financial aid and college loans

What is a FAFSA?

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is a financial aid eligibility form you need to fill out before entering college. This is required by the Federal Government before you are able to receive any federally funded monies to help you with college expenses. This form only accesses the individual needs of students; it is not a loan.

If you are planning to enter college this fall, the FAFSA must be submitted by June 30, 2008. If you are planning to enter in the Fall of 2009, you will need to look up the deadline for your state to let you know when to complete the form. Some states have a spring deadline while some have an early summer deadline. Some of the best kinds of governmental student loans, grants, or work-study aids that are given are given on a first come, first served based. Therefore you will want to have this form filled out and turned in as early as possible before you enter college.

The information that you have filled out will be processed by the Department of Education. After your FAFSA has been received, the government will send you a Student Aid Report (SAR). This report will allow you to make any corrections to your FAFSA that are necessary as well as the amount of federal aid that is available to you.

Filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid does not atomically mean that you are on the list to receive any federal aid. For each type of federal aid that you want to pursue, you will need to fill out a separate application for that loan or grant. Specific federally funded monies are available through a Pell Grant, a Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, the Academic Competitiveness Grant, the National SMART Grant, as well a the Perkins Loan and the Stafford Federal Student Loan.

The FAFSA must be renewed every year that you are enrolled in the college or university you are attending. This is because financial situations change frequently and you may not be eligible for as much money as you were previously or you may be eligible for more money than you were previously. You will not have to fill the form out in its entirety every year but you will need to update it on a yearly basis.

Even if you feel that you will not be eligible for any of the federal money, you should still fill the form out. In this way, the college or university you are attending will be able to determine your eligibility for the grants, loans, or privately funded loans they may be able to offer. It never hurts to try!

Prepare Yourself for the FAFSAIt is never too earlier to prepare yourself for the great financial aid race. Students seeking federal financial assistance for college are required to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on an annual basis. The application can be submitted anytime after January 1 of the year you are seeking aid. The following are some tips that can help speed up the lengthy application process  Review the Application Before you dive into the FAFSA, take a look at it. Review the instructions and make yourself familiar with key terms the form uses. While most of the application revolves around common sense, there are some parts that can be confusing. By making yourself familiar with the form, you will be able to maneuver through it smoother as you fill it out. File Those Taxes  Student financial aid is based upon eligibility. One way the government determines a student’s eligibility is by reviewing the past year’s taxes. If a student is independent, his or her taxes will be taken into consideration. If a student is dependent, the parent(s) tax information is required for the form. The sooner you file your taxes, the sooner you can apply for aid. If you are really eager to make those early deadlines, you can submit your FAFSA with estimated tax information on it and update the application at a later date once you taxes have been filed.  File Electronically Filing your FAFSA electronically is the fastest and safest way to submit the form. In order to file via the internet, you will be required to sign the form electronically. This requires a pin. If you don’t have a pin, you can apply for one at  www.FAFSA.ed.gov. Once your application has been submitted, it will only take about a week for it to be processed.It is noteworthy that private student loans do not require the FAFSA, but one should first apply for Federal aid before seeking private college loans. When reviewing private lenders, take your time and compare and contrast student loans. A good place to start would be our private tuition loans home page. Best of luck with your education.