<p>I got a notification saying my application has officially been processed. I can view and print my Student Aid Report. Does this mean that I don't have to do anything else at this point? Does this Student Aid Report automatically get sent to the school I applied to or do I have to send it myself? Also, my school requires other forms to be submitted, it says on the school website</p>
<p>"Each student must submit the Institutional Financial Aid Application to the Office of Financial Assistance indicating anticipated enrollment and funding request. </p>
<p>If you are selected for verification (indicated on your Student Aid Report (SAR)), you must submit the following information to the Office of Financial Assistance:
1) The Independent Verification Form
2) Copy of student (and spouse) signed federal tax return
3) Copies of student (and spouse) W2s"</p>
<p>Do I submit all this now?</p>
<p>Does it show on your SAR that were selected for verification? If so, complete those forms and send them to the Office of Financial Assistance. Also, yes, the SAR gets sent to the school you applied to as long as you designated on the FAFSA that you wanted it sent there.</p>
<p>Where on the SAR does it say you were selected for verification? I’m one of the idiots who accidently did FAFSA through FAFSA.com, not even realizing the real site was FAFSA.gov. But when I go on the .gov site and enter my info, its all there and it says processed.</p>
<p>Don’t send anything additional to the college until the college asks you for it.</p>
<p>Your SAR may have an asterisk on it, which means your college may ask you verification, but it also may not. (My daughter’s FAFSA has been asterisked every year and her college has never chosen her for verification. My son’s school asks for verification every year from every student receiving aid.)</p>
<p>So for now, sit tight. Wait to hear from your college. If they ask for verification documents, send them promptly.</p>
<p>Eventually, your college will get back to your with a financial aid award letter, that should at the very least contain an unsubsidized Stafford loan – and perhaps more depending on your eligibility.</p>
<p>Thanks. Which brings me to my next question. I really don’t understand this EFC thing. I filled out my FAFSA and got an EFC of just above $12,000. Is that what I’m expected to contribute for the 2010-2011 academic year? What does that cover? I know it goes from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011, so it must cover Fall 2010 semester, Spring 2011 Semester, and one of the 2011 summer semesters. I am going to grad school part time. My program is 36 credits. I am taking 6 credits a semester. I work during the day at a job where I earn around $42,000 a year. The program I am in charges $500 per credit hour so my tuition grand total is $18,000 and that doesn’t even include books. I’m taking 6 credits this fall, 6 credits in the spring, and probably 6 credits in the first summer session, which equals $9,000. So subtract that from my EFC and you get $3,000, is that all I get in aid? Where the hell do I get the remaining $6,000 I will owe. Is my EFC considered high? Is it because I work full time and earn what I do? Where do I get the rest of the money to pay for my tuition? I really have no clue because my parents took care of all these things for my undergrad years, now its my responsibility.</p>
<p>I just started a thread asking about EFC.</p>
<p>I do know the number of your EFC does not represent money ($), it’s a number to be used by colleges to determine how much aid you can recieve. It’s not money per se, not the amount you must contribute.</p>
<p>But I don’t really know how good or bad it is, but I do know many scholarships help students with EFC 0 (or very low), so I’m guessing yours is quite high compared to that.</p>
<p>chris, there’s very little in the way of federal and state aid for graduate programs. I would not expect any type of aid, other than loans, unless you have funding from your school, usually in the form of an assistantship of some type, but that doesn’t sound possible if you’re working full time. As a grad student you are eligible for Stafford loans up to $20,500 per year (max is $8500 subsidized, $12K unsub). After that, there are Grad Plus loans. You can read about these at this site:</p>
<p>[FinAid</a> | Loans | Student Loans](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Student Loans - Finaid)</p>
<p>How do I go about getting a Stafford Loan?</p>
<p>Your school will offer it & then give you directions on how to finish the steps.</p>