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?

Federal loans are funded through the government. These are regulated fairly strictly. To qualify for federal loans, you’ll have to fill out a FAFSA. On the other hand, private loans are—unsurprisingly—not subsidized by the government. If you opt for private loans, you ought to check with the schools you want to attend.

Not all schools work with the same private loaners, so you want to make sure your loan business and school are compatible.

Some schools can’t easily provide this info – if that’s the case, you can check with the lenders instead as they will know for sure whom they do business with. Once you’re sure that your school and lender are compatible, you’ll apply through the lender.

For most federal student loans, your credit history (and that of your parents) is not factored into is not factored into your aid package. However, most private lenders will ask about your credit history, and it can definitely influence the amount they’re willing to loan you.

Remember to investigate all of your options before making any big financial decisions.

It will almost always help to meet with a financial advisor as you figure out your ideal options for getting school aid. For many students, this will actually include a combination of federal and private loans.

Student Loans: Private vs. Federal

Private student loans are pretty much like most other debt, but the federal version is very different from the norm.

The basic strategy for repaying most debt, like mortgages, credit cards, or auto loans, is pretty straightforward: 

• Get a low interest rate
• Pay back the money ASAP

Lower interest rates save you money. If you were to pay back a $50,000 loan over a period of 10 years with 7% interest, it would ultimately end up costing you $69,665. That’s nearly $20k extra, and it’s due solely to the interest rate. But let’s say you wanted to pay back a $50k loan at 2% interest instead – if you paid it back over ten years, that would only amount to about $5k extra

If you want that low interest rate, lenders have to see you as an appealing borrower. In the case of private debt, interest rates and the terms of repayment are often based on your credit and various market factors. Private student loans will need to be paid off completely, and there’s virtually no room for flexibility if the borrower is struggling financially.

To lay it out, here’s a quick summary of the differences between federal loans and their private cousins:

Federal Student Loans:

• Flexible payment plans
• You may qualify for loan forgiveness
• Undergrad loans have a maximum value
• Interest tends to be higher

Private Student Loans:

• Payments are based on the total owed
• Must be paid back in full
• Loan maximum depends on your credit
• Interest might be lower

Repaying Federal Student Loans

Federal loans play by their own rules. They include repayment options based on the debt total, but they can offer income-based plans too.

In the case of the latter, payments won’t really be impacted by the debt owed (except for the amount that can be forgiven). Here, savings come from keeping payments as low as possible while maximizing forgiveness.

As you might expect, a higher income means higher payments, while a lower income means you’ll pay less – that’s kind of the whole point! It’s based on what you’re able to afford. So if two people owe identical debts, yet one person makes significantly more money than the other, then the person who makes more will also pay more on an income-driven plan. 

At the same time, if two people owe different amounts but have similar incomes, they’ll make similar payments. Of course, enjoying lower student loan payments is not a reason to make less money on purpose. Financially speaking, it’s better to make more money with higher payments because you get a better shot at building up a savings account.

If your income suddenly drops, you can adjust your income-driven plan. If you are earning money but other financial concerns take priority, student loan payments can be placed in deferment or forbearance for as long as a three-year period.

Right now, interest rates for student loans are lower than they’ve been for many years. For students, this is great news! Lower interest rates mean that it’s going to cost less to pay off all of your loans. However, private student loan interest rates are generally lower – they could offer even more savings. Some variable-rate offers are even falling around the 1% mark – wow!

But is it worth it to save money on your interest rate this way? That is, by opting for variable-rate private loans? Should you take out federal loans instead? 

Acquiring A Variable-Rate Loan

Different banks approve loan applications—and offer interest rates— according to different criteria. These banks are basically investing in a “loan portfolio.” They might want to fill out their portfolio with safer loans in order to offer low interest rates. One bank’s criteria may see you as a low risk while another sees you as a more significant risk.

That’s why you should apply to a variety of different lenders – see who will give you the best interest rates and terms.  Ultimately, though, realize that this is a major financial decision, and it should never be taken lightly.

Variable Private Loans – The Risks

Debt interest rates are either “fixed” or “variable.” If they are fixed, it means the interest rate stays the same forever (until the loan is totally repaid, that is). If the interest rate is variable, it might adjust over time depending on various market factors. Lenders may try to convince you that the variable interest rate is better by offering a low initial rate  compared to the fixed option.

