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| A Step-by-Step Guide to the FAFSA |
| Written by Lowell Fleming, Gloria Zhu |
 This article is for anyone, from high school seniors to graduate students, that is seeking financial aid. As a student who has just finished your college application, you know better than anyone that the application process was a stressful ordeal. A single error, a missed deadline, failure to provide seemingly insignificant information, and you run the risk of missing out on an opportunity to attend the school of your dreams. Now that you’ve finished your college application, you’re done filling out forms…right? Nope. There’s one more application waiting for you.
The results of this one will largely depend upon your parent’s financial situation. It is the Free Application for Financial Student Aid: FAFSA.
The FAFSA is the federal application for financial aid from your state or school.
Note: Be careful when filling out forms! The way in which you fill it out may save you thousands of dollars. For a complete list of potential aid visit: Complete List of Potential Aid. You will not know if, what, and how much aid you are eligible for until you have completed/processed your FAFSA.
The FASA should be completed with the same attention you gave your college applications—the stakes are high, it can be a confusing, and can be a costly process if it is not properly executed. However, by organizing the information properly, developing an understanding of basic financial terminology and maintaining awareness of important deadlines, you and you’re your parents will find that the process is not all that burdensome.
Before Beginning a FAFSA
Deadlines: The FAFSA is the federal application for financial aid, but it is also used to apply for aid from other sources, such as your state or school. As mentioned it is important to remember that the deadlines for your state or schools may be different from the federal deadlines and you may be required to complete additional forms. For a listing of your school’s state financial aid deadlines look at: State Student Financial Aid Deadlines.
It is important to remember that the deadlines for your state or schools may be different from the Federal deadlines. For example, if you’re planning to attend a school in Tennessee, you are eligible to apply for the State Grant. Its deadline is March 1. If you wish to apply for Tennessee’s State Lottery aid, the deadline is September 1. This means the recipients must receive your application by those dates, not simply have them post marked. What’s more you may be required to complete additional forms, e.g., proof of military enlistment. This means that the earlier you submit your FAFSA, the more aid you will be eligible to receive.
Therefore, it is crucial to check the listing of your school’s state financial aid deadlines, which can be done at: State Student Financial Aid Deadlines. As you can see there are many specifics to maximizing your assistance.
Important deadlines: For the 2010-2011 School Year (July 1st, 2010 - June 30th, 2011), your FAFSA on the Web application must be submitted by midnight Central Daylight time, June 30, 2011.
Note: Your school must have your complete and correct information by your last day of enrollment in the 2010-2011 school year.
It is very mind boggling to see that the LAST DAY to apply for the 2010-2011 school year is at the END of that school year. Of course, the fine print on the FAFSA encourages that you apply early before the funds run out. In other words, apply as soon as possible!
Items You Need
The Department of Education recommends that before beginning a FAFSA the appropriate documents you will need include:
 Tip: If you are currently in college, make sure you remember to re-apply to the FAFSA every year. Not completing the FAFSA on time will put you in the risk of losing your current financial aid. You should simply spend that weekend and fill out the forms, regardless of how tedious you think of it. How to Complete the FAFSA:
Step 1: Apply for a PIN now!
One way to speed up the process of completing your FAFSA is by signing it electronically with your PIN. Your parent can sign electronically too.
Step 2: Print a FAFSA on the Web Worksheet
Write in your answers and gather your parents' information then transfer the data to FAFSA on the Web. This is here is important to have obtained the necessary information listed above.
Step 3: Sign Your FAFSA
Sign electronically with a Personal Identification Number (PIN) or by mailing in a signature page. It can take up to 72 hours to get a new PIN, it is important not to finish filling out your FAFSA at least three days before listed deadlines.
The Department of Education (DOE) is quite helpful in explaining the “how to” when it comes to filling out your FAFSA.
Your Dependency Status: However, there are some things the DOE’s FAFSA won’t inform you of when filling out your FAFSA. For example, when it comes to determining the amount and type of aid, the Department of Education will first Determine Your Dependency Status.
Your dependency status is determined as a result of the answers you provide to a series of questions. E.g., do you have children? Are you, or have you been in the military? What is your marital status? When were you born? In the end you will either be deemed Dependent, or Independent. Perhaps more than any other aspect of the FAFSA, it is the classification of a student’s Dependency Status that bares the most significance. The reason being that your dependency status significantly impacts your final aid package.
Step 4: FAFSA Follow-Up Overview
Once you have successfully submitted your FAFSA electronically, Federal Student Aid will process your application and send you a Student Aid Report (SAR). An electronic copy of your SAR is also made available to the schools you've listed on your FAFSA.
Note: Foreign schools may or may not be able to receive your Student Aid Report (SAR) electronically. Check with the school selected on the FAFSA to see if they will need a paper copy of the SAR.
 Your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) You will receive an official Expected Family Contribution (EFC) on your SAR based on the processing results of your FAFSA. The EFC is a preliminary estimate based on the information you provided on your application. The EFC is used by your school to determine your eligibility for federal student aid.
For more information about the EFC tips see Funding Education Beyond High School: The Guide to Federal Student Aid. As mentioned above the most important factor in determining the level of assistance you will receive relates to your Dependency Status.
What Happens Now?
FAFSA Follow-Up allows you to do the following:
Check Status of a Submitted FAFSA or Print Signature Page
You may check the status of your application at any time, but it is recommend you check the status:
Yet another reason to complete the process electronically.
View and Print Your Student Aid Report
You can view your SAR once we have received all required signatures and processed your FAFSA or correction form. Note: you must have a PIN to view your SAR. After receiving your student aid report you may wish to make corrections to certain aid items. Make Corrections to a Processed FAFSA
If you find you've made a mistake after submitting your FAFSA, you will have to wait until after it has been processed to make corrections. Corrections can be made online through Corrections on the Web. Note: you must have a PIN to correct your FAFSA data online. Also, corrections on the Web forms must be submitted by midnight Central Daylight time, September 15, 2009. Add or Delete a School Code
If you want to add or remove any of the school codes that you listed on your FAFSA, you will have to wait until it has been processed. Note: you must have a PIN to add or delete school codes. In Conclusion
Like being accepted to a good school depended upon how much attention you paid to the specifics of the colleges’ applications, getting the best type of financial assistance largely depends upon your attention to detail in the completion and timely submission of your FAFSA.
Although applying for Federal and State Aid is not as intellectually challenging, and certainly nowhere near as intellectually stimulating as your future curriculum will hopefully be, it is arguably the most consequential part of your academic pursuit. Thousands of students are forced to drop out of college due to financial shortcomings.
According to the UC Berkeley Office of Financial Aid it is estimated that student’s who work 20 or more hours a week at a part-time job, while enrolled full-time, are three time’s as likely to drop out than their peers. In other words, the more you can receive from grants or scholarships, the less you’ll have to work while in school. Some may call this a false set of choices, but nevertheless it’s a reality to obtaining higher education in the 21st century.
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| Last Updated on Thursday, 16 December 2010 20:49 |
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