if you’re interested in financial aid for college or career school you’re going to need to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA.
It takes most people about 30 minutes to complete online and the best part it’s 100% free and it provides you with access to grants, loans and work-study funds from the federal government and many colleges and states use FAFSA information to provide their own college or state financial aid.
Before you fill out the FAFSA, it’s a good idea to create your FSA ID. A username and password that lets you electronically sign your FAFSA and gives you access to various websites related to federal student aid.
Here’s an important tip, if your parent is providing information on your FAFSA he or she will need his or her own FSA ID. Visit studentaid.gov/FSAID for more information.
Your FAFSA can be completed online at FAFSA.GOV and help is provided throughout the online application process.
You will need to fill out the FAFSA each year you are in school because your financial situation may change. Plus you may be able to automatically transfer your tax data from the IRS making the application even quicker to fill out. Each state in college or career school sets its own deadline for the FAFSA, so it’s best to get it done early.
Since some of the funds are available on a first-come first-served basis you don’t want to miss out. Now that you know about the FAFSA, you might be asking “Well, how much
money will I get?”, your college or career school will do the math and there’s a simple formula that they use.
First the college takes your cost of attendance which is the total amount it will cost you to go to that school, your cost of attendance will vary from school to school. Then the college subtracts your Expected Family Contribution or EFC. Your
EFC is based on information provided in your FAFSA and will not change based on the school you attend.
However the EFC is not necessarily the amount of money you will have to pay, basically your cost of attendance minus
your EFC equals your financial need.
Your college uses your financial need and other information to determine how much financial aid you can receive. See, pretty
simple!
if you have questions or need more information please visit studentaid.gov