In general, private loans tend to pose a greater risk to the borrower than their federal cousins. That’s because the bank itself is taking a financial risk by lending money with no government guarantee of repayment from the government. That’s why private banks tend to run things a bit more tightly. Interest rates are based on your credit score, and there’s way less flexibility there.

But the biggest risk to someone who takes out a private loan is that the payments have to be made regardless of your financial situation. Some private lenders might give you a few months of forbearance, but there simply isn’t much that can be done if your private loans are overwhelming you.

Risks include taking out loans and failing to graduate, falling on hard times, or discovering that your income just isn’t what you had in mind when you took the loans out. IUt’s also possible that market interest rates could increase, making repayment more expensive overall. If your loans have a fixed interest rate, then when rates increase, you’re safe – those rates don’t change from the initial quote. If you have a variable rate, then in order to switch to a fixed-rate loan, you’d need to refinance.

The possibility of interest acceleration is called “interest rate risk,” and it’s a fairly big deal. It’s hard to know how rates will shift over time though, so it’s always possible that a variable-rate plan ends up costing you less. It’s all up to the market, which no one really controls. 

Who Should Opt For A Variable-Rate Student Loan?

It’s hard to put a straight answer to this, but check out the lists below. You can use them as guidelines while assessing your own personal situation.

Don’t Take Out Variable Loans If:

1. You might work for a qualifying PSLF (public service loan forgiveness) employer. 
2. Your total student debt will exceed expected annual income after graduation.
3. The cost of going to school is already covered by Stafford Subsidized loans.
4. You don’t qualify for a low interest rate with respect to private loans.

DO Consider Taking Out Variable Loans If:

1. You’ll never work for a PSLF employer.
2. Your annual salary will almost certainly exceed the debt when graduating.
3. You qualify for a low variable rate, but you can afford a much higher rate if need-be.
4. You’ve exhausted all other options, and there isn’t a less expensive option.
5. You have peerless financial discipline, and you can comfortably live beneath your means after graduation until everything is paid off.

There comes a time in every student’s life when those pesky loans demand to be repaid.

Wait! You can still live your life – it’s not all doom and gloom until the loans get paid off. You’re fresh out of college, so you should be used to all that thinking by now… Think over your options and find a strategy that works (within your budget). Here are a few ways to effectively move forward and make a dent in your dreaded repayment sum.

And if you keep at it, you just might get them all paid off! Wouldn’t that be something?

1. How to Compare Different Monthly Repayments

If money is tight (and it is for most recent graduates), you might think about switching to an income-driven repayment plan. This allows your monthly payment to get as low as $0 per month. 

If that sounds too good to be true, realize that on the income-driven repayment plan, you will probably pay more money in total… It will just happen over a longer period of time. Each month, the amount you pay toward your loans will depend on your repayment plan. By taking no action at all, (and choosing nothing), you get automatically enrolled in the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan.

As an example, You might want to pay off your student loans ASAP. In this case, you’d want a repayment plan with bigger monthly payments to reduce interest. But if money is a little tighter, you might choose an income-driven plan to reduce upcoming monthly payments.

Then, once your career really starts taking off, you can jump over to a standard plan, allowing you to pay the loans off faster (in terms of payment size and interest accrued).

2. When to Consolidate

Did you take out federal student loans before the year 2011? If so, you might have to consolidate them into the Direct Loan program before you’re able to access superior income-driven repayment plans. If multiple loans and/or servicers want a single monthly payment, this is also a reason to consolidate. 

The application only takes about 10 minutes, and just the simplicity of managing a single monthly payment can be a huge relief. Loans are stressful enough – why not make them as easy as possible to pay off?

3. How to Pick a Payment Plan (an Affordable One)

If consolidation (described above) sounds good to you, then you’ll choose a repayment plan from what’s called the “consolidation application.”

But if you are not going to consolidate, and you’d like to enroll in an income-driven repayment plan, you can visit studentloans.gov to fill out an application – it only takes around 10 minutes to finish, so it’s a small investment of your time with potentially large-scale ramifications.

There’s also such a thing as a Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which you can enter into by applying for an income-driven repayment plan, then submitting an Employment Certification Form.

4. How to Use a Smart Payment Setup

Borrowers never directly pay the U.S. Department of Education (DoE) when repaying loans.Usually, you will make payments to what’s called a loan servicer. Loan servicers work on behalf of the DoE, collecting your payments and providing general customer service. If you don’t know who your loan servicer is, you can figure it out here.

