It’s important that every student applying to college fill out a FAFSA form. If you’re wavering, or if you assume you won’t qualify for any scholarship assistance it’s still a good idea to submit a FAFSA form. Let me list some of the reasons.
1. Foremost, filling out FAFSA allows you to tap into over $120 billion of multiple loans, grants and scholarships offered by the Office of Federal Student Aid
2. You become eligible for Direct Federal Loans: The loans generally have better terms (interest rates), and often remove some of the liabilities should a student default on the loan. One important consideration is that they don’t require a co-signer on the loan meaning that the student is solely responsible for repayment. The amount of a loan one is eligible for is determined by the school, so getting that FAFSA submitted early is important.
3. Shows the schools to which you’ve applied your ability to pay. The FAFSA allows the various schools to calculate your family’s EFC (effective family contribution), which is the amount the school believes you will be paying—from this calculation the admissions office determines admissions decisions, which often factor in potential revenue a candidate might be bringing.
4. Tells schools you’re waiting for a response to your financial aid request. In essence, you’re in line. In fact, you want to get your FAFSA submitted as soon after October 1st of your senior year. A lot of grants and subsidized loans are allocated on a first come first served basis. Get as far to the front of the line as you can.
5. If you’ve filed a FAFSA and your financial situation changes this information can be quickly adjusted and resubmitted to the various admissions offices, so that you may access more financial resources.
6. Having your COA (cost of attendance) and EFT (effective family contribution) determined through your submission of the FAFSA allows you to calculate your cash flow over the four years of college. This allows you to plan and control your payments and means of paying for college.
7. Interest rate: Each direct loan is issued with a fixed exchange rate for the life of the loan. Getting this set is obviously only possible with a FAFSA submission.
Filling out the form is more a process of taking information from the family’s previous income tax form and pasting it into the blanks. Just go to the FAFSA website (https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa) and get your FAFSA ID. If you’re not yet 18 years old a parent or guardian also needs his or her own FAFSA ID.
To file a FAFSA all that you need is a social security number and a driver’s license or other state ID. You’ll also need the recent year’s Income Tax Form; however, if it’s not readily available FAFSA online contains an IRS Data Retrieval Tool to import your tax information. A full checklist of all the items you’ll need to quickly and completely fill out your FAFSA can be found at https://college.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/2021-09/fafsa_checklist.pdf
When filing you’ll notice that you’re allowed to submit only 10 schools. If you have more to which you’re applying, once a school notifies you it has received your FAFSA information, you can take that school off your list and add a new one in its place.
At this point you’re well on your way. No matter how busy you are, take two things away from this article: File a FAFSA application on line no matter what your situation is—though you need be a US citizen or an eligible non-citizen (send your questions to the Office of Federal Student Aid if you’re unsure); and file as soon after October 1st of your senior year to get to the front of the line. Oh yes, one more thing, remember you’ll need to file a new FAFSA each year your student is in college—if you want aid.