Completing the FAFSA

The FAFSA is now available for high school Class of 2010 families to complete.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the form used by college bound students to apply for federal student aid including grants, work-study, and loans. The FAFSA is also typically used to apply for available state aid. High school seniors, you should have already requested a PIN for BOTH the student AND one parent. If not, that must be done prior to completing the FAFSA. You may request PINs at www.pin.ed.gov. The PIN will serve as your electronic signature and should always be saved in a secure location, treated as safely as your social security number. www.fafsa.ed.gov is the CORRECT website for submitting the FAFSA. Do NOT use www.fafsa.com or other similar sites. They are scam sites that charge you money to complete the FREE form. It is recommended that you complete your 2009 tax return before filling out the 2010-2011 academic year FAFSA. However, you do have the option of submitting your FAFSA using an estimate of 2009 income and tax information. If you estimate, you must log back in once your taxes are filed and correct any information that is different from what you originally stated on your FAFSA. Submit your 2010-2011 FAFSA online (or by mail) between January 1 and June 30 for the fall semester. Many states have earlier deadlines for state aid, and colleges/universities often have specific FAFSA filing deadlines, too, so be cautious about waiting too long.

One you have sent your FAFSA, you are invited to check the status of your financial aid application by selecting “Check Status of a Submitted FAFSA or Print Signature Page” under the “FAFSA Follow-Up” section.

You will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) within three weeks (although usually quite a bit faster). Carefully review all of the information on the SAR to make sure that it is correct. If anything is incorrect, promptly follow the instructions for modifications. If your family has any special or unusual circumstances (such as loss of employment, extreme medical bills, etc.) that might affect eligibility for federal student aid, communicate directly with the financial aid offices at the schools you have applied to for next year. Many schools offer an appeal process, but it does require additional documentation from the family. Colleges/universities utilize the information provided on the FAFSA to craft financial aid packages, so it is vital that all college bound students complete this process.