Loan servicers reach out to borrowers in order to tell them when the first payment is due. They may also inform borrowers on how to make a payment, which is incredibly helpful. This is one of the reasons it’s so important that you provide your loan servicers with updated contact info.

You can often simplify the repayment process by enrolling in “auto debit.” In this case, your payments will be automatically taken from your bank account each month. Your servicer will be able to give you specific details about how to enroll in an auto debit program.

5. When to Back Away…

Keep an eye out for student loan scams! 

You never have to pay for help with loans like these. When you research repayment and forgiveness options, be sure all your info is coming from trusted sources – a simple way to check is the URL. Does it end in .gov? If so, it’s a safe bet.

Your servicer’s website is also a trustworthy source. Remember that neither the government nor your servicer will ever charge application or maintenance fees. So it’s simple: If you’re asked to pay, walk away.

Though non-dependent students can complete their form alone, the FAFSA is a classic student-parent exercise. That said, if your parents are divorced, things can get a bit complicated. 

However, no one’s family situation should hold them back from receiving federal aid. Whether it’s your first or last time with the FAFSA, new circumstances can change things up from the norm, and there are some things you’ll need to do differently on your form.

Here are a few tips for students of divorced parents as they work through the FAFSA.

1. Who’s a “Parent”?

The FAFSA uses your family’s financial situation to determine your eligibility for aid. You’ll need income info from your parents, but this is where it gets just a little tricky… 

Whom can you count as a parent on your FAFSA? This seems pretty straightforward, and if your parents are married & living together, it is.

But not so much for children of divorced parents. The question of parentage is important because it determines your expected family contribution. The EFC formula factors in your family’s tax info, untaxed income, assets, and various benefits. It also looks at family size and how many other students/dependents from your family will be attending college during the year. 

So which parent’s information gets entered? 

The U.S Department of Education provided this handy infographic for defining legally recognized roles in your family network. Basically, If your parents are not divorced, you will fill out the FAFSA using info from both parents. But if they are divorced, only one parent is officially considered a “parent” as far as the FAFSA’s calculations are concerned.

However, note that if your parents live together—even if they’re separated, divorced, or were never married—you will file the FAFSA with income info from both parents. Otherwise, all students with separated or unmarried parents who live apart will fill out the FAFSA using info based on the parent with custody. 

If the student switches off between households, living alternately with both parents, then the parent with whom you live more often counts as having custody for FAFSA’s purposes.

Ready for one more exciting complication?

Having “legal custody” does not necessarily count as being the custodial parent. Yes, really. Again, on the FAFSA, it’s all about the parent with whom you live more often. So what if you live with both parents equally? 

Then fill out the FAFSA based on the parent who provided more financial support during the previous year. But what about step-parents or a parent’s non-spouse partner?

If your parents don’t live together and your custodial parent is remarried, you will report that step-parent’s information on your FAFSA. If your custodial parent lives with a new partner to whom they are not legally married, then just report your custodial parent’s income info.

But wait!

If your parent’s unmarried partner is supporting you financially, any of these contributions (like rent, etc.) must be listed as non-taxable income. 

What about a common-law spouse? Okay, one more complication… 

If your parent and their unmarried partner have been together for a certain amount of time—and essentially live like a married couple, your state might recognize this as a common-law union. In this case, you will count the custodial parent’s partner as a step-parent.

And finally, if you live with a guardian who is not your parent, you still have to report your parent/parents’ info on the FAFSA as outlined above…

That is, unless the guardian in question has legally adopted you!

2. What You Still Have to Do

Regardless of your parents’ marital status, you’ll always need to provide the following info on your FAFSA:

• Your Social Security number
• Your parents’ Social Security numbers
• Your driver’s license number
• You alien registration number (if you’re a non-citizen)
• Federal tax info for you and your custodial parent 
• Info about untaxed income, for you and your custodial parent
• Info about cash and liquid assets, investments, and business income
• The date your parents’ divorced or separated

Some schools require a copy of the divorce agreement to decide your financial aid package, but you won’t need that info right when you submit the FAFSA.

