Are You Going to College? Then You Probably Should Fill Out the FAFSA!

If you are applying to college, or are currently in college, you probably have heard of the FAFSA form. This is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Teachers, counselors and other students have likely told you various reasons why you should or should not fill out the FAFSA form. But have you investigated it for yourself?

FAFSA determines a student’s eligibility for federal financial aid. It also is used by colleges and universities to determine who is eligible for financial aid awarded through their institutions. Even if you don’t think you qualify, you probably should fill it out, as not all financial aid is based on need. You could also qualify based on merit, for your grades, standardized test scores, or for athletic achievements. And it costs nothing to apply.

Even if your parents make enough money to pay, or you’re a nontraditional student, or your grades are not as high as they should be, you probably still qualify for some form of financial aid. (The biggest problem with low grades is that fewer colleges or universities will accept you, and you will end up at a less competitive institution. And this may limit your future opportunities.)

A common myth is that filling out a FAFSA form is difficult and takes too much time. The form used to be time-consuming, but it has been made much easier to fill out. It now takes an average of 23 minutes.

Because college is expensive, you should always be looking for some type of financial aid. Although not all forms of student aid are equal and taking on too much loan debt can leave you with a heavy financial burden for many years, you do well to investigate all aid that is available to you.

Have you filled out your FAFSA form for the next school year? The best time to begin is early January, as soon as the form becomes available for that year. This way, you learn your results earlier, and so will your college or university. If your institution awards funds early, you want to make sure you’re in time and have every opportunity to receive aid.

Watch out for errors when filing, as most submissions have some incorrect information. Most importantly, be sure you understand which assets count against you and which you could leave off the form. Your checking account does count against you, while retirement assets and family businesses do not. But you will have a chance to correct errors. If your parents have not yet filed their taxes, you can always estimate their income and correct it later.

References:

Hoyt, E. (2015, December 2). Why Should I Complete the FAFSA?  Fastweb. Retrieved January 13, 2016, from http://www.fastweb.com/financial-aid/articles/why-should-i-complete-the-fafsa.

Rice, A. (2015, January 5) Why You Should Fill Out the FAFSA. US News & World Report. Retrieved January 13, 2016, from http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/my-money/2015/01/05/why-you-should-fill-out-the-fafsa.