FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid

What… …is the FAFSA? The FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Think of the FAFSA as the gateway to almost all money for college. This form is used to determine the amount of money (or EFC) a family is expected to contribute to the price of attending a postsecondary institution. The results from the FAFSA are used in awarding student grants, work-study, and loans. …is a PIN? A PIN is a Personal Identification Number. Both student and a parent (biological or adoptive) must register at www.pin.ed.gov for a fourdigit PIN. This number will be used to electronically sign the FAFSA. This can be done at any point prior to completing the FAFSA. (HINT: If a parent already has a PIN from another student or because they have recently been a student themselves, they do not need to request a new PIN). …is a SAR? The SAR is the Student Aid Report. The SAR is a summary (approximately 5 pages) of all the information entered into the FAFSA. The EFC can be found at the top right corner of the SAR. Once the FAFSA is processed, the student will receive an email stating the Student Aid Report is ready. …is an EFC? The EFC stands for Expected Family Contribution. It is an indicator of a family’s ability to pay towards the student’s education. It is also used by financial aid offices to determine a student’s eligibility for federal, state, and some institutional financial aid during one school year.

How… …do I start? Students should start by sitting down with a parent to request PINs (www.pin.ed.gov) so they can electronically sign the FAFSA. …do I find the FAFSA? The FAFSA can be found at www.fafsa.ed.gov. REMINDER: The FAFSA is FREE; do not complete the FAFSA at any other website. You will be asked to pay! …often must I complete the FAFSA? The FAFSA must be completed every year the student is in school. The earlier in the year, the better (as soon as after January 1st each year!). …important is it that I check email on a regular basis? Because the U.S. Department of Education will email the student when the SAR is ready, it is vitally important that the student checks his or her email on a regular basis. Communication is not frequent, but anything from the U.S. Department of Education is important.

Why… …should I file a FAFSA? The FAFSA is the necessary application for any student wanting to receive federal, state, and some institutional aid. Think of it this way: NO FAFSA=NO AID! …is it important to file as early as possible? Many kinds of aid are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Since some funding is limited, students want to complete the FAFSA early in order to receive funds for which they are eligible.

When… …do I complete a FAFSA? The FAFSA is not available until January 1st, 2012 and should be completed as soon as possible. Aid is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. The earlier the better! …is Missouri’s FAFSA deadline? In order to be eligible for Missouri aid, including the Access Missouri Grant, schools must receive the FAFSA before April 1st, 2012. Students are encouraged to apply by March 15th each year to meet that deadline. …is my school’s deadline? Some schools do have their own priority deadlines for FAFSA completion. Please check with the institutions’ financial aid offices to determine what those dates might be. …do I renew my FAFSA? Students should always renew sometime after January 1st; remember: the earlier the better!

REMEMBER: Ideally, file the FAFSA between January 1st-March 15th, but the sooner the better!

Why should I apply online?  As you complete the online application, FAFSA on the Web looks at your answers to previous questions and uses skip-logic to only display questions that apply to your situation to appear on your screen. This makes the application process shorter.  FAFSA on the Web identifies potential errors right away and prompts you to make on-the-spot corrections.  You will receive online instructions for each question, and you can access live help with a customer service representative for free if you have additional questions. (NOTE: The live chat feature really is helpful!)  By applying online, you can send your application information to up to ten schools (the paper form is limited to four schools).  Once you submit your application, your information is immediately sent to the U.S. Department of Education. You’ll get a confirmation notice right away when you click on “Submit My FAFSA Now.”  Your online application will be processed quickly, if you (and your parents, if applicable) provided electronic signatures using the PIN.

 Your application will be processed in three to five days, compared to two to four weeks with the paper FAFSA.

 It’s quick. It’s easy. It’s accurate. It’s safe.

FAFSA Website www.fafsa.ed.gov

Note: Look for Federal Student Aid on the FAFSA website; double-check and make sure the website domain is “.gov” and nothing else! Remember, the FAFSA is FREE and other websites may charge you.

The above login screen is where the student will enter his or her first and last name, Social Security Number, and birthdate. Parent information will be entered later; please make sure you enter correct information here. Please note: you can type through the dashes and backslashes in the last two boxes!

