<p>does anyone know if and how much it costs to file the fafsa? i thought it was free, but they charge a fee online and by phone...
all help much appreciated! thank you!</p>
<p>The FAFSA is free. there is a cost to file the CSS profile</p>
<p>Try not to make the mistake of going to <a href="http://www.fafsa.com%5B/url%5D">www.fafsa.com</a>. That is NOT the FAFSA website. The FAFSA website is <a href="http://www.fafsa.ed.gov%5B/url%5D">www.fafsa.ed.gov</a>. I don't know what that other place is, but don't fill in any of the information they request, because it just isn't the real FAFSA website. Governement websites always have ".gov" somewhere in them. The FAFSA is free.</p>
<p>Thanks for the website pointer, Brandon, wouldn't want to give away personal info to nonofficial sites</p>
<p>what is the cost for the css profile?</p>
<p>chelsea, i think it's a $5 initial fee and then like $18 per college...you might want to double check collegeboard, though</p>
<p>man, that SUCKS! thanks anyway LAgal. :)</p>
<p>FAFSA = Free Application For Student Aid</p>
<p>anytime, chelsea...that's what this community is for! :)
haha, leftist...excellent point...:)</p>
<p>BRANDON, thanks for pointing that out. I noticed that FAFSA.com has a disclaimer on their website, but it would be easy to miss. I think that is pretty scummy!! For a fee they will "monitor" and fill out your FAFSA. Why can't the real FAFSA protect their domain name? Other organizations do that.</p>
<p>I have not idea why that site exists; maybe no one has complained to FAFSA yet. I just hope not too many people make the mistake of using that site.</p>
<p>I got hooked by FAFSA.com last year and didn't even know it until this year. There has been some attempt and even congressional investigation to get this domain name stopped. I can tell you they are worried about it because this year when I complained they promised a complete refund of all fees paid. I also notified the BBB in their area, and filed a dispute with my credit card company just to be sure they'd pay up. It is quite obvious they depend on diversionary tactics and deception for their money. I didn't even realize I'd signed up with them last year until I used their email link to renew my daughter's FAFSA and, upon completion, there was no confirmation number. I then did a new application on FAFSA.ed.gov for my HS senior daughter and got confirmation immediately. So I called the real FAFSA the next day to see why the first one didn't go through. They explained to me what I'd done and that there was nothing they could do to prevent others from making the same mistake. I tried to call FAFSA.com but was only able to leave a message. They did call back within six hours and explained to me that they offer a disclaimer as well as links to the fee-free FAFSA. I insisted they were trying to deceive students and the representative told me they had a money-back satisfaction guaranty and offered to credit my card in the full amount. I have yet to see the refund but it has only been one day. I would encourage anyone you may know who had inadvertently paid for filing a FAFSA application to contact the submitter and ask for a refund. now I'm concerned with what they might have done with any information they got from me. Paying for college is tough enough without crooks stealing your money to file a free financial aid application. They're no better than any other Pfishing scheme on the Internet.</p>