Julie Shields Rutyna: [00:00:00] There we go. Welcome, everyone. Welcome to our MEFA webinar, Using Your UFund to Pay for College. And my name is Julie Shields Rutina, and I am the Senior Director of College Planning, Education & Training at MEFA. And I am joined by my colleague, Jonathan Hughes, and Jonathan will be behind the scenes today answering any questions as, as they come in, and maybe posing them to the group for all of us to chat about.

So that’s the first thing I’ll say, that we have some slides, we’re gonna share some information, but put your questions into the Q&A, and we’ll make sure to get to those. All right, let’s get started Okay, a few logistics. Uh, you have [00:01:00] control of your audio. Uh, we have disabled the chat, so again, put your questions into the Q&A, and that’s where we’ll, we’ll deal with those.

And, um, you- if you would like access to the live transcript feature, just, um, click on the CC button on your screen, and then you’ll be able to see the words that we’re speaking right there. So take advantage of that. And if you need to leave the webinar for any reason, please know that we are recording it, and we will send you a link to both the recording and the slides that we have, so you’ll have those in your inbox in a day or so.

Um, and then you can go back to them, review them, and also share with others who that you know weren’t able to make it. All right, so in general, here’s what we’re gonna talk about today, if that helps, that you can hold some of your questions because you know we’ll, we’ll cover it. We’re gonna talk about, um, using your UFund 529 plan and what, what [00:02:00] expenses that you can use them for.

What are the eligible expenses when it comes to paying for college? And then we’ll talk about how and when to use it, um, and how to access it. How is this process going to work? We have some what if scenarios, and then we’ll talk about beyond college, what are some other ways to use your UFund 529 plan.

And we’ll also talk about other ways to pay for college. So- A lot of things. Here we go. So let’s talk about… Uh, first I’m gonna say before we even start, um, I’m assuming with the topic of this webinar that a lot of you are, um, have a, a student that you’re thinking about who is nearing college, and you’re thinking about how you’re gonna pay that college bill.

And so the first thing I wanna say is just congratulations, uh, to any and all of you who have saved, [00:03:00] and who have saved in the U Fund, which is a 529 plan in which Jonathan hears me say this all the time, um, it’s, uh, really a, a preferred way to save for college because of all the benefits. So I wanna congratulate you, and I can almost, uh, be assured that when it comes time to paying for college either right now or in the near future, you will be very happy that you have, uh, this savings.

So congratulations. So when it comes to actually paying for college, what can you use your U Fund savings for? Well, you can use it for tuition and fees, uh, for housing, and that includes on campus in a dorm or in, in college housing. It also includes off-campus housing. That’s a question we get a lot.

Sometimes a student will be a junior in college and want to move off campus, and sometimes that even includes living in, um, a [00:04:00] big city with expensive real estate, and we get those questions. “Can I, you know, can I pay, can I use the U Fund to pay for my son or daughter’s rent?” And the answer is yes, you can.

And what we usually tell people is the college usually has a budget for students who live on campus, cost of attendance budget, and then on campus and then an off-campus cost of attendance, attendance budget. And that will include sort of, you know, market rate, what it will cost the student to live off campus.

And you can always ask them to have that budget, keep that in your files. That’s a guide, um, that you will wanna have. Just keep it in your files with all of your U Fund materials about, um, the cost of off-campus housing and, and using your 529 plan. Uh, so that’s great. Um, also, uh, food. So that is meal plans, um, at the college.

It’s also [00:05:00] groceries. So you can use, um, the 529 t- plan to pay for that. Books, supplies, any required technology. You know, every student needs a laptop and sometimes other technology these days. So all of that can, you can use your 529 plan to pay for. And again, this includes both undergraduate and grad school.

So another big question we get is how and when to use your savings. And there is no correct answer. This is an individual decision, um, so you’ll think about it as a family. But I’ll just sort of go through the options and tell you what some of the families that we talk to say and decide. So some, some families decide that they’re gonna use their savings evenly over the four years.

[00:06:00] So, you know, when, when the student, before freshman year, um, when the student receives that bill and you as a family figure out, “Okay, let’s see, we have some financial aid maybe. We already put down a deposit. Uh, what, what do we have left to pay?” You kind of figure that out, figure out how you’re gonna do that, and maybe you decide to use your savings, split it out over, um, over the cost of let’s say four years.

