The Daily Bulletin Archive

The final FACTS article for spring 2014 features resources and tools available on the Financial Aid Office website to assist students.

• SUNY Smart Track Financial Literacy Website: As members of SUNY, all students (prospective and current), as well as faculty and staff, may access the SUNY Financial Literacy website. The website contains online courses, articles, and calculators spanning topics from retirement to credit cards.
• Cost Calculator (Fall 2013): Students can estimate their expected semester charges using this web-based calculator. The tool also allows students to easily compare different scenarios, such as living on campus versus off campus or attending full time versus part time. A simplified version is also available for summer 2013.
• Bill Estimator: The Bill Estimator is a Microsoft Excel-based calculator that allows students to estimate their costs and input their expected financial aid to determine their expected out-of-pocket cost or refund.
• Loan Repayment Calculator: Students can estimate their monthly payment based on their annual or aggregate loan debt.
• Work-Study Calculator: This tool allows students and supervisors to track how many hours have been worked and how many hours students have remaining to work in the semester.
• Current Aid Processing Status: The FAO home page is updated frequently to notify students and parents of processing times and student announcements.
• Faculty and Staff Resources: This is a repository of Financial Aid guides related to specific functional areas (e.g., academic advising, grading).
• Print a Copy of IRS Tax Returns or W-2 Statements: Students and parents are often required to submit tax return transcripts to the FAO. These can be printed at no cost in real time from the IRS website (after registering an account). This feature is available for all individuals (students, faculty, staff).
• Campus and External Scholarships: Buffalo State offers a variety of scholarship opportunities for current, newly accepted first-year, and transfer students. Campus scholarship funding is made possible through donations from alumni and friends of the college who value a Buffalo State education.

If you have questions regarding this article, please contact us at finaid@buffalostate.edu or ext. 4902. All questions and answers will be posted in the You Asked for It section of the FAO website. Click on the Faculty and Staff link (bottom left).