Filing FAFSA on the Web, FAFSA & Federal Student Aid

The Department of Education has made applying for financial aid easier than ever.  Now you can file your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completely online!  Filing FAFSA on the web is quick, easy, and convenient, and anyone can do it.  You can always visit FreeFinancialAidCounseling.com anytime for free assistance with the FAFSA.  

There are several benefits of completing the FAFSA on the Web.  First, your application is processed much faster by filing electronically than by paper filing.  This ensures quick delivery of your financial aid information to your selected schools.  Second, with electronic filing, you can make any necessary updates to your application instantly on the web.  Third, by filing the FAFSA on the Web, your information will be properly formatted and calculated instantly, saving you the hassle of doing it all yourself.  

Completing the FAFSA online is a simple and straightforward process.  All you need are a PIN, which you can obtain from the Department of Education, and copies of your tax/financial records (and your parents’, if you are a dependent student).  The remaining steps to file a FAFSA are:

•    Answer all relevant personal and financial questions (the FAFSA will automatically determine such factors as dependent status and Selective Service requirements).
•    Select the schools you are considering applying to.
•    Sign using your PIN.
•    Click “Submit” and that’s it!

After that, you will soon receive your Student Aid Report (SAR).  This is a detailed document that contains the information you submitted on the FAFSA and your Expected Family Contribution (EFC).  The EFC is a number used to determine your eligibility for different types of financial aid.  A special version of the SAR is also sent to the schools you indicated on the FAFSA.   Just as you can go back and make corrections to the FAFSA once it’s been submitted, you can go back and add or delete schools to which you are applying for financial aid.

You must stay mindful of the deadlines: for the 2009 - 2010 school year, the deadline for filing the FAFSA is June 30, 2010.  The deadline for submitting corrections to the FAFSA online is September 15, 2010.  Once you enroll in a school, it must have all your information by the last day of enrollment in the 2009 - 2010 school year.  These deadlines to apply for federal financial aid in no way coincide with the deadlines set by your school, your state, and private scholarship agencies.  You are responsible for meeting those deadlines if you wish to be considered for aid from those sources.  Of course, a great way to get more information about all sources of aid is to visit FreeFinancialAidCounseling online and speak with one of our representatives immediately!

For those new to the financial aid process and the FAFSA, the Department of Education now offers a FAFSA on the Web Worksheet.  This form allows you read over the questions and answer them before actually filling out the FAFSA online.  The form also allows you to have your information in a format identical to the online FAFSA, for those times when assembling all the necessary documentation at once would be inconvenient.  For those who have submitted an online FAFSA in previous years, you have the ability to submit a new FAFSA for the current year using a pre-filled FAFSA on the Web.  The information from last year transfers easily to this year’s application, saving you even more time in applying for financial aid!

Filling out the FAFSA online is the critical first step in obtaining the financial aid you need for school.  Fortunately, completing the FAFSA online is safe, convenient, and most importantly, FREE!  Visit FreeFinancialAidCounseling online now for help in getting started!

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