FAFSA: Understanding Financial Aid

Beyond applying and being accepted into college, the next hurdle that students must tackle is figuring out how to pay for college.  That is where the FAFSA comes in.

Obviously, this is a crucial part to going to school, as most colleges will not let students walk into classes without dropping a dime.  Financial aid is the most significant contributor to students 

The FAFSA is a form that your college use to determine how much aid their students will be awarded.  This post will discuss the FAFSA and how students should approach it.

What is the FAFSA?

The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is a form students and parents fill out that determines students' financial aid.  This means that it takes students' and students' parents financial information and decides how much aid students should receive.

The students' aid eligibility is called a Student Aid Report, or SAR, and is a summary of what the students and the students' parents submitted for the FAFSA.  

*You should review this document to be certain that the questions were answered correctly!*

What the SAR and FAFSA attempt to establish, is how much your family is going to support, or contribute to your college education financially.  This is called the Expected Family Contribution, or EFC.  The FAFSA will ask about the family's assets, income, and dependency to determine the EFC.

One Thing I Would Like to Point Out About the EFC:

My specific problem with the FAFSA is the EFC, because no matter if you are being supported by your parents financially or not, it is assumed they are supporting your college education.  One year, the FAFSA assumed my family was going to supply $10,000 for school, when I never saw a dime from them when it came to my education.  This is not to say I would have received the $10,000 in financial aid that was expected of me to have from my family.  I do believe I may have received more than what I did without.

Preparing and Submitting the FAFSA

The quickest and most effective way for students to fill out the FAFSA is by doing so online.  Not only is it more efficient, the site's hotline and chat box are both available to help students and parents if there are questions about the FAFSA, as some of it is slightly confusing.  Click here to be taken to the Homepage.

You do not have to be accepted into a school to complete the FAFSA.  It is not run through or by a school, it is simply a form that determines your aid eligibility.  The SAR that is supplied to students after they have filled out their FAFSA is also sent to the schools that the students chose to receive their report.  It is then, with the schools, that financial aid is rewarded based on the eligibility determined by SAR.

When it comes to filling out the FAFSA, here is what I found helps, as I have just filled out mine a few days ago:

• Have all the documents you need.  The online form will indicate what you will need from you and your parents.
• Keep a folder with all of your information.  You want to have a safe place for all of the information you will receive from FAFSA, specifically the PIN you and your parents will receive so you can e-sign the document to submit.
• E-sign everything!  E-signing the document, which means you enter your issued PIN, allows for much faster processing than mailing in the documents.
• Fill out the FAFSA early.  There is no penalty for filling it out the very first day you can.  Waiting until the last minute to do so can be the difference in dollars on your aid eligibility.  It is not first come first served, but it is best to treat the process that way.

Well students, I hope this post was helpful in answering a few of your questions about the FAFSA.  I have seen some sites that offer "tips" for students to receive more money than what they should receive, but do not do that.  Some of these tips include getting married, having children, and lying about your and your family's information. I DO NOT RECOMMEND ANY OF THIS!  

Please refer to the official site for more specific information and answers to your questions.  The deadline for this year's FAFSA is right around the corner!  Good luck!