Investing in the Future. Your Guide to Financial Aid, Loans, and Payment Plans
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Getting Started... For most families, investing in an independent school education requires careful financial planning. To begin the process of providing a rewarding experience at Baylor for your son or daughter, you should start by visiting our website and discussing various options with your admission counselor. You may find that you qualify for a financial award, which you can also supplement with loans or a combination of payment plans. Each family is unique, and we are here to help you determine the best plan for this important investment. All families applying for financial aid will be required to have a conversation with our financial aid officer.
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Tuition Payment Plan. All Baylor parents are required to enroll with FACTS, an independent provider that helps families manage their tuition payments. Some advantages of working with FACTS include: Convenient online payment plan sign-up. Multiple payment options, including a checking or savings account draft each month, or credit card payments. Web-based interface for account viewing.
For more information about FACTS, go to www.factsmgt.com.
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Scholarships. Baylor is fortunate to have endowed support of the Distinguished Scholarship Program, which awards scholarships for academic achievement on a competitive basis to qualified boarding students entering the ninth grade. To be considered for nomination students should: Demonstrate academic excellence, breadth of interest, and extracurricular involvement. Exhibit leadership skills and must have made a positive contribution to some group or cause and should show the promise of remaining committed to these personal standards. Have a GPA of 3.7 or higher and be among the top ten percent in a Baylor approved national test. Applications and deadlines are available on the Baylor School website.
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Loans. Many private lenders offer educational loans. These require a credit check and/ or a cosigner. They also require repayment, but are frequently offered with longterm payment plans and low-interest rates. For many families, these programs help make tuition payments more affordable by providing the funds upfront and spreading the payments over an extended period of time. The companies listed below are NAIS (National Association of Independent School) corporate subscribers providing K-12 tuition loan services. If you are interested in any of these providers, please contact them directly and visit their website for current fees, rates, and other details. Your admission counselor can also discuss these in more detail. Your Tuition Solution: (800) 920-9777 | www.yourtuitionsolution.com ACT Education Loans: (877) 328-1565, ext. 3 | www.acteducationloans.com Sallie Mae: (888) 2-SALLIE | www.salliemae.com/k12loan Higher Education Services, Inc. (HES): (800) 422-0010 | www.highereducationservices.org
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Need-Based Financial Aid. Step 1: Make an appointment with Baylor’s finan-
Step 3: Complete the PFS form early in order to
cial aid officer by calling (423) 267-5902.
meet the deadline. Go to the SSS website (https://sss.ets.org) to complete a Parents’ Financial Statement (PFS) online, or pick up a form in our Admission Office. This form will be used by the SSS to estimate your family’s need. A nonrefundable $22 fee is required.
Step 2: Visit the SSS website to begin the financial aid process. If your family is applying for need-based financial aid, your next step is to become familiar with the School and Student Service for Financial Aid (SSS). SSS is used by more than 2,400 K-12 schools throughout the U.S. to help assess a family’s ability to pay for independent education.
Deadline for submitting the PFS application form for day families is January 31. Families applying for admission after January 31 must submit this form with their final application.
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Step 4: Provide Financial Documents to Baylor Baylor’s financial aid administrators make decisions about financial aid, not SSS. Therefore, copies of your Federal Income Tax Return (1040 form and schedules) including your W2, 1099, or other forms filed by you or your business should be provided to SSS (Step 3). This can take some time, so please begin early in order to meet your application deadline.
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Step 5: Wait for the Results SSS will determine the amount of aid your family can apply toward your child’s education; however, this is not necessarily the amount of aid given by Baylor. Financial Aid decisions are made in March for all newly accepted students and the amount of this award is mailed with enrollment packets. Students applying after March will be notified via mail as admission decisions are made.
NOTE: Families receiving financial aid are required to reapply every year, and the amount of financial aid awarded annually will be adjusted based on changes to personal finances or increases in tuition. All applications are carefully reviewed on an individual basis, Baylor will examine necessary expenses and money spent for lifestyle choices to ensure, to the best of our ability, that financial aid awards are not subsidizing “lifestyle” expenditures that could have been directed toward a child’s education.
171 Baylor School Road Chattanooga, TN 37405 T: 423-267-5902 F: 423-757-2878 baylorschool.org