Financial Aid Application

Answer 1

Applying for post-secondary education can be a confusing task, but the best place to start is with filing the Free Application for Financial Student Aid, or the FAFSA. There are several processes to completing the FAFSA. Always remember that it can be saved and completed later in the event of insufficient financial or asset information and will remain on file during the student's entire education career.

The first part of the application process is to generate a personal identification number, or PIN. This can be completed through the home page at www.fafsa.ed.gov and click on the PIN Page heading box. This is a critical and important piece of information, as it is the personal electronic signature of the student financial aid papers. This includes any subsequent loans for which the student is eligible. Protect this number.

The standard identification information of social security number, driver's license, and tax filings will be necessary. This includes parental records if the student cannot be qualified as an independent student. It is important to look at these guidelines because an independent student is eligible for much more aid in some cases. Students who have their own financial assets may be independent and still not qualify, but it is a good idea to complete the process for assessment in borderline eligibility cases.

The pre-application process can begin with reviewing the application on the FAFSA worksheet webpage that assesses the student's financial status. This allows the student some latitude in calculating possible differing aid packages. It is important to note that aid packages are not congruent at all schools because of cost-of-living estimates and tuition rates. Just because schools differ in tuition doesn't mean that the prospective student would have any noticeable financial aid differences.

The federal financial aid filing also will flag the student for loan eligibility, depending on the level of education. It is not unusual for students to have scholarships to use in addition to any financial aid eligibility. In most cases, the scholarships do not affect the student's financial aid because they are not considered assets or income. Scholarships are normally used first as tuition and books, with subsequent aid belonging to the student.