3. Oversharing Info Is a Mistake

Just to reiterate, you don’t need to include the financial info of every significant adult/guardian figure in your life. Students who do this run the risk of losing out on financial aid. Focus your application on the custodial parent – easy peasy. 

Non-custodial parents may be required to provide info to certain private schools when federal aid gets awarded, but this will come later if at all.

Note also that alimony is considered “taxable income,” so it should already be included in the custodial parent’s tax info. Don’t report it separately (like you would with child support, for example) This would be another example of oversharing, and it can also potentially limit your federal aid offer.

As a final word of caution, you may realize a certain advantage of having divorced, separated, or unmarried parents. On the FAFSA, if your listed custodial parent makes less money than the other parent, your EFC becomes lower and your aid package might be improved for this. That said, do not falsely report who you live with to get a better package – that’s fraud, and it’s illegal.

1. What Are Student Loans Intended for?

Funds gained through federal loans have to be used for expenses related to your education at the school in question. College tuition/fees, room & board, textbooks, and transportation all fall under education expenses. Probably, however, you’ll end up with additional expenses at college non-school meals, transportation for non-school purposes, etc. 

These are not the intended use for federal loans, and it might be helpful for you to create a personal budget for managing loan money responsibly. 

2. Federal Student Loans and Private Loans – What’s the Difference?

Federal loans are funded through the government. These are regulated fairly strictly. To qualify for federal loans, you’ll have to fill out a FAFSA. On the other hand, private loans are—unsurprisingly—not subsidized by the government. If you opt for private loans, you ought to check with the schools you want to attend.

 Not all schools work with the same private loaners, so you want to make sure your loan business and school are compatible.

Some schools can’t easily provide this info – if that’s the case, you can check with the lenders instead as they will know for sure whom they do business with. Once you’re sure that your school and lender are compatible, you’ll apply through the lender.

For most federal student loans, your credit history (and that of your parents) is not factored into is not factored into your aid package. However, most private lenders will ask about your credit history, and it can definitely influence the amount they’re willing to loan you.

Remember to investigate all of your options before making any big financial decisions.

It will almost always help to meet with a financial advisor as you figure out your ideal options for getting school aid. For many students, this will actually include a combination of federal and private loans.

3. How Much Will It Cost to Go to College?

College costs vary quite a bit depending on the school. A public, two-year school costs somewhere around $12,000 per year to attend, but a private four-year institution will set you back about $45,000. Pretty big difference!

If you’ve chosen a school, you can calculate tuition costs, subtracting from that the combined value of grants, scholarships, and any money you can pay immediately.

Smart students establish a budget for themselves during college.

You’ll want to factor into this budget things like the cost of your textbooks, general school supplies, food outside your school’s meal plan (the plan is normally covered in tuition), lab fees, testing fees, and parking fees (if you plan to drive to campus). 

4. This Sounds Expensive… Is College Worth It?

Is college worth all that money? This is a perfectly fair question. College represents a serious choice that will impact your finances for years to come. Any post-high school education is an investment in your future, although its value will be defined by the effort you put into it.

If you skip class and get poor grades, you’re not doing yourself any favors.

Look for courses that will challenge you within reason, and apply yourself. Ideally, the course material will strike a balance between enjoyability and practicality.

Some courses can teach incredibly valuable transferable skills that you’ll bring to your future career. Others may be less useful. Not to mention the school’s own course prescriptions that need to be met—general education requirements for instance.

Only you can decide how much all of this is worth.

Additionally, it is the case that many, many jobs want to simply check off that you have a B.A./B.S. before considering you as an applicant. So unless you are a self-motivated entrepreneur or web dev, college is almost always the way to go.

If that isn’t enough, consider this: Studies show college graduates earn significantly more over their lifetime compared to those who didn’t attend.

5. What if I Want to Repay My Student Loans Early?

If you want to repay your loans early to get it out of the way ASAP, your lender will certainly not say no. There is no such thing as a prepayment penalty, so if this is what you want to do, then go for it.  

Most students end up with about 10 to 25 years during which to pay back their loans. A minimum payment is calculated based on:

• How much you owe 
• The length of the loan 

You can almost always select from different repayment plans (like an income-based repayment plan). If you don’t select a plan, you get signed up for the Standard Repayment Plan, which plays out over a ten-year period. Note that you can change your repayment plan anytime you like should the need arise.

