Filling out FAFSA early?

[Hunter's Moon]

I'll be applying to three, rolling admissions colleges in August right before my Senior Year.

 

Will my parents be able to fill out the FAFSA in August?

 

I read somewhere they prefer it done in January??

 

Thanks :)

[Alyce]

year you are going to be attending school. So if you plan to go to school in the Fall after you graduate. You can't do the FAFSA until Jan of that year but, you can do a practice one so your parents can see what they're contribution is expected to be. Keep in mind what it says is your parents portion isn't really true for all your college expenses. It's what portion of the Pell Grant your parents will have to pay. The lower your EFC (estimated family contribution) the more Pell Grant you will receive and probably will get some good need based grants at some of the schools you want to attend. I think the most you can receive for a Pell Grant is $5500 now but may have gone up to $5750.

This amount you are awarded is determined by your parents salary assets etc. It is also to cover one year or two semesters so it gets split up into 2 payments. We usually wait until end of Jan to do ours and since most of the information it requests is in our tax information we do our taxes first and then the FAFSA. Then they don't have to come back and adjust quote for Dc.

[Brenda in MA]

Stephanie,

 

If you plan to begin college in the school year 2012-2013 (you'd start classes Aug/Sept 2012), then you cannot fill out the official FAFSA until January 1, 2012. You can apply to colleges in the fall of 2011, but still can't complete the official FAFSA until Jan 1, 2012.

 

Some colleges also require the CSS Profile financial aid form. That one is administered by the College Board and you can fill that one out fall of your senior year for the coming school year. You'd need to check on the website of your colleges of interest to see if any of them require the Profile form.

 

You can use the FAFSA forecaster website here:

 

https://fafsa.ed.gov/FAFSA/app/f4cForm?execution=e1s1

 

to get an estimate of your EFC before you're able to file the real thing.

 

You might also look for the book, "Paying for College Without Going Broke" by Princeton Review. Your library probably has this. This book will help you and your parents understand the FAFSA process and what it will mean for your family.

 

Best wishes,

Brenda

[Hunter's Moon]

I thought the FAFSA was a big part of the application process?

 

I'm assuming the schools will know what I should do, and I'll call and ask them specifically, but until then, I am just curious how they'll know how much to offer me, in terms of financial aid and grants and such?

[Photo Ninja]

I'm assuming the schools will know what I should do, and I'll call and ask them specifically, but until then, I am just curious how they'll know how much to offer me, in terms of financial aid and grants and such?

 

The college may not know how much to offer you in grants or aid, other than student loans or merit scholarships. Schools base financial aid on many factors, and each school is a bit different on some of it, but usually it is based on the FAFSA. There is merit financial aid, usually based on your GPA and SAT/ACT test scores. Many schools offer this before they ever see the FAFSA because merit aid is not usually based on the FAFSA, but usually the FAFSA is still required.

 

Then there is need based financial aid. Some of the criteria is set by the government and some is by the school. The FAFSA is required in order to get any government loans and grants. Those are based on parents' income primarily, but also include their assets. The FAFSA also factors in any income or savings the student has. Based on this info, there is a dollar amount given called the EFC or Estimated Family Contribution. This is essentially what the designers of the FAFSA think your family should pay for your college education. The lower the dollar amount, the more likely you are to get grants that you don't need to pay back. High dollar amounts usually mean there is no grant given. Each school looks at this EFC and other info and interprets it by that particular school's Cost of Attendance. The college may offer financial aid based on that info. If there is a high cost of attendance then you may be offered more money. If the cost of attendance is low, you may not be offered any. If you apply to a few different colleges and their cost of attendance varies they may each offer you a different amount of grant or other aid.

 

Most of what a school will offer you in aid is based on the FAFSA information. That's why you must file it in Jan - March of the year in which you begin attending the college, and each year after that. Each college will have a different deadline for FAFSA completion. Some schools want it filled out in January and others may have a March 2 deadline. Because they base the money they give to students on the FAFSA, waiting to file it can result in the college spending its financial aid money so late filers don't get any. It is very important to file the FAFSA on time. Many students receive an acceptance letter from a college in the fall, but don't find out what the college will offer in grants, aid or loans until February or March, after the college processes all the FAFSA applications.

[K-FL]

In simple terms, you don't know what your future financial picture will hold, but most folks info doesn't change much from year to year. If there is a job loss, or other catastrophe you can amend your FAFSA or talk to the FA office.

 

Also, endowments for schools change from year to year too. They don't necessarily know how much they have to give a year in advance.

 

When you get your award letters, there's a FA comparison on college board that helps you see the bottom line.

[MicheleinMN]

:lurk5:

[TravelingChris]

For a lot of private colleges, they want the Profile for financial aid and you can do that earlier. Colleges can admit you before Jan, can award merit aid before Jan, but certainly can't do a complete financial aid package include need based aid until after Jan. Some aid is given by the federal government- Pell Grants, SEOG grants, and subsidized Stafford loans. For those, you need to have a quite low income or have many family members. Most families aren't eligible for those and instead get unsubsidized Stafford loans and maybe some need aid from the college. There are also some people who get automatic Pell Grants but those apply to very limited circumstances. Try the various calculators and see what you get. Also, check out the colleges you are interested in and see whether they require FAFSA only or also PROFILE or some additional paperwork. You can also check how they give out merit scholarships.