<p>Must I fill this out if I am not applying for financial aid?</p>
<p>No you don’t. We’ve never filled out FAFSA.</p>
<p>Just file it…it’s no big deal and doesn’t take long to do it. I know my DD’s school requires the FAFSA in order to be considered for all departmental scholarships. If may never help you…however, the possible payoff could be thousands of dollars…for 30 minutes of your time…not too shabby! I always do it “just in case.”</p>
<p>Agree with college parent. Every financial professional I’ve talked to said its worth the small effort. You never know. </p>
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Some schools may require FAFSA to consider you for the scholarships.</p>
<p>Noone HAS to fill out the FAFSA. If you look through the schools your kid has applied to, and there are no awards that require FAFSA—you can also ask Admissions if there are any merit awards that require FAFSA, then you don’t. Ask the GC at the school if there are any awards that s/he is aware of that require the FAFSA SAR to be qualified for them, and make sure your state doesn’t require it for state money. I know that some state money like Promise that do not depend on income amounts still require a FAFSA in order to get the money, and there may be local awards that require the same. FAFSA is used as a clearinghouse for a number of things other than just income. </p>
<p>Also, you need FAFSA filed in order for you student to get access to federal direct loans and for you to borrow from PLUS. I suggest you and our student, at very least, get PINS for federal money, and put the info in a secure case so that you can fill out the FAFSA quickly if you find that need or want to do so. You don’t have to have the infor sent to any schools, just to you, if you do fill it out. You just have it on file and can have the SAR sent at various times if the need comes up, like if you decide for cash flow problems that a loan is in order. You can get any of that money as late as the end of the college school year your kid is in–I think end of June is the deadline, do check that out, so it’s not an immediate thing. The PINs would be good forever for you and your student–it’s just one less thing that has to be done if you or student is filng for fed student aid or whatever a FAFSA is needed for in the future.</p>