Question about the FAFSA

Paying for College
1

<p>I know there's still a couple months before I can fill it out, but I've heard there's something you have to do before January 1st for it, like some number you have to get. I'm just kind of confused, so if anyone could clear up what you do for it and when, besides the actual filling it out, I'd greatly appreciate it!</p>

2

<p>You and one parent need to apply for a PIN. You each use your PIN to sign the fafsa before you submit it. Click on the PIN site icon at the top of this link to apply:</p>

<p><a href=“http://fafsa.gov/”>Federal Student Aid;

<p>One of your parents needs to apply for their own PIN too. Always go to fafsa.gov, not .com.
You can apply for the PINs now and use the same PINs for all years you submit fafsa.</p>

3

<p>You will need a PIN to sign your FAFSA. You have to apply for it at pin.ed.gov, and it will take a few days to get activated. This is likely what you are referring to. Although, if you were to apply for it after January 1st, its not a big deal to submit the FAFSA a few days after it opens. </p>

4

<p>^You and one of your parents should get PIN now. See <a href=“https://pin.ed.gov/PINWebApp/pinindex.jsp”>https://pin.ed.gov/PINWebApp/pinindex.jsp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Also, ask your parents to get their tax information ready, so they can file 2014 tax returns ASAP</p>

5

<p>Also, choose a 4 digit number that you and your parents will remember. It can be a pain to retrieve/reset the PIN if you forget it. </p>

6

<p>Choose different numbers for you and your parent. They shouldn’t be the same though I don’t know if the fafsa process would prevent that.</p>

7

<p>Alright thank you very much! That’s definitely good to know. As for 2014 tax returns, are you required to have that info, so I should be telling my mom to get on it pretty soon? </p>

8

<p>If you don’t have all of your 2014 tax information together, you can put in estimates on your FAFSA based off of last year’s figures. However, I would encourage your mom to not delay in filing her taxes this year - as you will need to log back in to your FAFSA to link all of the official tax information. The earlier you have your official 2014 figures entered, the more streamlined the financial aid process can be. </p>

9

<p>Okay that makes sense. I was kind of figuring that…
Should be loads of fun <em>note the sarcasm</em></p>

10

<p>Doing the fafsa in early January can reserve your place in line, so to speak, at the schools. Do it first with good income estimates and actual asset info and select the ‘will file’ tax status. When taxes are done, as early as possible, update the income information or use the IRS Data Retrieval tool at the fafsa site. Update the fafsa to the ‘have filed’ tax status.</p>

11

<p>Alright I’ll go with that! Thank you so much for the help!</p>