Now, what that can help you do is, uh, you know, pay with savings, pay down those costs each year, but not use all of it at once, and still continue to contribute to your savings and allow that savings that is left in there to grow. So if, if you’re happy with the return that you’re receiving on your 529 plan, it’s growing, you feel good about that, you might make that decision.

Another reason you might make that decision is you just, it feels [00:07:00] scary to deplete it all at once. At least these are the things that, that, um, people that I speak with say. So that’s one option. Um, another option is to just use it all up front. And maybe the person who uses it all front says, “Yes, I guess it’s a little scary, but I would rather use that first.

I’ve saved and now I have this money to pay that first bill. That feels good to me, and that will delay, um, the need for us to borrow a loan, for example, and accrue interest for that, you know, extra year.” Also could be a great decision for a family. Um, sometimes- Families might have, uh, you know, enough financial aid, uh, a little bit access to other resources to pay for the first couple of years of college, but know that they will run out, that that won’t last for the four years.

So they might keep the money in the 529 and keep having it build [00:08:00] and then use it in the last couple of years. So again, there are all kinds of ways you can do this with your family, and there’s no wrong answer, but you’ll want to feel what feels comfortable to you, um, as, as a family. So your current financial state.

Do you have another child going to college? Um, are there gonna be adjustments in income? And I guess some other things that aren’t listed are just, again, um, are, are you happy with the growth that your 529 plan has right now? Um, when you look at other options such as financing options, which we’ll talk about, um, can you get a financing option with a decent rate?

So that factors in there as well All right, so how are you gonna access your savings? Well, uh, with a UFund, uh, the UFund of course is, um, managed by MEFA’s partner, Fidelity [00:09:00] Investments. And that’s terrific because they, um, they are great, uh, managers of your money, and they have a lot of technology and options for you to access your UFund savings.

So first I’ll say that you can either call Fidelity, and the number is right on your screen, or you can go online to fidelity.com/ufund and, um, or through your account, however you wanna be in touch. Um, but there are ways that you can do all of this online, and it’s really become very sophisticated over the last number of years.

So that’s, that works for a lot of people. And some people, I’ll even say me included, um, like, like to talk to a person sometimes and just initiate the withdrawal with a person. So either way you can do that. So here’s some options as you’re thinking about paying that college bill. You can do a direct debit eCheck.

Uh, [00:10:00] that you would need to start with the college. So you can talk with the college and ask them about that. They are very used to doing that with 529 plans. And, um, that can be an efficient way to get that college bill paid. Um, you could do a transfer between your Fidelity accounts, so transfer out of the 529 plan and then into another account, and then you can, you can use that however you’d like to pay the bill, um, one time or break it up.

Um, you can do an electronic funds transfer, and, um, that usually takes one to three business days. Just things to keep in mind when you’re paying your bill. Um, and then there’s bill pay as well. And so you can set that up to pay either once or on a schedule, and a physical check will be mailed. And that, of course, takes a little bit longer.

Bank wires are also, um, available. And one thing to note is just [00:11:00] that your bank could potentially charge a, a fee. Um, or you can just pay direct- the school directly by check. Again, anything that’s phys- a physical check will take a little bit longer. So, um, lots of options. And again, fidelity.com/ufund or the number there, and they can help you make a choice there.

I’m gonna point out another, uh, another important piece. So, you know, we talked about the eligible expenses, and when you use your UFund for eligible expenses, that means that you don’t pay any taxes on the earnings. So that’s really a great benefit of a 529 account. But what you have to keep in mind is that the college, um, does things on an academic year- But the IRS does things on a calendar year.

So one thing to note is that you need to pay, um, wi- withdraw money and pay from [00:12:00] your 529 in the same calendar year that the expense was generated. So a quick example of that is that a college may charge you spring tuition and fees in December of a certain year, even though it’s for spring semester. And so then if you withdraw your, your money, you need to pay it in that same calendar year, even though, you know, you’re, it’s, it’s for the spring semester.

So just make sure that your wi- withdrawals from the account match the same calendar year, IRS tax year that the expense was incurred. So that’s just a little, um, I would say, complication if you don’t know about that

All right. And so then what is the timing? How does this work? Well, the, uh, typical schedule is that fall bills [00:13:00] are sent to the student in June or July and due in July or August. So this, this now becomes the time where, uh, families are starting to receive those bills. And those bills will include direct costs, so things like tuition, fees, um, housing if the student lives on campus, meal plans, things like that.

