<p>Hey guys, I'm relatively new to this financial aid thing, so I thought you guys could help me. </p>
<p>1) What are the benefits of filling out a FAFSA? Besides the obvious things :)</p>
<p>2) When should a person fill out a FAFSA?</p>
<p>1) What are the benefits of filling out a FAFSA? Besides the obvious things </p>
<p>The benefit is that you actually might qualify for some need based aid. And all folks completing the fafsa will be offered the Stafford Loans. If you have need, it will be subsidized…and if not unsubsidized. These are loans in the student’s name.</p>
<p>2) When should a person fill out a FAFSA? </p>
<p>The FAFSA is available for filing on January 1 of the year you will be applying for aid. In other words…for students applying for aid beginning Sept 2009, the FAFSA was available for filing on Jan 1, 2009. To complete the FAFSA, you use tax information from the previous year. SO folks completing the 2009-2010 FAFSA used the 2008 tax year.</p>
<p>And JUST AN FYI…Get your taxes done as soon as possible after Feb 1. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL APRIL 15.</p>
<p>also, some schools use the fafsa when considering students for scholarships from the school. NYU does this. they are a Fafsa only private and if you don’t submit a fafsa, there is no chance at a scholarship for you</p>
<p>Sue is absolutely correct. There are a lot of schools out there that require completion of the financial aid application to qualify for ANY kind of aid…including merit aid.</p>
<p>Read the school websites…they will tell you what you need to do.</p>
<p>Oh…another thing…write down the deadlines for each school’s financial aid applications. You probably will be doing this for application deadlines so don’t forget to include the finaid application deadlines as well. You don’t want to miss out on aid because you missed a deadline.</p>
<p>After you submit the FAFSA, what do you do?</p>
<p>Watch for any notifications from the financial aid office & respond quickly to requests for additional information. If no additional info is needed, you will receive your award letter just like magic! Unless you have scholarships that cover your entire cost of attendance, you will at least be offered $5500 in unsubsidized Stafford loans.</p>
<p>So I just get a letter in the mail? So unless notified, leave it alone?</p>
<p>It’s a good idea to check the school’s financial aid website to make sure that they don’t require their own form or require certain info from every student (some request tax info from every student). If not, though, you won’t need to do anything unless contacted.</p>
<p>The federal student aid application is the gateway to most aid for college.</p>
<p>The 2009-2010 FAFSA asks 137 income, asset, and dependency questions, and can be daunting. You can answer some questions incorrectly and still have your application approved but receive a smaller aid award. Other inaccuracies can cause rejection, which in the first-come, first-served world of student aid means that less aid will be available when your application is finally considered. </p>
<p>Here are my top 10 ways to improve your student aid eligibility: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Dont delay. If you file your income taxes around the April 15th deadline, dont wait until your taxes are completed to file your FAFSA or you will miss most of the state and college student aid deadlines. Most programs award aid on a first-come, first-serve basis. Providing accurate estimates on the FAFSA is perfectly fine. Be careful when calculating or estimating your adjusted gross income. Answering this question incorrectly wont cause your FAFSA to be rejected, but could lower your aid award. Remember, your taxable income is not your adjusted gross income.</p></li>
<li><p>Dont include untaxed Social Security as income. The law changed this year. Reporting it will inflate your expected family contribution and lower the amount of aid for which you are eligible. </p></li>
<li><p>Children of divorced parents typically believe that the parent they live with is their legal guardian and that they are in a legal guardianship. This is not true in all cases. A wrong answer will incorrectly change the students dependency status to independent and impact the aid calculation.</p></li>
<li><p>More families are withdrawing funds from retirement accounts early sometimes its taxed and sometimes its not. Counting these funds in both adjusted gross income and untaxed income will inflate your expected family contribution and decrease aid. </p></li>
<li><p>If you or a family member has had their job eliminated, you may be eligible to answer yes to the dislocated worker question. You need to meet one of four criteria on the day that you submit your FAFSA. Student Financial Aid Services is seeing that one in every 10 families has a member whose job has been eliminated. Being a dislocated worker affects how your assets are treated and could even reduce your expected family contribution to zero. </p></li>
<li><p>Consider getting student aid advice and FAFSA preparation help from paid professionals. Federal law allows paid professional FAFSA preparation, much like tax advisors help families prepare their taxes accurately and correctly to maximize their tax refunds. Choose a professional FAFSA preparer who has a good Better Business Bureau rating, uses people to review each answer to ensure accuracy, receives high ratings from past clients, and has the goal of making you eligible for the most aid possible. With the average student aid award of $9,500 at stake, help from a professional FAFSA preparer can relieve some of the stress of finding money for college. </p></li>
<li><p>Dont include your primary residence as an asset, or you will be inflating your expected family contribution and lowering your potential for aid.</p></li>
<li><p>Not all businesses are treated the same when calculating assets. Different rules apply to family-owned businesses employing fewer than 100 people. Getting this wrong wont reject your FAFSA, but it could lower the amount of aid for which you are eligible.</p></li>
<li><p>List your last name exactly as it appears on your Social Security card or your FAFSA will be rejected.</p></li>
<li><p>Double-check all numbers. That sounds simple, but transposing numbers is one of the most common mistakes and will affect your aid award.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Meeting state and college deadlines is essential to receiving aid. 70 percent of all state and college deadlines fall before April 15, 2009 and the federal deadline for the 2009-2010 academic year is June 30, 2010. You have an 18-month window in case your financial circumstances change after you finish first semester (like if a parent’s job is eliminated).</p>
<p>Nearly every student is eligible for some form of financial aid, including low-interest federal Stafford and/or parent PLUS loans, regardless of income or circumstances, provided a student:</p>
<p> is a U.S. citizen, a U.S. national, or an eligible non-citizen;
has a valid Social Security Number;
has a high school diploma, GED, or equivalent;
is registered with the U.S. Selective Service (if a male ages 18 to 25);
completes a FAFSA promising to use any federal aid for educational purposes;
does not owe refunds on any federal student grants;
is not in default on any student loans; and
has not been found guilty of the sale or possession of illegal drugs during a period<br>
when he/she received federal student aid.</p>
<p>Personally, I would not suggest paying to have your FAFSA completed. There are many resources available for free - please use these resources - college nights, College Goal Sunday, college financial aid officers, books available from your local library, help guides on the web. Download the FAFSA on the Web worksheet, grab your tax forms, and READ & FOLLOW the directions. If you have questions, find the answers - don’t guess.</p>
<p>
Only of you meet income limits. <$50k for assets to be ignored or under $30k for automatic 0 EFC. If you do not meet income limits it has no affect whatsoever.</p>
<p>
Do not pay someone to complete FAFSA for you. There is much information and help out there for free, including this website. Most financial officers do not recommend using the paid preparers.</p>
<p>Otherwise good advice.</p>
<p>FREE Application for Federal Student Aid…</p>