6. What’s a Student Loan “Grace Period”?

Not all payment plans are the same – most are outfitted with a six-month grace period. That means you need to start paying back your loans six months after graduation. This also applies when you take few enough classes to drop below “half-time” enrollment (as opposed to full-time) or simply drop out of college.

A grace period gives you a chance to find employment before your lender begins asking for scheduled payments. Ask your lender about the grace period on your loans as you make a decision about which loans to accept. Awareness of your grace period will be an important factor in future financial planning. 

7. Am I Able to Refinance My Loans?

Yes – if you need to refinance your loans, you can do that.

You may be able to get a lower interest rate or lower monthly payments. This is particularly helpful right out of college when your finances are still tight. Additionally, you can refinance for a shorter term, which might let you pay off the loans faster.

If you’re deciding between options, be clear about the reasons behind the refinance. What monthly payments can you afford? This  will help you select a refinancing program in line with your ultimate goals.

What happens if you complete your FAFSA on time, but when your aid offer rolls in, it’s not enough?

Don’t worry – it happens. You won’t be the first applicant to feel underwhelmed by their federal aid package. The good news is that you can always ask for more! This is known as an “appeal.” Worst-case scenario: the university’s financial aid office declines to modify your aid package.

That’s not so bad, right?

And if you listed other schools on your FAFSA, then you may have other offers to consider.

But if you really have your heart set on that special school, you’ll want to make an appeal. And there is something of an art to this. You don’t just barge into the school’s financial aid office and demand an increase to your aid package. You’ll need to understand how the appeals process actually works.

Making an appeal is not like bartering – you can’t just bluff and negotiate your way to a good deal.

Your appeal depends on how well you can present documentation of the special circumstances that impact your ability to pay for school.

Special Circumstances

Special circumstances include any changes to your or your family’s finances within the last two years. They also include any circumstances that make you distinct from a “typical student.”

Here are some of the most common circumstances that you can cite for a successful appeal:

• Textbook costs that are higher than what’s normally covered in the cost of attendance
• A change in the student’s marital status
• Loss of job/decreased income 
• Divorce/separation of dependent student’s parents
• Death of dependent student’s parent(s)
• Student has special needs/disabled children
• End of child support, Social Security benefits for a child, or alimony payments
• Student/family has medical/dental expenses that went unreimbursed
• Catastrophic loss like that experienced in a fire or natural disaster

When Can I Make My Appeal?

Thankfully, you can appeal for more financial aid at pretty much any time!

For instance, you can appeal after applying for financial aid or in the middle of the academic year. Strangely enough, you can even appeal before you apply for financial aid. 

Ideally, you want to appeal for more financial aid immediately after a given special circumstance arises. If one of your parents has lost their job, for instance, you should make your appeal right after the job termination.

An appeal only lasts for one year though. If the special circumstances still apply after that time, the appeal has to be made again.

How Do I Make My Appeal?

Here’s how the appeals process works in 6 basic steps…

1. Call the financial aid office

Call the school’s financial aid office and ask about how to appeal. The appeals process might be called a “professional judgment review,” “special circumstances review,” or a simple financial aid appeal. The school may ask you to fill out a form covering the most common extenuating circumstances. Many schools also ask the family in question to write a letter.

2. Identify special circumstances

Identify whatever your specific special circumstances are. These are the reasons you’re making the appeal. Remember to focus on things you need, not things you simply want.

3. Write an appeals letter

Write the actual appeal letter, keeping it concise with a limit of two pages. Your letter will summarize your special circumstances and how they impact your or your family’s finances. List the most significant one first, and be specific when it comes to dates and finances. This should all be stuff that’s beyond your family’s control, and not due to personal discretion. And include your contact info – there may be follow-up questions from the office.

4. Don’t ask for a specific amount of money

Avoid asking for a specific amount of money. Any changes to your financial aid package are based on the special circumstances you listed. The FA office will make their own analysis, and if it’s greater than what you requested, they may just give you the requested amount in order to save money.

5. Provide third-party documentation

Now it’s time to provide third-party documentation of your social circumstances. This could be something like a copy of a layoff notice, medical bills, bank account statements, receipts, etc. You can even include letters from non-family supporters who want to help make the case for why you need a better financial aid package. Attach copies of the documentation/letters of support to the appeal letter. These won’t be returned, so it’s important you keep the originals for yourself..

6. Mail it!

Mail your appeal and follow up by calling each school about a week later.