Once a student has successfully logged into the FAFSA, he or she will see a similar note, with the exact same screen as above, filled in. The student should double-check and confirm that all information is correct. Please take special care to double-check the Social Security Number. Incorrect information at this point will prevent successful and accurate completion of the FAFSA.

The first time a student logs in to the FAFSA, he or she will see the above screen. Students graduating high school in May 2012 should complete a 2012-2013 FAFSA form. NOTE: At the bottom of the screen the student’s PIN Status is shown. A student who starts a FAFSA, but must save and continue later will return to see the screen below. He or she will want to continue and submit when the FAFSA is finished. NOTE: FAFSAs are not saved indefinitely; students may wait too long and have to restart the FAFSA from the beginning.

Students will need to create a password. This is typically different than the student’s 4digit PIN. The student will create a new password each year; once a FAFSA is submitted the password resets and a new one must be created. However, students are strongly encouraged to choose a password they will remember, but that is challenging to guess.

The introduction page provides some answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the FAFSA. It is encouraged you read through these if you have additional questions or concerns about the FAFSA!

This menu bar will appear throughout the FAFSA. Be careful about clicking HOME as it may take you back to the beginning; save, save, save! The CONTACT US option allows you to see contact information for Federal Student Aid, but also provides a direct link for instant chat. The representatives staffing this service are helpful, timely, and efficient. Use this as a resource! Finally, the BROWSE HELP feature will provide excellent guidance on how to complete your FAFSA accurately and completely.

FAFSA: Student Information

This page also includes student’s first and last name, middle initial, and Social Security Number at the top of the page. A few notes regarding these questions: 

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Please do not miss the gender question and double-check for accuracy! Male students 18 and over are required to register for the Selective Service. The FAFSA’s next page will offer to register students who are 18 and have not registered. Please be prepared to enter the email address twice; FAFSA asks this in order to verify and confirm the address for accuracy. Please enter a current email address that you check on a regular basis! Marital status must reflect your status on the exact day you complete the FAFSA! Driver’s license numbers are not required, but there is no harm in including it here.

FAFSA: Student Eligibility Information These questions begin determining whether or not a student is eligible for federal financial aid. A few things to note: some non-citizens are eligible for financial aid; students do have to indicate interest in work-study to be considered and awarded, but can always decline the award later; and “unknown” is an option for parents’ education. Questions regarding parents’ education are asked to help determine if the student is the first in the family to attend college.

Students’ must also show the high school they attended. Please: do not use nicknames or abbreviations! (i.e., University City not U City) Also, be patient! Sometimes it takes more than one try; it can help to be vague (i.e., Roosevelt not Roosevelt High School) and to search without the city. Please do not forget to hit CONFIRM before going to the next page.

Students must send the FAFSA information to the colleges and universities to which they have applied for admission. Students can send this information to up to 10 schools. Again, be careful with abbreviations and nicknames, as well as spellings! Schools located in St. Louis are tricky as the city can be listed as “St.” or “Saint”. Be patient, and again, sometimes it is best to be general or search under the state and look through the list alphabetically. If you cannot find your school’s code, please contact the financial aid office or search online at the school’s website.

Don’t forget to note your housing plans for each school you may possibly attend. These plans can change and you can remove schools later. Also note you can use the buttons along the right-hand side to move schools up or down in priority.

We encourage you to check the SELECTED SCHOOL INFORMATION once you have chosen schools. You can see information side-by-side and compare tuition and fees, graduation rates, and retention rates. Please note that graduation rates are based on first-time, firstyear undergraduate students who complete their program within 150% of the published time for the program. (Example: Percentage of students who complete a 4-year degree program in 6 years.)

These questions verify a student’s dependency status. A student who answers “No” to all questions must provide parent information on the FAFSA. Answering “Yes” to any question means a student is independent and parent information is not required.

Dependent students can indicate they will provide parental information or that they are unable to provide parental information. In most cases, students will indicate yes and continue.

However, should a student not be able to provide parental information, he or she can review the following page to determine eligibility for special circumstances.

Note: Parent refusal to provide information or contribute to college is not a special circumstance. Schools will not provide dependency overrides in these circumstances.

