1. Everything You Need to Know About FAFSA

2. Free Application for Federal Student Aid
What is the FAFSA?
What does it stand for?
Free Application for Federal Student Aid
Free federal financial aid application
is required for ALL colleges
Completed electronically
Opens October 1st
Should be completed as early as possible
Is composed of 5 major sections
Allow students to share their answers to this question. Ask what it stands for. 1 2 3 4 5

3. To be Eligible for FAFSA Students must
Be a US Citizen
Must have SSN
Have no drug related convictions

4. Common mistakes made by students is not adding all the schools on their list to this section. The max permitted is 10, if the student has more then 10 schools on their list, they must first submit the form with the top 10, then allow it time to be processed and resubmit listing only the schools that were not listed
Information listed on the application is shared with the colleges you list on the application
Financial Aid Offices at the schools uses your information to determine how much financial aid you receive at that school
10 is the max schools that can be listed at a time, but additional ones can be added once the application has been submitted and processed successfully

5. If student answers no to theses questions then they are classified as dependent and must provide parent info
If student answers yes to these questions then they are classified as Independent and do not need their parent info

6. Required Parent Information
Marital Status
Unmarried and both parents living together
Married or remarried
Divorced or Separated
Widowed
Social Security Numbers
CAN’T put ITIN #
If parents don’t have one student simply enters
Parents who have ITIN #s will have to physically sign and mail a signature page to confirm the info input on application
Dates of Birth
House Hold Size
Number of people that live in your house
Number of people your parents maintain
Number in college
Number of siblings in college

7. Parent and student Income Taxes - will use 2017 taxes for your senior year
Parent and student W2 forms, latest pay stub.
Current checking/savings info for both student and parent
Record of other money coming into or out of the home: child support, spousal support, workman’s comp
Knowledge of other benefits received: TANF, SSI, WIC

8. What Happens After Submitting?

9. Request Tax Transcript
Request this document as soon as your FAFSA is submitted
Needed to confirm the information listed on the Tax Return during the verification process
Are free to request
Can be request through the IRS by
Phone
Mail
Fax
Takes 5-10 days to arrive in the mail, but during busy period can take up to a month

10. Review Student Aid Report (SAR) and Update FAFSA
Gives EFC and tell if has been selected for Verification
SAR is the summary of all info reported on the FAFSA
ed through a link to the student
The SAR indicates if a student has been selected for verification
Provides the official EFC (Estimated Family Contribution)
Next steps or errors
summary of all info reported on the FAFSA

12. How is EFC calculated?

13. Grants Grants Loans Pell FSEOG Need Based Aid TEXAS Grant TEOG
Direct Subsidized loan
Direct Unsubsidized loan
Parent Plus Loan
Grants
TEXAS Grant
TEOG
Need Based Aid
Merit Based Aid

14. Complete the Verification Process
Process through which colleges request copies of specific documents from students to verify information put on FAFSA
Documents can include: Tax Return Transcript,W2s, and school specific verification documents.
Two Types of Verification:
Federal Verification
Institutional Verification
Must be completed in timely manner in order to receive aid

15. FAFSA Timeline

16. FAFSA4caster Free tool located on the FSA website
Allows student to see their estimated financial aid
Pell Grant Estimate
Work Study Estimate
Student Loan Estimate
Helps families plan ahead

17. FAFSA4Caster Activity

18. Determine Senior A’s Federal Financial Aid Using the information below
Student A Information:
US Citizen
DOB 12/03/99
19 years old
Single
Will be a first time college student
Has no dependents
Parents are married
Mother 37
Father 39
3 live in the household only he she will be in college
Family made 34,000 AGI
Live in TX
Student did not work or file taxes himself
What is student A’s estimated Federal Pell Grant? 4,970
How much did student A get in work-study ?
1,465
How much can student A take out in loans?
5,500

19. Determine Senior B’s Federal Financial Aid Using the Information Below
Student B Information
Is a 19 year old senior who was born and raised in Ennis Texas. He
lives with his mother (38 yrs. old) and stepfather (40yrs. old) who have been married for 5 years. He has 3 younger sibling in middle school and will be the first member in his family to attend college . His parents made 29,000 in 2017 and declared taxes. Student B has never had a job.
What is student A’s estimated Federal Pell Grant?
5,920
How much did student A get in work-study ?
1,465
How much can student A take out in loans?
5,500

20. Input your Information to see your estimated federal financial aid
What is YOUR estimated Federal Pell Grant?
How much did YOU get in work-study ?
How much can YOU take out in loans?

21. What can you do to prepare for the FAFSA process?
Start collecting the documents needed to complete the application
Parent and student Income Taxes - will use 2017 taxes for your senior year
Parent and student W2 forms, latest pay stub.
2. Check your estimated financial aid using the FAFSA4casting tool
Fafsa.ed.gov
Use your parents 2017 tax information