News & Video

Official directions from the US Department of Education.

 

---

Financial aid applications, such as the FAFSA, should be submitted as soon as possible after January 1, but no sooner. You cannot submit the form before January 1, because the need analysis process uses your financial information from the prior tax year when calculating eligibility for the upcoming award year.

To meet the deadlines for most states you should submit the form no later than March 1, with February 15 being ideal. Do not wait until you've filed your income tax returns with the IRS. You should either estimate your income - you'll have a chance to correct errors later - or complete your tax returns early. (Your December pay stub should contain information about your total income for the year. You'll find this helpful in estimating your income.)

When estimating your income, try to be as accurate as possible. Use your actual pay stubs from December. If your estimates are inaccurate, it will have a significant impact on your Expected Family Contribution. If there is a sizeable discrepancy, you will then need to correct the financial information when the Student Aid Report (SAR) arrives.

If you don't understand a question on the FAFSA, or have trouble filling out the FAFSA form, please contact our office and we will help you with this complex and convoluted financial aid form.

Common Errors Made On The FAFSA

Most mistakes on the FAFSA can be avoided by carefully reading the instructions and questions. If you make a mistake on the FAFSA it can delay the processing of your application, because it takes an additional 2-3 weeks to process a corrected application.

Some of the more common errors that will be made by students on this year’s 2008-2009 FAFSA include:

• The number one mistake students make is incorrect data entries. If the answer is zero, or the question does not apply to you, enter a 0 as your answer. Do not use dashes or leave the question blank.

Use your legal name as it appears on your Social Security card. Using a nickname or any other name will cause a processing delay.

• Be careful to write your Social Security Number (SSN) and date of birth accurately and clearly. Any errors in the SSN or date of birth will cause processing delays.
• Read the questions carefully. The words "you" and "your" on the FAFSA always refer to the student, not the parents.
• Question 26 asks about your interest in different types of aid (e.g., work-study and student loans). Entering number 2, or number 3 does not obligate you to accept a loan, but entering number 4 will not get you more grant aid.
• Do not skip questions 29 and 30 about the educational attainment of your parents. The purpose of these questions is to qualify you for state scholarships for first generation college students.
• If you are a male between the ages of 18 and 26 who has not already registered with Selective Service, you should register using the appropriate question on the FAFSA. If you are required to register and do not register, you will not be eligible for federal student aid. If you are female or otherwise not required to register for Selective Service, you should not answer this question.
• To be considered a veteran (question 55), you must have served on active duty and must have been discharged under other than dishonorable conditions. If your service was only for training purposes (e.g., National Guard or Reserves, or a ROTC student), you are not considered a veteran for federal financial aid purposes.
• If you (the student) have a dependent child, and your parents or someone else supports that child, you should answer "no" to question 51. If you have an unborn child, and that child will be born before or during the award year (July 1 through June 30), and that child will receive more than half of his or her support from you, then that child should be counted as a member of the household.
• A legal dependent (question 52) is a person for whom you provide and will continue to provide more than half of their support. Support includes money, gifts, loans, housing, food, clothing, automobile, medical and dental care, and payment of college costs.
• Remember to count yourself, the student, as one of the people who will be college students during the award year in questions 66 and 67 (questions 90 and 91 for independent students).

If your parents are divorced or separated (questions 56 and 57), the parent with whom you lived the most during the past 12 months is the parent responsible for filling out the FAFSA. This is not necessarily the same as the parent who has legal custody. Use the most recent calendar year for which you lived with either parent. If the parent who is responsible for completing the FAFSA has remarried, your step-parent must report his or her information (including income and assets) on the FAFSA (questions 56-89), even if they weren't married during the previous year. Prenuptial agreements have no bearing on this requirement.

• A common error is to report taxes withheld or tax due instead of taxes paid. The total of your withholdings can be higher or lower than the taxes paid. If you received a refund, it was higher. If you owed additional tax, it was lower. Be sure you are reporting the total taxes paid (IRS 1040, line 57) and not just the withholdings or the additional taxes due.
• Worksheet #C asks for income and benefits that are to be excluded from taxable income. Students should report any money earned from work-study here.
• Pensions, annuities and the cash value of a life insurance policy are not reported as assets on the FAFSA (questions 44 and 88).
• The value of a small business with less than 100 full-time employees that is owned and controlled by either the student or the parents(s) is not reported on the FAFSA (questions 45 and 89).
• Do not include anything with the form when you mail it. If there are unusual family financial circumstances, you should contact the school's financial aid administrator to ask for a professional judgment review. Any enclosures with the FAFSA form will be destroyed. Likewise, do not write comments or notes in the margins of the form.
• Be sure to make a copy of your completed FAFSA form.

Documents You'll Need To Complete the FAFSA

You will need information from the following documents to complete the FAFSA and other financial aid application forms.

1. The student's driver's license and social security card.
2. The student's income tax returns, W-2 forms, and 1099 forms for the previous year. If the student is married, you will also need the documents for the student's spouse.
3. The parents' income tax returns, W-2 forms, and 1099 forms for the previous year.
4. Current bank statements and mortgage information.
5. Records relating to stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other investments.
6. Documentation of non-taxable income, such as Social Security income, AFDC, and Veterans Benefits.
7. Business and farm records.
8. Records relating to any unusual family financial circumstances, such as medical and dental expenses not covered by health insurance, tuition expenses at elementary or secondary schools, unusually high child care costs, death, divorce, and loss of unemployment.

Make a photocopy of each document and keep it in a file folder with a photocopy of the completed financial aid applications. You will find this helpful not only because

1. applications are sometimes lost, but in case your application is selected for verification.

If your application is selected for verification, you will be required to provide the financial aid office with copies of all of the documents listed above. All schools verify at least 1/3 of the students, and some do 100% verification.