in person for a library card.If you are a student in the Tulsa Public School System, you are already enrolled. You library card number is your student id number.

Two of the instructional videos you can download. Here is a link to one o f the downloadable videos:

https://tccl.bibliocommons.com/v2/search?f_FORMAT=VIDEO_DOWNLOAD&query=college+admissions&searchType=keyword

If you don’t live in Tulsa County, there are other Oklahoma public library’s where you can get access to books on college admissions, DVDs and  instructional videos:

Eastern Oklahoma Dist. Library Muskoge, OK

OSU Institute of Technology Okmulgee, OK

Southeastern Public Library McClaster, OK

Metropolitan Library System, Oklahoma City. OK

Public Library of Enid and Garfield County, Enid,

 

 

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