Um, it may include a health insurance charge on that first bill, and it’s good for you to know that you can waive that health insurance charge if your student already has health insurance, or they’re covered by other health insurance, and you just need to fill out a form, share what that health insurance is, and you can waive that health insurance charge.

Um, when you receive your bill, um, any enrollment deposit that you put down, any financial aid that the student received, um, will be deducted from that bill when you receive it. So then you will know that the, the amount of the bill is really what [00:14:00] you owe, and you’ll have to figure out how you’re going to pay for that.

So one way, um, you could pay for that is with your 529 plan. Another way is that, um, all colleges have a payment plan, and you can sign up for that. It’s not a loan. Um, but you sign up… Well, I shouldn’t say that. We have actually, um, heard about a couple of schools that do put a finance charge. So usually it’s not a loan, but it could be.

You want to look at the details of a college’s payment plan. And that would allow you to pay the bill not in the f- you know, twice a year, but instead monthly if you wanted to split up some of those payments. So take a look at that payment plan, and you can decide if you want to pay some of the bill that way.

And then a third way, of course, is you could look for financing, and most families end up doing a variety. So, um, just be aware at this point when I talk about payment plans that, um, if you have set up a [00:15:00] plan, payment plan already, or if you have decided to borrow a loan and paid some of the bill with that, you might see those credited amounts on there, too.

Um, something else to know about your financial aid is that, uh, any college work study that was in a student’s financial aid offer, that won’t be deducted. That’s a program where the student gets a job on campus and gets paid either weekly or, or biweekly, um, as they work. So that financial aid, it will help because it can help with things like, um, you know, groceries or, um- Uh, transportation, bus fare, shampoo, late night pizza, those things.

So it, it can, um, help with the expenses, but just not those billed expenses. Another thing to know is that if you are going to apply for [00:16:00] financing, such as with a MEFA loan or another private loan from another organization, um, you probably wanna do that, to be safe, about two weeks before the college bill is due.

Uh, again, technology has, has gotten really fast these days, and sometimes it may not take long at all to receive financing, but you just wanna leave that window for some back and forth if, if, if you need it. So about two weeks before the bill is due, make sure you secure your financing. Um, if you feel like you don’t need it right now, you’re gonna decide to use more of your 529 you fund, or you’re going to join the monthly payment plan, and maybe you don’t need, um, additional financing right now, that’s fine as well.

Know that during the academic year, if something changes, um, then you can apply for that as well. And again, just talk to the college about their payment plan specifically, um, so that you can set that up [00:17:00] in a way that, you know, the college likes to have it set up, and that it’s good for you

All right, so some, uh, what if scenarios. So let’s say you ha- have been saving, congratulations, uh, for a student, and you don’t need to use the money for college. Um, so the student decides to, you know, may- has, uh, other plans or other factors come in. So let’s say the student gets a full scholarship, for example.

Now, let me f- say upfront, um, that’s not very common at all. And when I, I can talk to 1,000 families and, you know, maybe someone will tell me that. But it’s not a common scenario to get a full scholarship. Uh, but maybe they get a large scholarship and, um, makes it so that you really don’t need to spend that, that 529 on college.

Know [00:18:00] that, um, you can either do some of these other things, leave it in there, or if you want to take the money out, um, you can take the money out and it will be taxable like regular income, but you won’t pay that 10% penalty that you would pay if you just took the money out and spent it on something else, if it’s because the student received a scholarship.

Um, actually, w- sometimes I hear this maybe from a student who’s going to one of the military academies where there is no tuition and fees, something like that. So you can take that money out and, yes, you’ll pay regular income taxes on the earnings, but you will not have a penalty. Um, let’s say the student decides not to go to college.

Uh, I guess the first thing I’ll say is just because the student decides not to go to a four-year college, for example, um, that doesn’t mean that, um, there are no other [00:19:00] post-secondary options that, that it can be used for. So now it is, um… it has opened up, 529 plans that you fund have, have opened up eligibility to be able to pay for post-secondary education at, you know, former trade schools and things like that.

So just know that there’s a possibility that that could still be used. Um, but again, let’s say- You know that’s not the case, and you just wanna take the money out. Then, um, the student would, uh, you would have to pay income tax on the earnings, and then that 10% penalty on the earnings. Uh, let’s say that, you know, the student becomes disabled or passes away.

