January 2019 Newsletter

Parents & Families,

In his annual open letter to the Purdue community, President Mitch Daniels shares that 2019, our sesquicentennial year, will be a year of strategic decision making, particularly in terms of the optimal future size of the university, how we expect our future student population to be distributed across the various colleges, and how we will continue to help our students succeed and graduate in a timely manner.

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Portfolium

Employers today are looking for more than a great transcript and an impressive resume. They expect students to show evidence of their knowledge, abilities, accomplishments, and job readiness. That means getting good grades and involvement in experiences that contribute to the development of essential career readiness skills, such as: effective communications, team-work, decision-making, idea generation, personal responsibility, and resilience.

Beginning this year, Purdue is providing a powerful tool that will allow students to track, reflect on, and share their learning and accomplishments in a way that is meaningful to prospective employers. Portfolium is a digital-platform available to every Purdue student at no cost. It allows them to connect their learning to career opportunities by networking with over 50,000 employers who actively use Portfolium’s TalentMatch interface in their recruitment process.

Portfolium is an effective way for students to establish their professional identities, demonstrate their professional competencies, and showcase their accomplishments.

For more information, contact lpdi@purdue.edu or visit the Leadership & Professional Development Initiative website at www.purdue.edu/leadership.

Did You Know – FAFSA

Families interested in receiving financial aid (including federal loans) at Purdue University for the 2019-2020 academic year must file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by March 1 to receive priority consideration for federal, state and university-based financial aid.

Each student applicant and a custodial parent must have a Federal Student Aid ID (FSA-ID) to begin the process. If either does not have an FSA-ID, it may be created at https://fsaid.ed.gov/npas/index.htm. Students may then file their FAFSA at https://fafsa.gov/. (Note: FAFSA.gov now redirects to the U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid website). Once completed, students can check current filing status and review their FAFSA at will.

The 2019-20 FAFSA has been available since October 1. Most students and their families will be able to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT) to file the FAFSA with their already completed 2017 IRS tax return information. However, it is very important that families do not update the FAFSA after filing their 2018 tax information.

Families may contact the Division of Financial Aid via facontact@purdue.edu or by calling 765-494-5050, Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm (Eastern) with any financial aid related questions.

Changes to 1098T

In previous years, the 1098-T included a figure in Box 2 that represented the qualified tuition and related expenses (QTRE) billed to the student account for the calendar (tax) year. Due to a change to institutional reporting requirements under federal law, beginning with tax year 2018, Purdue will report in Box 1 the amount of QTRE paid during the year.

Depending on the students’ income (or family income, if the student is a dependent), whether the student is considered full or half-time enrolled, and the amount of the qualified educational expenses for the year, the student may be eligible for a federal education tax credit. (Detailed information about claiming education tax credits are available in IRS Publication 970, page 9.)

The dollar amounts reported on the Form 1098-T may assist in completing IRS Form 8863 – the form used for calculating the education tax credits that a taxpayer may claim as part of their tax return.

Purdue University is unable to provide individual tax advice, but should you have questions, you should seek the counsel of an informed tax preparer or adviser.

Below is a blank sample of the 2018 Form 1098-T, that you will receive in January 2019, for your general reference. For more information and additional resources about Form 1098-T, visit the Office of the Bursar website.

Form 1098-T Example

CCO Spotlight

As the New Year approaches the CCO wants to remind parents and family members about their upcoming 2019 career fairs. Students who are pursing majors within engineering, science, technology, aviation, construction management, hospitality and tourism management, sports and entertainment as well as agriculture are encouraged to attend. To view these spring career fairs students can visit https://www.cco.purdue.edu/Calendar. To ensure your student is prepared for this next step of the college experience we encourage students to use CCO's resume and cover letter drop in services, Monday-Friday 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. located in Young Hall 132. The CCO career planning handbook, used by CCO staff, is available on the CCO website should your student have additional questions before or after their drop in appointment. Students can review resume and cover letter samples by clicking on the CCO link provided https://www.cco.purdue.edu/Files/Uploaded/Handbook.pdf.

Nutrition Counseling and Diet Analysis

Eating a healthy diet in college can be challenging! Students should remember that the foods and behaviors they choose now will likely impact their habits later in adulthood. By making smart choices, students will be able to stay focused, increase their ability to do well in classes, and eat a diet rich in nutrients. Purdue's Recreation & Wellness offers a variety of services to help your student achieve their food and nutrition goals.

One on one nutrition counseling appointments with a registered dietitian are available to all Purdue students. Appointments are free and last 30-60 minutes.

The free Diet Analysis program provides students with general diet recommendation while also providing a breakdown of calorie, macronutrient, and micronutrient intakes.

For general inquiries or to schedule an appointment students can call the Wellness Suite at 765.496.1788.

Nutrition on Demand

Nutrition on Demand brings nutrition information directly to your student. This free service allows students to bring in a professional to talk about a nutrition topic of their choice. Below is a list of potential topics:

Healthy Eating on the Run
Eating and Body Image Issues
Winning Sports Nutrition
Diet, Stress and Emotional Eating
Dine with a Dietitian
Eat Right when Your Budget is Tight

Cooperative Housing Recruitment

The Purdue Cooperative Community is seeking community based, philanthropic and scholastically minded students that are interested in affordable housing. The Cooperative community provides a unique opportunity to be a part of a select group of 400 high achieving students within twelve individual houses. Students in Cooperatives engage with their peers in activities outside of the classroom, and build lifelong relationships and life skills.

The twelve cooperative houses on Purdue University’s West Lafayette campus average 30 residents each. Currently, there are seven women's houses and five men's houses. Members of Cooperative Housing share household responsibilities to maintain a comfortable living environment at a reduce living costs. Cooperatives are the most economical form of living at Purdue. On average, cooperative housing offers an all-inclusive (room and board, and utilities) yearly cost ranging from $2,600 to $4,500.

Purdue Cooperative Spring 2019 Recruitment will take place in January and February. As part of the recruitment process, students will be asked attend one day of Formal Recruitment and one day of Informal Recruitment to be eligible to receive a bid for membership. Formal Recruitment will take place on January 27th and February 2nd. Informal Recruitment will take place on February 9th and 10th. Students may also find more information about recruitment and register at: https://www.purdue.edu/fscl/councils/cooperatives/index.html.