Applying for Financial Aid

Editor's Note: This was written by Samantha Kahn, a financial aid counselor with years of experience in all kinds of institutions.

As of January 1st, the FAFSA for the 2007-2008 academic year is available on the web. The US Department of Education strongly advises families to apply for financial aid online rather than with a paper application, because it cuts down on errors and incomplete applications.

Completing the FAFSA online includes three steps. The first is that you and your parent must apply for a USED Personal Identification Number, which you can use as your electronic signature on the FAFSA and on loan applications. Applying for a PIN takes no time at all, you can do so at: http://www.pin.ed.gov/PINWebApp/appinstr.jsp

Be prepared to provide your SSN, address, and other common items. They'll process your application and send you an email with instructions on how to get the PIN. You'll probably receive this email within 72 hours after submitting your application.

Note that the student and the parent each need their own PIN. PINs are essentially a permanent electronic version of signatures, so each person applying needs his or her own. If you and your sibling are applying at the same time, you need a PIN, your brother needs a PIN, and your parent needs a PIN. Your PIN will never change regardless of your own status as a parent or student (or financial aid officer).

The FAFSA itself is a long and complex document, into which you have to put a lot of data. Don't worry, though; it's highly encrypted and your demographic and financial information is safe. However, it's a good idea to use the worksheets provided by the Department to gather all the information together. This way you can sit at the table with your tax returns and bank statements, write in the numbers, and type them in when you go to the FAFSA website.

If you have to use a public computer, such as one at a library, you MUST prepare in advance with the worksheets. Expect it to take at least 45 minutes to complete the FAFSA online.

Here is the link for the FAFSA worksheets: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/before012.htm. Look for the link for the 07-08 FAFSA worksheet in color. The FAFSA is color coded by year for the students - 07-08 The student information sections will be in yellow. Parent info is always purple. It's important to not put the same information in both sections!

You can go to that link and print out the FAFSA worksheet, which will be eight pages. Then you can fill in the boxes with your year-to-date figures off your's and your parents' 12/31/06 paychecks and statements.

Once you have your PIN and between January 1 and the earliest filing deadline (which will probably be March 2 for schools in California, but that information can be checked on college websites), you can go online and enter all the data from the worksheets. If you are not sure what the filing deadline is for any of your prospective colleges, MAKE SURE you know before you miss the deadline! Some schools' filing deadlines for the best/most financial aid eligibility can be as early as February 1.

You will need to put in the school code for all the colleges to which you areapplying (there should be space for at least six on the FAFSA). Codes can be found on the FA pages of the prospective schools' websites or even more easily at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/fotw0607/fslookup.htm

You can make corrections to the FAFSA and should do so when you and your parents complete your respective tax returns. Don't wait to complete the tax returns before applying for financial aid. This is the only document which is more important to submit on time than it is to submit it correctly. If you don't have financial information when you have to complete the FAFSA, DO NOT put in zeros. Estimate as well as you can; you want the college to offer you the best aid based on the best information.

If your family has experienced some financial setback that isn't reflected in your tax information, such as a layoff late in the year, or high medical expenses that can't be deducted, you should complete the FAFSA so it reflects the tax information and then contact the colleges to which you've applied and advise them of this disparity.