Did someone say “free money”?
Okay, not all of the aid you get from a FAFSA is “free” – some of it comes in the form of loans. But even these are immensely helpful to students who are looking for financial assistance in the coming school year. College is expensive – no way around it. That makes the FAFSA an incredible asset to students.
But there are a few pitfalls to be aware of, and not all of these are common sense errors. Some common FAFSA mistakes are hard to catch, and they can end up costing you thousands of dollars in federal aid.
If you’re sitting down to complete your FAFSA (and as a student, you really should be), then you want to do it right.
Here are 5 common errors to avoid and how to get around them. If you’re a student who’s just thinking about filling out a your FAFSA, skip straight to #5 for a quick explanation of why you need to quit thinking about it and start doing it!
You don’t want to miss out on all that financial aid, do you…?
1. You Didn’t Sign the Form
A lot of students do a great job answering every last question on the FAFSA—and there are a lot of questions. But then they forget to actually sign the form with their FSA ID! Sometimes they forget what their ID no. is, and sometimes there’s no parent around to co-sign.
In any case, if the form doesn’t get signed with the necessary FAFSA IDs, it counts as incomplete. And incomplete FAFSAs don’t get federal aid. This is a small, quick thing you can do to make a big difference – sign with the required FSA IDs, and allow the aid to roll in.
2. You Were a Dependent Student (But Didn’t Know It)
Even if you pay your own bills, file your own taxes, and generally support yourself, the FAFSA may still consider you a “dependent” student—that is, you will be seen as dependent for the purpose of doling out federal aid. Anyone who is considered a dependent has to provide parent information on his or her FAFSA.
Dependency guidelines for the FAFSA are determined by Congress, so don’t confuse these standards with those of the IRS. If you’re considered dependent and don’t provide parent info, your FAFSA form might qualify you for unsubsidized loans only—or worse, your FAFSA won’t even be processed.
3. You Didn’t Use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool
Ask anyone who has filled out a FAFSA before – the hardest part is almost always entering in your financial info. Well, this part isn’t nearly as tough as it used to be.
Eligible students and parents can now use the Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) provided by the IRS to automatically transfer their necessary tax info into your FAFSA. This is a level of convenience that we really can’t overstate, so if you see that “LINK TO IRS” button, you’d better click it. You’ll save yourself a huge amount of time.
4. The FAFSA Became Available, and You Didn’t Fill It Out Immediately
Looking to get the maximum possible financial aid?
Fill out and submit your FAFSA right away. Some financial aid gets awarded on a good old-fashioned “first-come, first-served” basis. Some states/colleges run out of aid money early because they dole it out to students who apply the moment that FAFSA becomes available.
It might seem like your school’s FAFSA deadline is far off in the future. That may be, but it’s irrelevant – if you don’t apply right off the bat, then some other student is probably getting your financial aid. It’s as simple as that.
5. You Didn’t Even Fill Out the Form!
It might seem sort of ridiculous even to mention this, but it’s honestly the biggest possible FAFSA mistake that a student can possibly make. And plenty of students fail to even get started on their FAFSA for the coming school year.
You have to realize how much potential money you’re missing out on by skipping the FAFSA. Reasons for avoiding it run the gamut:
- The FAFSA is too hard.
- It takes too long…
- I’ll never qualify anyway!
Well, with FAFSAQuick, this form is faster and easier than ever. As for qualification, there is no income “cut-off” when it comes to federal student aid. The idea of income cut-off is a myth that never seems to stop circulating. The FAFSA is an application for more than just grants though – this application can potentially qualify you for Federal Work-Study funds, federal student loans, and any scholarships/grants that your school/state might offer.
You’ll never know if you don’t fill out the form, and since FAFSAQuick has made it so easy, avoiding the FAFSA altogether is a huge mistake for new and returning students alike.