PSA: FAFSA form for new school year is on FAFSA website. Submit soon...

[Lanny]

This is my annual notice. I am 10 days late...  The FAFSA web site is updated each year on 01 October. There are always two (2) different forms for 2 different school years. Submit ASAP because more money is available now. The form for the 2022 to 2023 school year is now  online. Here's the URL:

https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa

(DD was on a Field Trip with about 40 people from her Semester abroad program for 8 nights and now she is going to have 10 days off, after taking mid-term exams all day on her birthday and we have been  trip planning for a  9 day trip)  

[shelleysboys]

Question on this...  So my son wants to apply to college this year, but we won't be actually submitting his application until closer to the deadlines because he is working on studying for the SAT.  So given all that does getting the FASFA in in October matter? 

[kokotg]

12 minutes ago, shelleysboys said:

Question on this...  So my son wants to apply to college this year, but we won't be actually submitting his application until closer to the deadlines because he is working on studying for the SAT.  So given all that does getting the FASFA in in October matter? 

My understanding is...generally speaking, no. There may be some schools that give out financial aid as they send out acceptances and "run out" at some point...but that's not true for most schools and it's not true of the federal aid that the FAFSA actually qualifies you for (my oldest applied to a lot of schools, and it didn't make a difference at any of those if he got his FAFSA done super early)

[teachermom2834]

I’m always on the side of getting things done early but I sometimes see people stressed to get the FAFSA done right away because money runs out. This is not usually the way it works and the money isn’t going to run out in October. I usually try to wait a bit just because the system always seems overwhelmed when it first opens. I like to give it a month and let the bugs get worked out. 
 

Not saying to put it off indefinitely but don’t stress about getting it done right now.  Most schools or scholarship programs will have a date on their website they want it done by. I would feel confident following that date. 
 

All that said, I usually do get it done pretty early because I like checking off boxes and it just isn’t that difficult for us. I realize there are more complicated situations but I think for most people the FAFSA is not that involved. The CSS, which I have only done once, is much more involved and intrusive. But FAFSA has never given me too many headaches. The worst part is usually figuring out everyone’s login info.

[Lanny]

8 hours ago, shelleysboys said:

Question on this...  So my son wants to apply to college this year, but we won't be actually submitting his application until closer to the deadlines because he is working on studying for the SAT.  So given all that does getting the FASFA in in October matter? 

Probably not unless you already have a list of schools your DS plans to apply to.  Note: I hope that you/he will explore the idea of him also taking the ACT exam. Some students do better on one than on the other. This will be a very busy year for him, with those exams and applications and essays...

[Lanny]

My DD sent me a message this morning (330 my time). She said we can do the FAFSA form later today or tomorrow.  She's a 3rd year now ("Junior") so this will be the one for her 4th year (Senior year).  

I agree with teachermom2834 about the CSS Profile. DD had to submit that for a number of schools (including UNC which is the one she is attending) and that is far more invasive than the FAFSA form.  I'm thankful the CSS Profile only had to be submitted once...  It was very time consuming.   Compared to the CSS Profile the FAFSA form is much faster and much easier to complete.

[MerryAtHope]

On 10/11/2021 at 10:26 PM, shelleysboys said:

Question on this...  So my son wants to apply to college this year, but we won't be actually submitting his application until closer to the deadlines because he is working on studying for the SAT.  So given all that does getting the FASFA in in October matter? 

Maybe. If your state also offers aid, see if they have a deadline or run out of money. Some states have a first come first serve policy with regard to state aid and it can be beneficial to get the FAFSA in sooner rather than later. You can always revise it later to add schools. It won’t matter in terms of the Pell Grant though.

[Nicholas_mom]

ok Thanks for the reminder!!!  Is there a link to the steps to fill out the FAFSA form?  For example, my son is in college so last year we did the FAFSA form for the first time.  So he first had to create an account on FSA and then fill out the FAFSA.  So, does he create a new account with FSA every year before filling out the FAFSA form?  Do parents have to create an account with FSA every year before filling out our portion of FAFSA?  So confused!!!

I am looking at the website and it isn't clear on questions like these!

[MerryAtHope]

25 minutes ago, Nicholas_mom said:

ok Thanks for the reminder!!!  Is there a link to the steps to fill out the FAFSA form?  For example, my son is in college so last year we did the FAFSA form for the first time.  So he first had to create an account on FSA and then fill out the FAFSA.  So, does he create a new account with FSA every year before filling out the FAFSA form?  Do parents have to create an account with FSA every year before filling out our portion of FAFSA?  So confused!!!

I am looking at the website and it isn't clear on questions like these!

