Fafsa Form Federal Student Aid Fafsa Online Fafsa Application Online

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA is the financial aid application form you will need to apply for federal and state student grants, work-study, and loans. While the FAFSA may seem lengthy and complex, there are many free resources, online and offline, to help you navigate the application process.

Where to Find the FAFSA

The FAFSA comes in two versions -- paper and electronic. The paper version is distributed to high schools so you should first check with your guidance office. If you don't have any luck there, try the public library or the financial aid office of a local college. You can also get a paper copy of the FAFSA by calling 1-800-4-FED-AID (433-3243).

FAFSA on the Web

You can complete, submit, and track your application using FAFSA on the Web. This is the easiest way to apply for federal aid. Most importantly, your data is checked before it is transmitted to the processing center, so there's less chance of making an error. What's more, filing the FAFSA online can reduce processing time by 1-2 weeks.

Before Your Apply

Complete Your Income Tax Return

Filing the FAFSA online can reduce processing time by 1-2 weeks. We recommend that you complete income tax returns before filling out the FAFSA -- much of the information requested is the same. Please note that you do not have to file your income tax return with the IRS before you fill out the FAFSA. You can find a list of documents (http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/before003.htm) you'll need to get started at the FAFSA on the web site.

Get a PIN

If you plan to complete and submit your FAFSA through FAFSA on the Web, we recommend obtaining a U.S. Department of Education PIN. The PIN will serve as your electronic signature, and gives you the fastest way to submit your application. To get your PIN, you should simply fill out the brief application at www.pin.ed.gov. Your PIN will be mailed to you in 7-10 days. You can still use FAFSA on Web without a PIN, you'll just have to print out and mail in a signature page.

Completing the Application

January 1 is the first day that you are eligible to file the FAFSA. You should try to file as close to this date as possible, as school, state, and private aid deadlines may be much earlier than federal deadlines. You should pay attention to your colleges' priority financial aid deadlines.
If you have questions about any part of the FAFSA application, go to Completing the FAFSA (http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/completing_fafsa/2004_2005/index.html), a government web site. with a detailed, question-by-question guide to filling out the FAFSA.
Don't forget that many schools will also require you to submit additional financial aid forms such as the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE® or institutional financial aid forms.

What Happens After You Apply

January 1 is the first day that you are eligible to file the FAFSA. Once you submit the FAFSA, it goes to a large processing center that handles about 9 million forms each year. This is where your family financial information is passed through the federal need formula.

More information: http://www.collegeboard.com/article/0,3868,6-30-0-8341,00.html

Students, parents, and families looking to qualify for more federal financial aid have a new guide in their search, the FAFSAonline.com FAFSA Walk through. In addition to helping students complete the FAFSA correctly, it offers tips for how students can qualify for the most federal financial aid possible.

Quincy, MA (PRWEB) December 7, 2005 -- Students, parents, and families looking to qualify for more federal financial aid have a new guide in their search, the FAFSAonline.com FAFSA Walk through. In addition to helping students complete the FAFSA correctly, it offers tips for how students can qualify for the most federal financial aid possible. Top tips include:

1. File the FAFSA as close to January 2, 2006 as possible. There is a fixed pool of financial aid such as grants and subsidized loans available each year on a first come, first served basis. The sooner the FAFSA is filed, the more likely a student is to qualify for this pool of financial aid.

2. Students can work at summer jobs and earn up to $2,440 in wages before wages impact financial aid eligibility. According to federal guidelines, wages for students are exempt from consideration until students have earned $2,440, at which time their wages begin to impact their eligibility.

3. Prior to filing the FAFSA, students should transfer any and all assets out of their name, including money from checking, savings, investments, and any other sources of income. Assets in the student's name greatly detract from aid eligibility.

4. Grandparents can make partial or full payments directly to the university and avoid both the gifting tax and impacting a student's aid eligibility. This is true of grandparents, uncles, and other non- parental relatives.

For additional FAFSA tips and ways to improve eligibility for federal financial aid, students, parents, and families are encouraged to visit www.FAFSAonline.com and file their FAFSA for free.

FAFSAonline.com is a service of the Edvisors Network, a multi- national education services company offering students options for managing the entire education life cycle, from getting into their college of choice to financing their education and beyond. The Edvisors Network is based in Quincy, Massachusetts and London, England. Visit them on the web at http://www.EdvisorsNetwork.com for more information...

How to Complete the FAFSA