It’s that time of year again… Time to complete the FAFSA for your financial aid!
Don’t let daunting FAFSA form keep you from financial aid
12:00 AM CST on Monday, January 5, 2009
If your child is about to enter college, it’s time to start filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form, also known as the FAFSA.
The document is the starting point for applying to almost all student financial assistance programs and determines eligibility for federal financial aid. Many schools also use it as part of their application for nonfederal aid.
But the form has been so daunting that many students just don’t bother applying for financial aid.
“It’s six pages long, has more than 120 questions, and it asks how old you are three different ways,” Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said in an October speech at Harvard University. “It makes you wish for tax day!”
That’s kept 40 percent of college students from seeking financial aid, she said.
“That’s nearly 8 million students, and we believe most would have been eligible for assistance,” Spellings said.
So her department is streamlining the form over the next five years to have fewer questions and be in plainer English, as directed by the Higher Education Opportunity Act.
FAFSA changes also include:
• Creating a two-page FAFSA-EZ form for low-income families.
• Simplifying the re-application process.
Students need to submit a FAFSA every year they’re in college to receive federal student aid.
Those already attending college who are renewal-eligible for the 2009-10 school year will be sent a renewal reminder from the U.S. Department of Education. The renewal FAFSA form will have information from the student’s previous FAFSA.
• Sharing federal income tax data between the Internal Revenue Service and Education Department to further simplify the process. Information will be shared after consent from students and their families.
The most recent redesign of the FAFSA form for the 2009-10 academic year marks student questions in green and parent information in purple.
Here are some tips for filling out the FAFSA:
Complete the form online – “You can save it and come back to it easily,” said Martha Holler, a spokeswoman for Sallie Mae, the largest student lender.
Filing a FAFSA electronically is much faster than filing a paper FAFSA. The process may be as much as seven to 14 days faster if you electronically sign your application using your PIN.
Filing electronically also cuts down on errors because the software edits the application before submitting it to the government.
Go to www.fafsa.ed.gov to complete the form online.
Meet the filing deadlines – You should submit your FAFSA to the Department of Education as soon as possible after Jan. 1 of the year in which you’re trying to get federal financial aid, though you do have until the end of the academic year to complete it.
Also, meet your school’s deadline for scholarships and low-interest loans.
“States and schools have deadlines and will begin the process of awarding financial aid,” Holler said. “You don’t want to miss out on that money.”
Texas does not have a FAFSA deadline. The state’s schools individually establish priority deadlines.
Federal financial aid includes need- and non-need-based grants, scholarships, work/study and low-cost student loans.
When seeking financial aid, first seek free money through grants and scholarships.
Supplement that with your income, college savings, and a monthly tuition payment plan.
Then look for federal loans for students and parents because they offer low, fixed interest rates and flexible repayment options.
Use private education loans made by financial institutions as a last resort. They tend to cost more than federal loans and typically have variable interest rates.
There’s money out there to help finance your college education. Don’t let paperwork prevent you from claiming your share of it.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 at 12:00 pm and is filed under free college money. Follow the comments through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or leave a trackback.
