More Help with the FAFSA

Since filling out the FAFSA ranks right up there with filling out the income tax forms as a fun activity, I’ve been researching places on the web that offer help. (By the way, you’ll have to have at least an estimate of your 2008 taxes in order to fill out the FAFSA.) In addition to the ebook “Completing the FAFSA 2000- 2010,” published by the federal government that I mentioned in my last blog, there are other places where you can find useful information.

VIDEO TUTORIAL
The Financial Aid staff at the University of California, Santa Barbara has designed a video tutorial on filling out the FAFSA called “Eight Easy Steps to the FAFSA: A Student's Guide to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.” Because it is divided into eight segments, you can use all of it or just the segments for the sections of the FAFSA that are giving you trouble. Two people named Natalie and George go through the entire FAFSA line by line. They are a little too happy for my taste, but that might reflect my previous hours of struggling with the FAFSA.

Help from the FAFSA Itself
There’s a help button in the lower left-hand corner of every page of the FAFSA that you fill out online. This will give you help on the specific questions that are on that page, as well as links to FAQs and Customer Service.

The FAQ for the FAFSA says that it will take you less than an hour to fill it out. HA!!! It takes less than an hour IF you’ve already found all the information and filled in the worksheet they provide,which is basically a FAFSA that you can print. If you’re just copying answers from the paper to the web, then, yes, it can be done in less than an hour. Otherwise, allow more time, and DON’T wait until the day before the deadline for your state or college. That’s just asking for trouble.

Believe me, I know. The first FAFSA I ever filled out was done in the middle of the night the day before I thought it was due. Luckily, I was wrong and I had more time. Unluckily, I didn’t know that and my internet connection kept crashing. It was a rough night. By the way, if your internet connection crashes while you are doing your FAFSA on the Web, it will automatically save it and you will be able to access it in 45 minutes. (Of course, if you’re panicking because you think you’ve got just hours until it’s due, 45 minutes seems like a lifetime.)

Besides the FAQs, there is a link to “Web Customer Service Chat.” However, when I tried to access that, I got a screen that said that the following browsers had not been certified for use with Live help: Netscape Navigator (all platforms), AOL (Windows), Firefox (all platforms), Internet Explorer 7.x (Windows). Since I use Internet Explorer 7, I could not use it.

COMING SOON
“The Secrets of Financial Aid” – an ebook with all the secrets I’ve discovered in my comprehensive research of the subject. Make sure you’re on my email list, so you can get a copy as soon as it is released. Just fill in the boxes on the right hand site of this blog. Blessings,
Bonnie

Financial Aid – Fill Out FAFSA Now

Well, the holidays are over, and it’s time to start thinking about the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). I do hope you had a wonderful Christmas, but it's time to get to work!

EVERYONE should fill out the FAFSA, even if they don’t think they qualify for financial aid.

The reasons are simple. Believe it or not, colleges with high endowments and universities that are expensive offer financial aid to families with high incomes. You might be surprised by how much financial aid you qualify for. Many colleges have stopped including loans as part of their financial aid packages and are using more of their endowments than they have in the past.

Even if all you qualify for are loans, you may be eligible for federally-subsidized loans, which have lower interest than private loans. Private loans should only be used as a last resort!

If you don’t fill out the FAFSA, you may miss out on all sorts of financial aid.

Although the federal deadline for submitting the FAFSA is June 30, 2008, many states and schools have earlier deadlines. Two of the colleges I checked had deadlines of Feb. 15, 2008 and one said to submit it as soon after January 1^st as possible.

Besides the state and university deadlines, there is another good reason for getting it in as soon as possible. Part of the financial aid given students is provided by the individual colleges. When it is gone, it’s gone, so the sooner you apply the better.

So go to the FAFSA website and start getting organized. There are papers to be collected, taxes to estimate or complete, PINs to apply for. The sooner you get started, the better!

Next blog I’ll talk about ethical ways to minimize the EFC (Expected Family Contribution).

Blessings,
Bonnie