Um, then ab- absolutely, um, you know, no penalties for, for that money. And let’s say the student graduates. You were a great saver, and the student graduates without using all of the money in the account. Well, um, number one, um, [00:20:00] you could save that, keep that money in there for graduate school or additional post-secondary training.

All of that can qualify. Um, you can also transfer to a relative of the i- initial beneficiary, and that could be a sibling, it could be a cousin, it could be you if you wanted to go back for some post-secondary, uh, training, credentialing training, all of that. Um, that’s a possibility, and then it stays in there working.

Um, if not, there are other ways, including you can roll some money for the initial beneficiary into a Roth IRA. There are some stipulations. Uh, the maximum on that is $35,000. Um, you, you… it also has to have been in the beneficiary’s name for 15 years. And when you do decide to roll it over, it [00:21:00] has to be using money that was from five years prior.

So this is something you might be able to do over time usually. But, um, if all educational goals are, you know, done and not needed, um, that is a great new way to use this money And we’re, here we’re talking about it right here. I over-talked the slide. Um, UFund 529 plans can also be used, uh, for certain K through 12 expenses up to 20,000 a year.

You can also use the UFund to pay one time for the student $10,000 to pay off their student loan or put a chunk of money toward their student loan. And that can be for the student who is the beneficiary and/or any siblings. So you’re able to use your 529 account to pay 10,000 for the beneficiary’s loan and then [00:22:00] for any siblings one time just for each student.

Um, again, trade schools and apprenticeship programs now qualify that you can use your 529 money for those types of programs, which really opens things up so that students have lots of different choices. And as I mentioned, the 35,000 toward a Roth IRA with some of those caveats. And we talked about changing the beneficiary So as I mentioned already, most families pay for college in a variety of ways, not just one way.

If you have saved enough to pay, uh, for the, all of the college expenses going forward, congratulations, and that’s fabulous. I might say that’s the best, best way, uh, really. Um, but most families kind of mix it up, and especially if they ha- have multiple years, multiple children. So we mentioned the college [00:23:00] payment plans.

So maybe you’re able to use some current income on a month-to-month basis, and then pay some of that bill between five and 12 months. And you should receive some information about, from your college about that plan, how their specific plan works, and you can sign up for that. And the earlier you sign up, uh, the more you get to take advantage of, say, 12 months versus nine or six, uh, to pay that bill.

So that’s an option. And then of course the financing option, loans. Uh, given the cost of higher education these days, um, you know, very common that families, um, do some type of financing. So when it comes to loans, MEFA always recommends that the student take the Federal Direct Student Loan that is in their financial aid offer first.

And students are eligible to borrow 5,500 as a freshman, [00:24:00] 6,500 as a sophomore, and 7,500 as a junior and a senior through that program. And that’s special for a couple of reasons. Uh, number one is that it’s fully in the student’s name. The student can borrow that loan without any credit check. Um, it’s usually a fixed, hopefully low fixed interest rate on that loan, and the student doesn’t make any payments on that loan until six months after they graduate.

And potentially a part of that loan could be subsidized, so you could see two lines in the award offer of a subsidized Federal Direct Student Loan and an unsubsidized. And the subsidized one means that the government is actually paying the interest while the student is in school. With the unsubsidized it is not.

It is going to accrue that interest, but, um, but again, the student does not have to pay until six [00:25:00] months after graduation. So it also has some benefits, um, with deferment if the student goes back to school, and, um, some forgiveness and those kinds of benefits. Um, those benefits have gotten smaller over the years, but worth it for the student to take that loan as a first option After that, if, if you need more funds to pay for college, then any additional loan that the student will take, um, will be a credit-based loan.

So that’s gonna come into play. And so what that means is most of the time a student can’t take an additional loan on their own. They’re going to need a cosigner to help with that, and many times that ends up being the parent. And so that will rely on the parent’s credit for an additional loan. A key factor that you want to do with this is you want to do your research, as you would if [00:26:00] you were gonna take a mortgage or a car loan.

You want to look at a number of loans and find the, the loan terms that are best for you. You wanna look at interest rate. You wanna look at fees. You wanna look at how long the repayment schedule is. You wanna look at what that monthly payment is and when does it start, all of those things, and you wanna find the best financing option for you.

