Friendly reminder to all students—prospective and current— that the fall semester is upon us!
The deadline for next year’s FAFSA is coming, so if you rely on financial aid to pay for college, you’d better get started on next year’s form ASAP.
Why the rush? If you submit your Free Application for Federal Student Aid as close as possible to opening day, it will hugely increase your chance of getting that sweet, first-come-first-served federal aid. This will include work-study, Pell Grants, school/state scholarships.
So make a note: Opening day is Oct. 1, 2020.
According to Discover’s 2019 survey, a massive percentage of families with college-bound students reported that they were going to submit a FAFSA. But what’s crazy is that a mere 25% knew the form becomes available in October. You should always, always submit the FAFSA. This is true even if you’re sure your parents make too much money to qualify for need-based aid. Submitting your FAFSA is the cornerstone of your power to pick up various scholarships and federal student loans.
Not sure how to complete the FAFSA? Maybe you know, but you need a little refresher. Either way, here’s what you’ve got to know to submit that all-important form ASAP.
Where to Go?
You can complete your FAFSA digitally or by using the MyStudentAid app. No matter how you proceed, the first thing you need to do is to create a Federal Student Aid ID, which will allow you to log into your active form and sign the FAFSA along with any promissory notes. You can create your Federal Student Aid ID on the FAFSA website. If you’re submitting your form with a parent, they will need an independent FSA ID of their own.
If you don’t want to submit your FAFSA online, you can download a PDF through the FAFSA website or request a paper copy.
Ready the Docs!
The whole FAFSA process runs way faster when you’ve got all the necessary documents at the ready. This includes your Social Security card, your driver’s license (assuming you have one), some current bank statements, and your family’s tax info.
There’s no need to wait to file your taxes before submitting your FAFSA though – students and parents can use older tax info from two years previous to complete their FAFSA. For instance, if you were filling out the 2020-21 FAFSA, you could use 2018 tax info if needed. The IRS data retrieval tool is extremely helpful to this end, allowing you to import your tax information automatically, straight from the IRS. Note that, after filing, you can’t update the application with 2019 tax info.
It’s always possible, however, that your circumstances have changed since two years ago. If this is the case, and your tax infor no longer reflects your or your family’s financial situation, you’ll want to contact the school(s) you’re considering.
List the Relevant Schools
Never wait to apply to college before you submit that FAFSA. You only need FAFSA codes for up to 10 schools to which you have applied/plan to apply. These codes are available on both the federal student aid website and the online application. Thinking about adding or changing schools after you submit your FAFSA? Update your application at the FAFSA website.
Don’t Forget the Deadlines!
You need only apply a single time, but here are three deadlines you’d do well to remember: school, state, and federal. In this/next year’s case, June 30, 2021 is the deadline to apply for federal aid (for 2020-21). Your school and state, on the other hand, probably have their own unique deadlines. You’ll need to look those up. You can discover your state’s FAFSA deadline on the student aid website.
I’ve Applied – Now What?
Well done! Now you’ll receive a Student Aid Report. The report will show up three-to-five days after the date of electronic submission or up to 10 days later if you used paper forms. The report contains info on your financial aid eligibility and your Expected Family Contribution (the school’s own estimate of how much you/your family can contribute toward tuition and related expenses.
Finally, come spring, you’ll get your financial aid offer for the coming school year. If you’re an incoming freshman, you’ll also receive offers from whichever schools have accepted you. Not that you need to be told this, really, but always accept all free aid that is offered to you (and do it before you select your loans). Nothing like a little free money, right?