22 Facts About the FAFSA
It’s FAFSA season soI’m going to devote at least a couple of college blog posts this weekto financial aid forms.
The post today was actually written by Michael Szarek, an independentcollege counselor with Counseling for the Rest of Us in NewJersey.
If you have any questions about the FAFSA or CSS/Financial AidPROFILE, just share them with us in the comment box below. I’lltry to answer them this week.
22 Facts About The FAFSA1) The FAFSA is THE form required at allcolleges that accept and award federal aid. (Yes, there are a few that donot participate in the federal financial aid system, but these schools arerare. )
2) It’s the form that provides your collegefinancial aid officers with the information they need to go ahead and createyour financial aid package.
3) FAFSA stands for FREE Application for FederalStudent Aid.
4) Hence, it’s FREE.
5) It’s available online at www.fafsa.ed.gov. NOT dotcom, NOT dot org, NOT dot anything else.
6) You can still get a paper version, if you really,really, really want to. But you don’t.
7) It utilizes a July-to-June calendar. In otherwords, we are in the middle of the 2011-2012 year and “New Year’s Day” is July1, when we move to the 2012-2013 year.
The 2012-2013 form is available for processing on January 1, 2012.
9) The FAFSA helps determine the awarding of over 0 billionin federal aid, as well as state aid.
10) The majority of colleges also use the FAFSA todetermine who qualifies for their own institutional need-based aid.
11) If you have your 1040 income tax return available, theform can be fairly straightforward.
12) Do not pay someone 00 to fill the form out for you to“maximize your aid potential”. Generally, the only one receiving more aidin that situation is the preparer.
13) The FAFSA is based on your current household and yourcurrent assets. What you’ve got in the bank and investment accounts on the dayyou complete the FAFSA.
14) But the FAFSA wants to know about last year’s(2011) income for your household.
15) If your parents are divorced or separated, it’s based on the parent you spent the mosttime with in the previous year.
16) And your step-parent, if there is one in thathousehold.
17) Don’t send notes to the federal processor. They’ll just shred ‘em. Your concerns and questions should be directed tothe financial aid office of the school you attend or are planning toattend.
18) Your parents saying that they won’t pay for Collegedoes NOT grant you independent status. To be considered independent, you haveto be 24 years old, married, a military veteran or some other factors you canlearn about here.
19) Here’s a link to a useful webinar about the FAFSA. (Useful,but 60 minutes in length)
20) Here’s a link to my favorite FAFSA video. (Enjoyable, only5 minutes in length)
21) Here’s a link to my Facebook page – feel free to post any $$/FAquestions you have.
22) If you have FAFSA questions, you can the federalgovernment’s hotline at (800) 433-3243.
Read More from The College Solution:My Upcoming College Workshop:I wanted to let you know that I will be holding my next two collegeworkshops at the University of California, San Diego on Jan. 28 and Feb. 4. Atthe workshops — you can sign up for one or both – I aim to share with you waysto help you make smart decisions about picking colleges and making them moreaffordable. You can learn more here and sign up forthe workshops here.Lynn O’Shaughnessy