4 | Sunday, March 29, 2020
COLLEGE GUIDE
WHAT YOU’LL NEED before filling out FAFSA form
The FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is the primary form that the federal government, states and colleges use to award grants, scholarships, work study and student loans. The FAFSA determines how much financial aid (grants, loans, work study) a student can receive. To apply for federal student aid, such as federal grants, loans, and work-study, you need to complete the FAFSA. Grants and scholarships are free, but you have to earn the work study dollars and pay back the loans. Completing and submitting the FAFSA is easier than ever, and it gives you access to the largest source of financial aid to pay for college or career school. Students are now able to submit a FAFSA earlier. The earlier submission date is a permanent change, enabling students to complete and submit a FAFSA as early as Oct. 1 every year. This better aligns the financial aid and college application processes and gives students more time to apply for aid. Many states and colleges also use it to determine how much state aid, like HOPE scholarships, and institutional aid to award. The FAFSA is also imperative for parents and students to determine how much of their own money they will have to provide and which colleges they can afford. The U.S. Department of Education’s Home Room blog says these are the seven things you’ll need before filling out your FAFSA form.
1. Your FSA ID
An FSA ID is a username and password that you can use to log in to certain U.S. Department of Education websites. Each student, and one parent of each dependent student, will need an FSA ID to complete the FAFSA process on fafsa.gov. We recommend creating your FSA ID early — even before you’re ready to complete the FAFSA form — to avoid delays in the process. Anyone who plans to fill out the 2019–20 FAFSA form should create an FSA ID as soon as possible. If you are required to provide parent information on your FAFSA form, your parent should create an FSA ID too. Because your FSA ID is equivalent to your signature, parents and students each need to create their own FSA IDs using their own email address and phone number. Parents should not create an FSA ID for their child and vice versa. In some situations, you may need to wait up to three days to use your FSA ID after creating it.
2. Your Social Security number
You can find the number on your Social Security card. If you don’t have access to it, and don’t know where it is, ask your parent or legal guardian or get a new or replacement Social Security card from the Social Security Administration. If you are
not a U.S. citizen, but meet Federal Student You can import your tax information Aid’s basic eligibility requirements, you’ll into the FAFSA form right away using the also need your Alien Registration number. IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT). Not everyone is eligible to use the IRS DRT; and the 3. Your driver’s license number IRS DRT does not input all the financial If you don’t have a driver’s license, then information required on the FAFSA form. don’t worry about this step. Here’s how the IRS DRT process works, assuming your tax information is available: 4. Your tax records The IRS DRT takes you to the IRS webIn case you didn’t hear about the changes site, where you’ll need to provide your we made to the FAFSA process, we now name and other information exactly as require you to report income information you provided it on your tax return. Some from an earlier tax year. information will be prepopulated from You’ll need: your FAFSA form. Federal tax information or tax returns inAt the IRS site, you’ll see a page that indicluding IRS W-2 information, for you (and cates that your tax information is available. your spouse, if you are married), and for (For security and privacy protections, you your parents if you are a dependent student won’t see the actual information.) You can IRS 1040 choose to import your information into the Foreign tax return, IRS 1040NR, or IRS FAFSA form, or you can cancel your request 1040NR-EZ and return to the FAFSA site. Records of your untaxed income, such If you choose to import your information as child support received, interest income, into the FAFSA form, you’ll find that on the and veterans noneducation benefits, for FAFSA site, instead of your tax information you, and for your parents if you are a de- being displayed, you’ll see “Transferred from the IRS” in the appropriate fields. pendent student. Information on cash; savings and You won’t be able to make changes to those checking account balances; investments, answers. including stocks and bonds and real estate (but not including the home in which you 5. Records of your untaxed income live); and business and farm assets for you, The FAFSA questions about untaxed and for your parents if you are a dependent income may or may not apply to you; they include things like child support received, student
Ready to start? Once you’re ready, you have several ways to complete the FAFSA form, including the fafsa.gov website or the new myStudentAid mobile app. Using the app, you can fill out the FAFSA form safely and securely from your mobile device. On the app, you can also manage your FSA ID, view your federal student aid history and loan information, and more. The myStudentAid app is available from both the Apple App Store (iOS) and Google Play (Android).
interest income, and veterans noneducation benefits.
6. Records of your assets (money)
This section includes savings and checking account balances, as well as the value of investments such as stocks and bonds and real estate (but not the home in which your family lives). You should report the current amounts as of the date you sign the FAFSA form.
7. List of the school(s) you are interested in attending Be sure to add any college you’re considering, even if you haven’t applied or been accepted yet. Even if there is only a slight chance you’ll apply to a college, list the school on your FAFSA form. You can always remove schools later if you decide not to apply, but if you wait to add a school, you could miss out on first-come, first-served financial aid. The schools you list on your FAFSA form will automatically receive your FAFSA results electronically. You can list up to 10 schools at a time on your FAFSA form. You can find more information about federal student aid through the following sources: Visit StudentAid.gov.
