It’s Time to Get Ready for FASFA Student Aide

Who Needs to Complete FASFA?

Families need to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (https://fafsa.gov/), known as FASFA, to apply for state or federal financial aid for college in the fall.  Many colleges also use the information from the FASFA form to calculate how much institutional aid they will grant to a student. Therefore, all families should fill out the form, even if they don’t expect to get state or federal aid.

Get Started with an ID

Parents and students should get a FASFA ID as soon as possible. Each of them needs a separate ID. They will keep the same ID but will need to change the passwords periodically.  They set that up here: https://fsaid.ed.gov/npas/index.htm

To avoid problems with setting up the ID, make sure each ID is associated with a different email address, and check the birthdays and social security numbers. Those are common errors that keep setting up the ID from working.

The government provides a youtube tutorial on setting up the ID: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7ihhGk8mCY&feature=youtu.be.  The number to call if having problems is: 1-800-433-3243.

Help With Information From Tax Documents

The FASFA form uses tax information from two previous years. Once FASFA opens on October 1, families can use the use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to transfer income and tax information. https://fafsa.gov/fotw1718/help/irshlp8.htm.

State Deadlines

State deadlines for submitting FASFA might be different than federal. Check your state deadlines here: https://fafsa.gov/deadlines.htm

Help Families With FASFA Information

Helping low-income and first-generation college families with information about FASFA is critical. Simply providing them with information can be very helpful.

Be Pro-Active

Use the information in this blog to create a newsletter and information handout to provide to parents of your seniors.