You won’t have to create new accounts. Did you write down your sign-in information from last year? You can use the same login name and password to get back into your accounts, or if you don’t have them, if you have the emails that you used, you can probably retrieve your information that way. Once you are logged in, the forms will allow you to transfer information from last year to this year and just check and make sure it’s still accurate. So it’s a few less questions to answer. You will still have to do the data transfer from the IRS, and fill in financial information. I hope that helps some!

[Lanny]

52 minutes ago, Nicholas_mom said:

ok Thanks for the reminder!!!  Is there a link to the steps to fill out the FAFSA form?  For example, my son is in college so last year we did the FAFSA form for the first time.  So he first had to create an account on FSA and then fill out the FAFSA.  So, does he create a new account with FSA every year before filling out the FAFSA form?  Do parents have to create an account with FSA every year before filling out our portion of FAFSA?  So confused!!!

I am looking at the website and it isn't clear on questions like these!

No don't create a new account for your DS or for you. Log into your existing account(s).  NOTE: There are always FAFSA forms for 2 different school years on their web site. Be sure you select the correct school year... 

My DD is in Europe. She's a Junior (3rd year)  now. We worked, several days ago, on the FAFSA form for her Senior (4th  year) but didn't finish. She went on a trip, so we will finish after she returns to her home base (Semester Abroad program) and has time and then she will submit it to the government.

I don't know of a web site with a Step-By-Step and suggest that you get  your info from the FAFSA web site.  If you can't find what you need hopefully you can send them a message via Chat and ask them.  

[Nicholas_mom]

Thank you both!!  Got it :)

[MerryAtHope]

On 10/16/2021 at 1:21 PM, Nicholas_mom said:

Thank you both!!  Got it 🙂

I hope it goes smoothly for you! I did remember that there are often little help buttons next to a question explaining a little more information. I often wish that some of them had more information though. I sometimes find myself googling how to answer a question!

[Lanny]

OP here.  Finally DD and I are done with the FAFSA...

We began working on it and then she went on an 8 or 9 day Field Trip with about 40 people in her cohort and then they were back for a week and then she had a 9 day break from the "Semester Abroad" program and she went to 3 places in that short time. We are done with this FAFSA!   Something that was on the "To Do" list has been crossed off...

[Lanny]

On 10/17/2021 at 4:25 PM, MerryAtHope said:

I hope it goes smoothly for you! I did remember that there are often little help buttons next to a question explaining a little more information. I often wish that some of them had more information though. I sometimes find myself googling how to answer a question!

Amen to wishing for more help about how to answer a question. The last 2 questions DD had to answer were "Yes" or "No".  She contacted me at about 345 A.M.   our local time (there is a 7 hour time difference).   I spent 1 or 2 hours, trying to figure out the answers to those 2 questions. That seems so incredibly simple, but sometimes Semantics are involved and it's not so easy.

I looked at her Form 1098-T for the year 2020 and also at her Federal return for 2020, trying to figure out how to answer those 2 questions.

 I ended up sending her the information I'd found and suggested that she study that information and then log into the FAFSA form and read the questions again and what I'd found. She answered the 2 questions and we are done...

[MerryAtHope]

1 hour ago, Lanny said:

Amen to wishing for more help about how to answer a question. The last 2 questions DD had to answer were "Yes" or "No".  She contacted me at about 345 A.M.   our local time (there is a 7 hour time difference).   I spent 1 or 2 hours, trying to figure out the answers to those 2 questions. That seems so incredibly simple, but sometimes Semantics are involved and it's not so easy.

I looked at her Form 1098-T for the year 2020 and also at her Federal return for 2020, trying to figure out how to answer those 2 questions.

 I ended up sending her the information I'd found and suggested that she study that information and then log into the FAFSA form and read the questions again and what I'd found. She answered the 2 questions and we are done...

Glad you are done! I saw that they are reducing the number of questions for future FAFSA forms. Maybe it will be easier in the future! I think this was my last year for having to do it.

[mom31257]

I know they always say money is available now; however, we found money to be available much, much later. Like a year later.

I did the FAFSA calculator dd's 2nd year of college and it showed us not getting any money. She didn't need a student loan that year and it wasn't required for her merit scholarship, so I didn't file it that year. Things changed by her 3rd year, and I filed it. Because of the change of which years it was pulling in for taxes (that changed during her years in school); the FAFSA automatically told us she would have qualified for the year before and gave us the money for that year as well as the year we were filing. 

[Lanny]

The FAFSA DD and I just completed is for her 4th year.  I asked her if when she submitted the FAFSA it indicated what the EFC will be. It is about 13 or 14 times what her EFC was for the first year.  I wondered what the relationship is between the AGI and the EFC and Googled for that and there certainly is a relationship. Her EFC for that school year is less than 5% of her AGI on the 2020 Federal return.  I'm glad we finished the FAFSA