<p>FAFSA is coming out in a couplt of weeks for 2006-2007 applicants! How does the whole fafsa thing work?. Does the gov't give you money, does the school give you money...im confused about the fafsa process...so if anyone can explain i t or offer insight pleas do! thanks!</p>
<p>The FAFSA is the free application for federal student aid.</p>
<p>To apply for student financial aid from the federal government based on the information submitted by you and your parents the FAFSA determines your eligiblity to receive federal aid : pell grants, seog grants (if applicable to your school) federal work study and federal student loans (subsidized/unsubsidized stafford loans and perkins loans). The FAFSA is required by all public colleges and universities and an overwhelming number of private schools require the FAFSA (some in addition to other FA forms).</p>
<p>You can submit the FAFSA either on line or by paper (online is probably preferred and definitely quicker).</p>
<p>* After you submit the FAFSA, you will receive your Student Aid Report (SAR). The SAR summarizes the information you provided on the FAFSA, and indicates the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). (If there's an asterisk next to the EFC figure on the SAR, it means your FAFSA has been selected for verification.) </p>
<p>The EFC is the amount of money your family will be expected to contribute to your education. The EFC is subtracted from the school's Cost of Attendance (COA), also known as the "student budget", to arrive at your financial need: Financial Need = COA - EFC. The student budget includes tuition, fees, room and board, books and supplies, travel, and personal and incidental expenses. </p>
<p>The lower your EFC, the more financial aid you will get. The school will try to meet this need through a financial aid "package" that combines aid from federal, state, school, and private sources with loans and student employment. *</p>
<p><a href="http://finaid.org/fafsa/efc.phtml%5B/url%5D">http://finaid.org/fafsa/efc.phtml</a></p>
<p>Keep in mind that all schools do not meet 100% of your demonstrated need and some school can and do fill your demonstrated need with loans.</p>
<p>You cannot file the fafsa for 206-2007 school year until jan.1 2007.</p>
<p>The fafsa only determines determines your eligibility for federal aid and uses a federal methodology to determine this . Most schools that give their own monies (grants/scholarshsip) to meet your demonstrated need (institutional methodology) may require additional forms (the CSS profile or their own financial aid forms) </p>
<p>There will be a big difference between the EFC numbers your get for the FAFSA which only determines your eligibility for federal aid (pell grants and loans) and the CSS profile which is what the college uses to determine how they are going to distribute their institutional funds .</p>
<p>I would recommend running your numbers on the college board's FA calculator using both the federal and the institutional methodology.</p>
<p>Differences between the IM and FM models are</p>
<p>IM collects information on estimated academic year family income, medical expenses, elementary and secondary school tuition and unusual circumstances. FM omits these questions.</p>
<p>IM considers a fuller range of family asset information, while FM ignores assets of siblings, all assets of certain families with less than $50,000 of income, and both home and family farm equity.</p>
<p>FM defines income as the adjusted gross income on federal tax returns, plus various categories of untaxed income. IM includes in total income any paper depreciation, business, rental or capital losses which artificially reduce adjusted gross income.</p>
<p>FM does not assume a minimum student contribution to education; IM expects the student, as primary beneficiary of the education, to devote some time each year to earning money to pay for education.</p>
<p>FM ignores the noncustodial parent in cases of divorce or separation; IM expects parents to help pay for education, regardless of current marital status.</p>
<p>FM and IM apply different percentages to adjust the parental contribution when multiple siblings are simultaneously enrolled in college, and IM considers only siblings enrolled in undergraduate programs.</p>
<p>The IM expected family share represents a best estimate of a familys capacity (relative to other families) to absorb, over time, the costs of education. It is not an assessment of cash on hand, a value judgment about how much a family should be able to use current income, or a measure of liquidity. The final determinations of demonstrated need and awards rest with the University and are based upon a uniform and consistent treatment of family circumstances.</p>
<p>Except in the most extraordinary circumstances, Colleges classifies incoming students as dependent upon parents for institutional aid purposes, even though some students may meet the federal definition of independence.</p>
<p>Students enrolling as dependent students are considered dependent throughout their undergraduate years when need for institutional scholarships is determined.</p>
<p>For institutional aid purposes a student may not declare independence due to attainment of legal age, internal family arrangements, marriage or family disagreements.</p>
<p>Your COA (cost of attendance) is tuition, room board, books travel expenses and some misc. expenses associated with attending college.</p>
<p>As a student, there are cumulative limit of $23,000 which you can borrow for an undergraduate education using stafford loans.</p>
<p>thanks...i thought you could apply for fafsa starting in mid july though?</p>
<p>you cant file till January 1st</p>
<p><a href="http://www.finaid.org/fafsa/%5B/url%5D">http://www.finaid.org/fafsa/</a></p>
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<blockquote> <p>FAFSA is coming out in a couplt of weeks for 2006-2007 applicants!>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>the 2006-07 school year begins THIS fall term...August or September 2006. That FAFSA has been online for filing since January 1, 2006. The FAFSA for 2007-08 (the one that the rising seniors will need to complete for entry into college Sept 2007) will be online to file beginning January 2007.</p>
<p>^ ok...gotcha</p>