Occasionally students meet the definition of dependent, do not have special circumstances, and are truly unable to provide parent information. These students should carefully review this page and if absolutely necessary, submit without parent information. It is essential to note that no EFC is calculated and the FAFSA is considered incomplete. The student should immediately contact his or her financial aid office.

The student and parent will next be asked to complete information on parents’ demographics. If the student lives with two parents—both biological/adoptive or one biological/adoptive and one stepparent, BOTH parents’ information is required. If the student has any questions regarding who counts for HOUSEHOLD SIZE, please click on the box and read the description in order to get an accurate count. The FAFSA does not consider parents in the question regarding college students; should the parent be enrolled in college the student should contact his or her institution for special circumstances consideration.

The parent demographics page will look slightly different for a student who is only providing information on one parent.

Both student and parent(s) will be asked to answer a question regarding whether taxes have been filed. Options include WILL FILE, WILL NOT FILE, or ALREADY COMPLETED. For students completing a 2012-2013 FAFSA this question will ask about 2011 taxes. If you have filed taxes, you may be ready to use the IRS data retrieval tool, which connects you directly to the IRS and transfers tax data into the appropriate FAFSA fields. This helps to reduce error and the need for verification; for 2012-2013, the FAFSA will likely prompt you to return and use the tool down the road for a FAFSA correction.

Students and parents will need to answer which federal form they completed, their adjusted gross income for 2011, earnings in 2011, and whether or not they are a dislocated worker.

Parents and independent students will be asked, in some cases, to indicate if they received any of these benefits.

If you filed a 1040, you may also be asked whether or not you were eligible to file a 1040A or 1040EZ.

This page will ask students and parents for additional information about income and assets such as income tax, exemptions, and untaxed income.

Note that the dollar amount for assets will be unique to you and based off of previous answers to questions in the FAFSA. If you answer “Yes” you will need to submit answers about savings and checking accounts, as well as investments.

This page will typically have student and parent signature. You are not a preparer and neither is anyone who helps you complete the FAFSA, unless you pay them. And, you should never pay anyone to get the FAFSA complete because there is lots of free help! Student and parent will sign electronically with their PIN and each must read a statement and agree before submitting the FAFSA.

Frequently Asked Questions  Who can assist me with any FAFSA questions I might have? You can call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243) with questions about the FAFSA or about federal student financial aid in general.

 Why does the Department of Education ask me for income information from the year before I go to school? The law requires that this information be used, since studies have consistently shown that verifiable income tax information from the most recently completed tax year (2011 for the 2012-13 award year) is more accurate than projected (2012) information and provides a reasonable basis for determining family financial strength in calculating the Expected Family Contribution (EFC).

 What should I (the student) do if my family has unusual circumstances that aren’t mentioned in the application? If you or your family has unusual circumstances (such as loss of employment, loss of benefits, death or divorce), complete the FAFSA to the extent that you can and submit it as instructed. Then talk to the financial aid administrator (FAA) at the school you plan to attend. If your family’s circumstances have changed from the tax year 2011, the FAA may decide on a case-bycase basis to adjust data elements used to calculate your EFC. Any adjustment the FAA makes must relate only to your individual circumstances and not to any conditions that exist for a whole class of students. The FAA’s decision is final and cannot be appealed to the U.S. Department of Education.

 What should I (the student) do if I have a special circumstance and cannot get my parents’ data to report on the FAFSA? If you are considered a dependent student, have no contact with your parents, and are unable to provide your parents data on the FAFSA, you may have a special circumstance. If you are completing FAFSA on the web, answer the questions regarding special circumstances and the remaining student questions. Sign and submit the form for processing. Note: Not living with your parents or the fact that your parents do not want to provide their information on your FAFSA, are

not considered special circumstances. Examples of special circumstances are your parent or parents are incarcerated or you had to leave home because of an abusive situation.

 If I live with an aunt, uncle, or grandparent, should that relative’s income be reported on my FAFSA? Generally, no. You can only report your birth parents’ or adoptive parents’ income on your FAFSA. Only if a relative has adopted you and is now your adoptive parent can you report that person’s information on your FAFSA. However, you must report for question 47(j) any cash support given by relatives except food and housing.

