FAFSA webinar

FAFSA Webinar – put on by NACAC

FAFSA can’t be submitted until Jan 1st and each state publishes their own state deadlines which can be found at www.fafsa.gov

What to do NOW before the Jan 1st deadline:

  1. Get a PIN at http://www.pin.ed.gov– there is info on how to file for a PIN at www.studentaid.gov/fafsa/filling-out/pin and there are PDF files to print and give out to students that explain the PIN and process

-For the PIN the name must match the SSN name, so for some their SSN name and legal name don’t match so they can’t file until they get both names to be the same. This is one reason to start the PIN process early!

  1. Gather documents – this includes SSNs, Personal info (addresses, etc), tax info (actual or estimated), balance of saving and checking accounts and cash on hand.
  2. Understand Process – www.fafsa.gov  – students will get an estimate of aid when they submit the FAFSA but they need to log in once the FAFSA has been processed to get the Student Aid Report. Also, the estimate of aid is NOT what they will receive from colleges. Each college the student sends the FAFSA to and applies for aid at will send their own financial aid package information.

For the really proactive student/family

  1. They can go to FAFSA4caster on the www.fafsa.gov site for estimate of financial aid
  2. Fill out the 2012-2013 FAFSA (the one that last year’s seniors did), then when Jan 1st rolls around they can just do a renewal FAFSA in which most of their personal info is already there so they just update the financial part.

Resources for counselors

http://www.fsa4counselors.ed.gov/  under the FAFSA Information section on the page you will find a link for FAFSA updates. This site has a wealth of resources, including the Counselors and Mentors Handbook, as well as many downloadable documents to share with students and families.

www.studentaid.gov is the redesigned site that is one-stop for all kinds of financial aid and college information. Listed below are a few pages from the main StudentAid site worth bookmarking.

www.studentaid.gov/resources there is huge number of items to print/download that can be used for students and families

www.studentaid.gov/parent great parent page resource

www.studentaid.gov/checklist  which includes elementary, middle school and high school years lists

www.studentaid.gov/scholarships  explains what they are and how to get them