What Happens If My Appeal Gets Approved?

If your appeal gets approved, congrats! 

At this point, your job is done. Now, you’ll basically have a new expected family contribution (EFC) on your FAFSA, which will yield a new model of your financial need. The result is a new and improved financial aid package.

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.

So you’ve submitted your FAFSA for the coming school year…

Now what happens?

Well, the hardest part is over! Now, you’ll mostly just wait until your federal aid package is calculated. This could take a number of months. Of course, if you want to maximize the time you’ve already invested, there are a few simple steps you can still follow.

If you’ve just completed your FAFSA, it doesn’t hurt to double-check a few things and tie up some potential loose ends. After all, it’s better to discover/fix small errors right away  – otherwise, the folks calculating your aid may get back to you with a notice that they can’t complete your paperwork until some small (but important) oversight is addressed.

If that happens, other students may get their federal aid offers before you do, and that could mean you lose out on money! Best to quickly cover all your bases now while the FAFSA process is still fresh in your mind.

Follow these 5 steps once your FAFSA is completed, and you can rest easy.

1. Double-Check The FAFSA Confirmation Page

After you finish up your FAFSA, there will be a confirmation page to get through. Don’t confuse this with your financial aid offer! That will come much later, and you’ll get it from the school(s) that have officially accepted you.

The confirmation page gives you financial aid estimates based on the info you provided in your FAFSA. Importantly, these figures are estimates – they assume your provided info is correct, so this is the time to look things over and confirm you got everything right. As your schools calculate aid, they’ll factor in other things like the cost of attendance.

Note that these estimates only consider federal aid, not scholarships or similar financial assistance for which you might qualify. If you include a school on your FAFSA and it accepts you, it will send you an offer. Until then, it’s hard to say how much aid you might get. Every school is different.

2. Look Over Your Expected Family Contribution One More Time

This part is a little confusing: Your expected family contribution (EFC) is not the money your family will have to pay for your education. The EFC is actually just an index number that financial aid offices use to calculate your overall need. It considers more than just income too. Factors like family size, dependency status, and currently attending family members are just some of the other factors.

And while each school does its best to meet your financial need, it’s pretty variable. Some schools may cover 100% of your costs, while others may only meet 10%. Every school has different aid available, and it depends on a lot of factors. In fact, it may be different from one year to the next. This is one of the reasons you’ll have to complete your FAFSA annually.

4. Keep an Eye Out for Your Offer

Even if you submit your FAFSA “on the dot” on Oct 1st,  you won’t necessarily get an aid offer right away. In fact, it will likely be months before you hear about it again. Schools operate on different financial aid award schedules, so patience is a virtue in this department.

Remember aid is disbursed by the school itself, not the government itself. If you’d like details on what to expect as far as award timing, contact your school’s financial aid office. This will also be your go-to strategy for reporting significant changes in your family/finances. In any case, keep an eye on that mailbox as you begin the waiting game. 

You want to know right away when that offer arrives because this will maximize available information ASAP, helping your decision process. Deciding on a school can be a really tough choice, so don’t make things harder than they need to be – get ready for those offers to arrive!

4. Apply for Scholarships!

Since a lot of schools won’t be able to meet you at your full financial need, you’ll need a way to pay the difference.  One way to fill this gap is through scholarships. Here’s the key though: As with completing the FAFSA itself, don’t postpone your scholarship applications.

If you don’t begin the scholarship hunt until after receiving your aid offer, you are virtually guaranteed to miss a lot of scholarship application deadlines. There are thousands of possible scholarships available, but there are a lot of other students too. Procrastination is no reason to miss out on literal free money!

So after your FAFSA is complete, one of the most important things you can do is to focus on scholarships. Applications are not anyone’s favorite activity, and they may take some time… But considering the potential payout, it’s definitely worth it.

5. Make Corrections (As Needed)

What happens if you make a mistake on your FAFSA? 

After your FAFSA is fully processed—this usually takes three days or so—it will be possible to go back and submit corrections to some portions of your form. You can fix errors like typos, add extra schools, update financial info, etc.. Importantly, this has to be done by the student in question—even dependent students. Parents can’t submit corrections to a FAFSA – that’s just how it works. Students can, however, create a “Save Key” they can share with their parent(s), and of course, there’s no rule that parents can’t be involved in the process regardless.