 What if I live with a friend who pays the rent? You should not report any information for a friend or roommate unless the two of you are actually married or considered to have a common-law marriage under state law. You must report in Question 47(j) any cash support given by the friend, except food and housing. You would have to report the rent the roommate paid on your behalf.

 I’m going to get married this summer. How do I answer the question that asks if I am married? You must answer that question based on your marital status on the day you complete and sign your FAFSA. Answer “yes” if you are married on the day you complete and sign, otherwise, answer “No.” If you answer “No” and then marry after you originally file your FAFSA, you cannot change your answer. When you apply in a subsequent year and remain married, you will file as a married student at that time.

 If I’m an emancipated minor, am I now independent? If you can provide a copy of a court’s decision that you are or were an emancipated minor as determined by a court in your state of legal residence, you may meet the definition of an independent student. The court must be located in your state of legal residence at the time the court’s decision was issued. You may be asked to provide a copy of the court’s decision.

 What if I am in legal guardianship, am I now independent? If you can provide a copy of a court’s decision that you are or were in a legal guardianship as determined by a court in your state of legal residence, you may meet the definition of an independent student. The court must be located in your state of legal residence at the time the court’s decision was issued. You may be asked to provide a copy of the court’s decision.

 I’ll be filing a tax return this year but I probably won’t get around to it until April. How should I answer the financial questions? Should I wait to fill out this form until after I’ve filed my tax return? Ideally, you should complete a FAFSA after you’ve done your tax return, but don’t wait until April. Many schools award aid on a first-come, first-served basis. Also, you may not be eligible for state aid if you wait until April to submit your FAFSA. Many state award deadlines are early in the calendar year. If you haven’t completed your tax return, you should calculate your adjusted gross income (AGI) and taxes paid using the instructions for IRS Form 1040. You can get the instructions and the form at a public library or download them in PDF from www.irs.gov/formspubs/index.html. Keep in mind that if you submit your application before you complete a tax return, you may need to make corrections later if your income or tax information isn’t accurate.

 If my parents are divorced, whose information do I need? Report the information of the parent with whom you lived the most during the 12 months preceding the date you completed the FAFSA. It does not make a difference which parent claims you as a dependent for tax purposes. If you did not live with either parent or lived equally with each parent, the parental information must be provided for the parent from whom you received the most financial support during the preceding 12 months or the parent from whom you received the most support the last time support was given.

 I am entering financial information for my mother and stepfather on the FAFSA. Should I give my father’s Social Security Number (SSN) and last name, or my stepfather’s? You should provide the SSN and last name of the same person or people for whom you are reporting financial information. In this case, provide the SSNs and names of your mother and stepfather.

 What should I do if my parent with whom I live is remarried and my stepparent refuses to supply information? If you are a dependent student and your parent is remarried, the stepparent’s information must be included or you will not be considered for federal student financial aid. If you believe that your situation is unique or unusual other than the stepparent’s simple refusal to provide the requested information, you should discuss the matter further with your financial aid administrator at the college or university which you plan to attend.

Try to avoid these mistakes… Leaving blank fields—enter a “0” instead of leaving a blank. Too many blanks may cause miscalculations and an application rejection. Do not use commas or decimal points in numeric fields—always round to the nearest dollar.

Listing incorrect Social Security Number or Driver’s license number—check these entries and have someone else check them too. Triple check to make sure.

Entering the wrong federal income tax paid amount—obtain your federal income paid amount from your income tax return forms, not your W-2 form(s).

Listing Adjusted Gross Income as equal to total income—these are not the same figure. In most cases, the AGI is larger than the total income. This mistake is particularly common.

Listing marital status incorrectly—only write yes if you are currently married. They want to know what your marital status is on the day you sign the FAFSA, or Renewal FAFSA.

Listing parent marital status incorrectly—the custodial parent’s marital status is needed; if they’ve remarried, you’ll need the stepparent’s information too.

Leaving the question about drug-related offenses blank—If you’re unsure about something, find out before you submit your FAFSA instead of leaving it blank. A conviction doesn’t necessarily disqualify you from getting aid.

Forgetting to list the college—obtain the Federal School Code for the college you plan on attending and list it—along with any other schools to which you’ve applied.

Forgetting to sign and date—if you are filling out the paper FAFSA be sure to sign it. If you are filing electronically, be sure to obtain your PIN from www.pin.ed.gov. Your PIN is your electronic signature and will always be assigned to you only.

