|
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (known as the FAFSA) is a form that can be prepared annually by current and prospective college students (both undergraduate and graduate) in the United States to determine their eligibility for student financial aid (including the Pell grants, and work-study programs). Despite its name, the application is the gateway to be considered for not only for the 9 federal student aid programs, but also the 605 state and most of the institutional aid available. The U.S. Department of Education begins accepting the application beginning Jan. 1 of each year for the upcoming academic year. Each application period is 18-months, however most federal, state, and institutional aid is provided on a first come, first served basis. Students are advised to submit a FAFSA as early as possible for consideration for maximum financial assistance. Applicants who have completed a FAFSA in previous years may submit a renewal FAFSA, but any information that has changed must be updated annually. The FAFSA consists of numerous questions (at least 130 for the 2010-2011 academic year for example) regarding a student's (and their family's) assets, income, and dependency. These are entered into a formula that determines the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). A number of factors are used in determining the EFC including the household size, income, number of students from household in college, and assets (not including retirement and 401(k) funds). This information is required because of the expectation that parents will contribute to their child's education, whether that is true or not. The FAFSA does not have questions related to student or family race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, or religion. A Student Aid Report (SAR), which is a summary of the FAFSA responses, is forwarded to the student. The student should review the SAR carefully for errors and make any corrections. An electronic version of the SAR (called an ISIR) is made available for downloading by the colleges/universities the student selects on the FAFSA. The ISIR is also sent to state agencies that award state need-based aid. Some colleges also require the CSS Profile to be filled out as early as the same deadline as an early admissions or early decision application deadline. The CSS is a fee-based product of the College Board and usually concerns funds disbursed by a college rather than federal funds. From Wikipedia under the
GNU Free Documentation License How does FAFSA figure the financial aid you should receive? Q. I just completed my FAFSA. I've lived on my own for two years but I still need my parents tax information, which I think is ridiculous. Does anybody know how they figure what you are able to receive in financial aid? Well, I've already done all this. I've done my parents tax information, and mine. I just don't understand how they assume that if you're under 25, you still need your parents tax information. Asked by Sara - Wed Jun 4 19:17:38 2008 - - 3 Answers - 0 Comments A. The dependency requirements were decided on by Congress when they originally built the financial aid model. They believe that parents have a responsibility toward helping their children attain their first degree. That is why it is ridiculous. Ridiculous to think that your parents should help! I agree it does hurt a small faction of students though where the parents are ridiculous and refuse to cooperate with the FAFSA information. Anyhow. The FAFSA collects information about your family size, number of people attending college, income earned and investment values and spits out a number called the EFC (Estimated Family Contribution). This is the number that decides whether you are Pell grant eligible, and is used by the Aid office to… [cont.] Answered by Woelfe - Wed Jun 4 23:17:33 2008 How long after your fafsa application is processed do you actually get the money for school? Q. Im wondering if i fill out the fafsa it takes two weeks to process application. How long do i have to wait for the money for school? How does it work? Asked by haley h - Thu Mar 4 11:32:39 2010 - - 3 Answers - 0 Comments A. This was my experience. Did FAFSA, processed 1 day later, my school got it a few days later, they asked for verification, I printed out the Dependent Verification form I was asked to fill out and attach my parents IRS tax form 2009, I gave it to my Financial Aid Office personally however you can mail this if you are too far away, THREE weeks later, it verified and has "satisfied requirements and processed", so my status says in my schools website. Now, you will receive the money shortly before classes start. What happens is, they need to determine how much you need so in order to do that, they have to see how many classes you are signed up for, and estimate what you'd need for books etc. However, for the cost of tuition, you don't get the… [cont.] Answered by Disco tick - REAL - Thu Mar 4 16:49:35 2010 If you apply for FAFSA for only summer semester how much do you get?
Q. I am planning on attending college for the first time so please excuse me if this question sounds dumb!!! I applied for fafsa for summer 2010 which is considered the end of the academic year for 2009. I was given an EFC of 0. I was wondering if because its the end of the academic school year and I did not apply for aid before, will I get the entire $5500 to put forth towards this semester or would I still only get a portion of it? Asked by Amanda - Wed Apr 21 21:34:14 2010 - - 1 Answers - 0 Comments A. universities.atwebpages.c om - it has detailed info how to apply for financial aid and scholarships to get more cash. Answered by Phil - Thu Apr 22 12:57:03 2010 From Yahoo Answer Search: "fafsa"  news.google.com Norman Transcript The FAFSA determines based on the applicant's dependency status and the family's income and assets what the family will be expected to contribute to a ... news.google.com Red, White, and Blue Press (blog) ... to get college paid for completely, you will want to do some research at places like FAFSA .gov or simply search on Google for scholarships and grants. ... and more » news.google.com Norristown Times Herald ... are not reportable on the FAFSA form, and tax-free withdrawals from a grandparent-owned 529 are not counted as student income or student resources. ... and more » From Google News Search: "fafsa" From Yahoo Image Search: "fafsa"  careersearchcity.com admin Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:14:09 GM The . FAFSA. application process has an undeserved reputation as a being difficult to understand and hard to complete. This impression may have been fostered in part by third-party fee-for-service providers that have made a business of ...  studentloansforcollege.org SLFC Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:30:41 GM An important reminder to all college students planning on applying for federal financial aid for the 2009-2010 school year: June 30, 2010 is the deadline for completing the 2009-2010 . FAFSA. , which determines funding through the summer ...  sotcbm.com Pauline Davies Mon, 07 Jun 2010 10:23:32 GM You may get this help from your school counsellor and the . FAFSA. web site will provide you with the information you need. In addition you will find many useful links there. These links will let you see the documents that you will need to ... From Google Blog Search: "fafsa" |
