Guide to the FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid

The U.S. Department of Education reports that, in 2007, the Federal Student Aid issued $83 billion in student aid, plus another $32 billion in consolidation loans to over ten million students in 6,200 different post secondary institutions. This is a big relief for students obtaining post secondary education, especially considering the average cost for tuition, books and board for one year has skyrocketed to over $16,000.

Student financial assistance is something every single student should look into when contemplating college. The amount you may be eligible for depends on a variety of different factors and will be determined by your Free Application for Student Financial Aid (FAFSA), Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) and Student Aid Report (SAR).

FAFSA Basics - The Application - Factors that Affect Your Financial Aid Award - The Deadlines

FAFSA Basics: What It Is and How It Works

The FAFSA is the U.S. Department of Education's Free Application for Federal Student Aid. It is one of the most important forms you will fill out during your college career: it will be used to determine how much federal financial aid you will receive, and most likely how much aid you will receive from your state and college as well.

The FAFSA requests information about the student's finances and the finances of the student's family, such as income, assets, and the number of family members in college. This information is used to calculate the student's Expected Family Contribution (EFC), which the federal government, and most states and schools, use to determine the amount and type of financial aid the student will receive. The FAFSA results are sent to the student, as well as to state agencies, and any schools that the student entered in the FAFSA. Because the FAFSA is so decisive in determining the amount of your federal, state, and school financial aid, it is vitally important that you fill it out accurately and on time before attending college, and complete a renewal application each subsequent year.

Filling Out the Application

The Department of Education has a clear, helpful FAFSA website, where you can fill out the FAFSA. You can also download a PDF from the website, print it out and mail it in, or request a paper copy of the FAFSA be mailed to you by calling 1-800-FEDAID, but if you can, you should complete the FAFSA online. The FAFSA website highlights errors and inconsistencies before you submit the application and you get your results by email the next day, so it's more accurate and faster than completing it in a PDF or on paper.

The FAFSA website also has FAFSA worksheets designed to help students and parents fill out the FAFSA by allowing students to fill out their information before entering it online. The FAFSA requires a lot of information, from you and your parent's tax returns and banks statements to driver's licenses and school codes, so it's a good idea to get all the information in one place before you begin.

Be sure you are at the official FAFSA site when you fill out your application. The FAFSA is free, and there are many dummy dot com sites that request you to pay a submission fee.

Factors that Affect Your Financial Aid Award

Essentially, the factors that affect your eligibility and amount of student aid you can receive are based on the following four criteria, as reported by the U.S. Department of Education.

Education Requirements
First of all, you will need to have a high school diploma or General Educational Development certificate to qualify for financial student aid. You must be enrolled in an accredited institute or program. You can check your program's accreditation status at the U.S. Department of Education Database. You will need to be enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a regular student working toward a degree or certificate. You will also need to meet satisfactory academic progress standards set by the postsecondary school you are or will be attending. Check with your school to confirm these standards.

Legal Requirement
Only U.S. citizens or eligible noncitizens with a valid Social Security Number will be eligible for financial aid. You must accept and sign a statement promising that you will use federal student aid for educational purposes only. Additional legal factors that can affect the amount of student aid you will receive include any past criminal convictions for possession or sale of illegal drugs.

Match Requirements
When applying for student aid, all your information will be verified and matched with the following agencies to ensure honesty in your application:

• Social Security Administration
• Department of Homeland Security
• National Student Loan Data System
• Veteran Affairs (if you answered that you are a veteran)
• Selective Service (males between the ages of 18 and 25 must register with Selective Service in order to be eligible for federal student aid)

Financial Need and Expected Family Contribution
This is the most important criterion that will determine the amount of money you receive from student aid. Essentially, the amount of financial aid you receive is dependent on your expected family contribution, or EFC.

The formula for calculation is as follows: Cost of Attendance – Expected Family Contribution (EFC) = Financial Need.

EFC is based on the following five things:

• Dependency status, including your age, your marital status and your living situation, as well as family size and number of family member who will be attending a college or career school
• Sources of incomes, including from jobs, welfare, child support and various other methods
• Student and parent assets, including savings, checking accounts, stock, bonds and mutual funds
• Available income, including what is available after daily living expenses have been considered
• Unusual circumstances, including usual medical expenses, unemployment or tuition expenses

Every student's financial situation is different, which is why it is impossible to give an exact number of how much your post secondary education will cost and how much aid you will receive. However, knowing the factors that affect financial aid can help you plan ahead. The U.S. Department of Education FAFSA4Caster can help you determine your student aid situation so you can better prepare the finances for your educational future.

Deadlines

The federal deadline for the 2010-2011 school year is June 30, 2011. However, most state and college deadlines are earlier, often as early as January, so you should check your state and school's FAFSA deadline and complete your FAFSA as soon as possible. You can search for your state's FAFSA deadline here.

Article Resources

FAFSA
FAFSA4Caster
National Center for Educational Statistics
U.S. Department of Education