So it does, it does just… That’s a task that you will do before borrowing a loan. So, um, also, I’m gonna tell you on the next screen, so MEFA has, um, a very good loan financing program. We’ve had, um, that since 1982, and, um, it’s actually gotten more robust over, over the years. So we do have fixed interest rates, and we have a narrow range based on your credit of the interest rates charged.

Um, [00:27:00] and so I would say definitely MEFA is one place to look, and then we’ll talk about the others as well. So, um, y- here are our current rates, and We have set monthly payments, multiple repayment options. So if you go to mefa.org, and you can see the QR code here, you can really, uh… There’s- there are calculators before you apply that will allow you to see the picture of the different choices you have with repayment options.

Immediate, which is you start paying in the student’s freshman year, interest only, deferred, and different interest rates attached to those. And all of the information is laid out in a nice chart which shows what your payment will be, um, at all times, how much you will pay in total, um, all of that. And you can pre-pay any time without penalty.

Um, no origination fee, no application fee, and we do have an instant decision on complete [00:28:00] application. So definitely a place to look. A couple of other, uh, loan programs you might hear about is the Federal PLUS Loan. Um, your college may tell you about that. You can look into that. That’s a loan of the federal government, and, um, that is just in the parent’s name.

Um, I will share that as of July 1st, so as of next week, any new PLUS borrower, um, is going to have limits. So for example, MEFA’s loans allow you to borrow up to the cost of attendance minus any other financial aid each year. And that’s how it used to be with the PLUS Program, but now the PLUS Program puts limits where you can borrow 20,000 per year per student, but capped at $65,000.

So if you do need 20,000 additional financing, that’s not probably gonna carry you through the four years. So you wanna take that into consideration when you’re looking at those [00:29:00] options. And then there are a number of other banks and organizations that have educational financing. Uh, sometimes the college will share a list called a preferred lender list, where they say, “Here are lenders that we have worked with that we somewhat recommend.”

Um, take a look, and I would say do your due diligence. Look at a few different lenders. And a few things to be cautious about, don’t get taken in by as low as teaser marketing rates. Um, you wanna pay attention to the loan interest rate that you are given. Um, and, you know, but check out a few. And if you apply to a few, uh, financing options within a two-week period, um, that really does work as one hit to your credit.

So you’re allowed to, quote-unquote, “shop around” and find a rate and a loan that works best for your family

[00:30:00] And a couple of other, uh, resources that MEFA has for you, we have a, a great webinar on Tuesday, July 14th, um, comparing college loan options, which gets in much greater detail to what I was just talking about, about the way to compare different loans to make sure you are taking out the best financial s- option for your family.

And if you have any questions about any of this, um, from, from now going forward, all the way through your, your student’s, uh, educational process, um, you can request a one-on-one virtual appointment with someone on the MEFA team, and we are so happy to talk you through some of this. Um, you know, if you don’t do it every day, there can be some things you want to think about and complications, so we just wanna help everyone through that.

And here are some additional phone numbers that might be great for you. Again, you can call Fidelity if you have questions and if you want to make withdrawals, and if you feel more comfortable speaking [00:31:00] to a person, they have a, a great, um, group of, of educational specialists there. Uh, and there is their website, fidelity.com/ufund, where, again, you can also do a lot online.

And then if you want to speak to a MEFA college planning expert, there’s our phone number, 1-800-449-MEFA. And you can always email us at [email protected] as well. So with that, that was a lot. I will open it up and see if, Jonathan, if there are any questions that, um, we should address to the whole group, or what do you think?

Jonathan Hughes: Yeah, I think there’s a couple. Um, the first one is, and I like this question because I haven’t gotten it before, but, um, it, it goes to the, the 10% penalty exceptions, and one of them being scholarships. And the question is, does that refer to any aid or specifically to scholarships?

Julie Shields Rutyna: Great question. Yes. So it [00:32:00] refers to y- yes, scholarships, grants.

Um, so the money that is coming right off the bill, like that best type of aid that you would never turn down. You know what I mean? You’d never turn down a scholarship, so there’s no way that you would decide, “I’m not going to have that scholarship, so I’ll use my 529.” No- no one would make that decision, right?

So that aid that comes right off versus… Uh, so yes, that’s what it refers to. Scholarships, grants, any money that’s gifted and that’s just given to the student. Versus let’s say you’re offered a loan, um, you could make a choice and decide I’m not gonna take that loan, I’m going to use my, um, 529 plan. But you don’t have to.