Entering the wrong address—your permanent address is not your campus or summer address.

That’s great, but I still want help.  Help text is available and accessible for every question on the FAFSA if you apply online using the FAFSA on the Web at www.FAFSA.ed.gov. You can also get free live help online at this website.  Free help is also available online at www.FederalStudentAid.ed.gov/completefafsa.  Contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800433-3243) for assistance with any questions you have on either the paper or electronic FAFSA.  Contact your high school guidance counselor or your college financial aid office.  Scholarship Foundation has FAFSA Completion Clinics—call (314.725.7990), email ([email protected]), or talk with staff to register for an individual 30 minute appointment. Spring 2012 Dates: o Saturday, February 11th, 10am-1pm o Saturday, February 18th, 10am-1pm o Saturday, February 25th, 10am-1pm  Check out a FAFSA Frenzy Event, free events where you can receive free professional help completing your 2012-2013 FAFSA. These are public events and targeted at high school students and parents. For more information check out http://www.dhe.mo.gov/fafsa_completion.html and check out the list of local events on the next page!

2012 FAFSA Frenzy Event Information Saturday, February 11th, 2012

10:00am-2:00pm

St. Louis Community College—Harrison Education Center 3140 Cass Ave, St. Louis, MO 63106

Sunday, February 12th, 2012

2:00pm-4:00pm

Harris Stowe State University 3026 Laclede Ave, St. Louis, MO 63103

MOHELA 633 Spirit Drive, Chesterfield, MO 63005

Orchard Farm High School 2165 Hwy. 36W, St. Charles, MO 63301

Ritenour High School 9100 Saint Charles Rock Road, St. Louis, MO 63114

Thursday, February 16th, 2012

6:00pm-8:00pm

South Technical High School 12721 W. Watson Road, St. Louis, MO 63127

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012 St. Louis Community College—Wildwood 2645 Generations Drive, Wildwood, MO 63040

6:30pm-8:00pm

2012-2013 FAFSA Checklist Complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) at www.fafsa.ed.gov to apply for federal, state, and college-based financial aid. Dependent students must include parents’ information on the FAFSA. To determine your dependency status, see dependency status worksheet.

REQUIRED INFORMATION

WHERE TO FIND IT



2011 Federal Income Tax Forms and, If applicable, Schedule K-1 (Form 1065)

Personal records or call the IRS at 800-829-1040—allow 10 days processing.

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2011 W-2 Forms

Personal records or contact your employer(s) or call the IRS at 800-829-1040

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Personal Identification Numbers (PINs)

Apply or request a duplicate Pin at www.pin.ed.gov –immediate response

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Student’s driver’s license number

Personal records

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Social Security Number (both student and parent)

Personal records or call the Social Security Administration at 800-772-1213

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Birth date (for both parents and student)

Personal records

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Date you or your parents were married, separated, divorced, or widowed.

Personal records

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Current cash and checking/savings account balances.

Personal records or from your bank

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Current investment values (stocks, savings bonds, mutual funds, CDs) excluding parent’s home and retirement plans.

Statements from the financial institution

2012-2013 Dependency Checklist Dependency Status Questions Answer the following questions to determine your dependency status for the FAFSA. Were you born before January 1, 1988? Yes No Are you married?

Yes

No

Will you be enrolled in a master’s or doctorate program at the beginning of the 2012-13 school year?

Yes

No

Are you a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces or currently serving on active duty?

Yes

No

Do you have children who will receive more than half of their financial support from you?

Yes

No

At any time since you turned age 13, were both your parents deceased, were you in foster care, or were you a dependent or ward of the court?

Yes

No

Are you or were you an emancipated minor as determined by a court in your state of legal residence?

Yes

No

Are you or were you in legal guardianship as determined by a court in your state of legal residence?

Yes

No

At any time on or after July 1, 2011, were you homeless?

Yes

No

If you answer “no” to every question, you are dependent and must provide parental information on the FAFSA.

If you answer “yes” to any question, you are independent and should not include parental information on the FAFSA.

Teresa Stock Steinkamp, MSW Program Advisor The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis 314.725.7990 [email protected]