What the FAFSA?
Ah, FAFSA. I bet before your child entered high school you never heard the term, but once you get deep into the sludge of college entrance you learn what it means and learn to dread it.
For the uninitiated, FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. It's second only to your tax return in importance among paperwork for students heading to college and their parents, and it's nearly as complex. The information you enter into your FAFSA is what determines your kid's eligibility for financial aid, and even if you aren't eligible for aid, you still need to complete the form to take advantage of the Direct Student Loan program. There are some scholarships out there that won't give you a penny till they see the results of your FAFSA. States use it to distribute aid, as do individual colleges.
So, no excuses, fill it out. But you really don't need to dread it.
A few helpful points:
Some schools and states have early financial aid deadlines, so be sure to find out what they are and get the FAFSA submitted in time. In a perfect world you'll complete your Federal tax return first, because you need information from it, but we know the world ain't perfect. So you can estimate the numbers on your FAFSA, and when you get your taxes done you can update the FAFSA with the correct information.
This is important because you should get the FAFSA submitted as soon as you can, preferably by mid February (again, it may be even earlier depending on the school.) Often financial aid is doled out on a first come, first served basis, so you need to get in there.
You'll need all your financial information, and all your child's financial information. Read the requirements carefully, there are some things that you don't have to declare (like some retirement savings) and some you do that you may have forgotten about (like old savings bonds you child received when he was born.)
If you need help, spend some time online looking for answers. There are businesses that will help you complete the form for a fee, but unless your situation is unusual, it's probably unnecessary. If you do need help your accountant is probably the first place to ask. At least that's what I'd do.
It's possible to complete the FAFSA offline, but it's much easier, and faster, to do it online.
The results of your hard work will appear in the form of the SAR, or Student Aid Report. This is what goes to the schools you've identified, and it's based on this that most financial aid is doled out.
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