That would really be a, a personal decision. So that doesn’t, um, that doesn’t come into play there. Yeah. Right. It’s just [00:33:00] the, um, just the scholarships and grants.

Jonathan Hughes: And then one final question that I think, um… Well, you’ll see. Uh, uh, somebody wants to know, um, ca- if the… Can they tr- as a grandparent, just gonna read it, as a grandparent, can I transfer funds from the 529 account to a parent’s bank account to reimburse them after they pay tuition and fees, like out of their own pocket?

Julie Shields Rutyna: So no. Well, Yeah. You know, I… So basically if a grandparent takes money out of a 529 and puts it into a parent’s bank account, that’s not a qualified expense, right? So the… If… A- and all of these things I would say, um, are only important if you get audited by the IRS. But if you were to get audited by the IRS, that transaction wouldn’t be an eligible expense because [00:34:00] you haven’t, uh, you know, paid specifically for tuition fees, room and board, books, supply.

So, um, yeah.

Jonathan Hughes: Yeah. Yeah

And, uh, I think that, that’s it for now

Julie Shields Rutyna: Good. Um, we can give you 30 seconds more if you have… Just make sure that all of your questions are answered. Um, and again, just to talk about the, the IRS and the auditing, um, yeah, that’s, uh, it’s a good idea to just keep records, um, of all of the transactions. Uh, if, you know, if it pays the school, if the money pays the school directly, that’s an easy record.

Uh, if it’s books and supplies, truly keep some receipts on that. And as I mentioned, if it’s off-campus housing, [00:35:00] keep some receipts on that. And just keep it all in a folder just in case, um, the IRS were to come and you needed to show that, yes, you actually used your 529 for eligible expenses. Um, and again, I’ll point out in that calendar year, the IRS is working on that calendar year even though the academic year straddles two years sometimes.

Jonathan Hughes: Yeah. And we got two more, Julie. Oh,

Julie Shields Rutyna: good. Good.

Jonathan Hughes: And, uh, actually three more, but two of them are the same question, and that is, i- it’s a similar question to the one we just answered, and that is, is it acceptable if you paid out of your own pocket to reimburse yourself with 529 money? So is… What, what’s the tax consideration- Yeah

if you made a, a payment from a personal account but then pay yourself back with 529 funds?

Julie Shields Rutyna: That is acceptable.

Jonathan Hughes: Okay.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Because you personally now would have the receipt that you paid the bill, that’s in your file, [00:36:00] and then you used 529 money, you withdrew it. That’s common actually.

Jonathan Hughes: Mm-hmm.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Right? So you can…

You don’t have to have the 529 pay the school directly. You can just have the 529 give you the money, you have it, and now you will pay the bill, and then you have the receipt for the bill that you paid, and they match.

Jonathan Hughes: And then another one, which I, uh, think, um, you know, is probably good to answer for the whole group is, how does contribution by a grandparent 529 impact the financial aid offer?

Julie Shields Rutyna: Oh, Jonathan, we love this question now. We didn’t love this question five years ago, three years ago. Um, so fairly recently, I don’t know what the year is, three years ago, um, it- regulations changed, and a, a 529 plan held in a grandparent’s name is no longer, um, considered [00:37:00] when a f- a student and a parent complete the FAFSA.

You don’t have to report that. Um, and that’s a grandparent or an aunt or an uncle. You don’t report that on the FAFSA. So that’s terrific because that, uh, will not affect your financial aid eligibility, um, for colleges that use, um, the FAFSA to determine financial aid, which is all, all. I will just put a small caveat in, in that, um, the…

Some colleges require an additional financial aid form called the CSS Profile of the College Board, or they might have their own financial aid form, and they may ask questions about, you know, have grandparents contributed. You know, they can ask anything. What kind of car do you drive? Um, have grandparents contributed?

So it isn’t 100% sure that you won’t get that question ever from different [00:38:00] institutions. Um, but a big consideration is that in the, uh, financial aid form that is required by all schools, the FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, it is, it is not asked for, is not considered at all

Would you add to that, John, or?

Jonathan Hughes: No, I think that was perfect. Yeah. Um, yeah, that’s it.

Julie Shields Rutyna: All right. Well, a- again, congratulations for saving. Good luck navigating this process, and please be in touch with us if you need any additional help at any point, and we’re so happy to work with you. So thank you.