Going to college this fall? File FAFSA form ASAP

Staff report

davenport, iowa

FAFSA — the Free Application for Federal Student Aid — is the financial application used by all colleges and universities across the United States.

Its importance in determining actual out-of-pocket costs for college cannot be overstated. Today, the 2011-12 FAFSA form will be available to file with the department of education. Every student who plans to be in college for the 2011-12 year needs to file the form as quickly as possible.

FAFSA is not only used by the government for eligibility for the Pell Grants and Stafford Loans, but it is also used by the colleges and universities to help determine a student’s eligibility for various grants and scholarships.

Many colleges and universities require the FAFSA even for non-need based sources of funds such as choral scholarships and academic awards.

The earliest time you can file a FAFSA is Jan. 1 of the year before the college year in question. If your student is starting college in the fall of 2011, then the FAFSA needs to be filed at the beginning of this year.

The deadlines for filing the FAFSA are dictated by each college’s financial-aid priority deadlines, which can typically be found at each college’s website.

Most colleges have financial-aid priority deadlines that fall between February and April. Some colleges may be earlier.

The bottom line is the financial-aid priority deadlines most often come long before your taxes are due, so don’t wait to complete your taxes before filing the FAFSA. The FAFSA can be submitted with estimated tax information. You can always go back and update it later after the taxes are completed. But always make sure your FAFSA is filed before the financial-aid priority deadline.

For the majority of students, both the parents and the students will need to file information on the FAFSA. Each student going to college needs his or her own individual FAFSA form.

The FAFSA is going to ask for the parents’ income and assets, the student’s income and assets and some basic demographic information. Most of the information can be taken from your most-recent tax returns, bank and investment statements.

FAFSA can still be filed on a paper form, which can be acquired through your high school guidance counselor or a college financial-aid office.

However, it is recommended to file using the online FAFSA form at www.fafsa.ed.gov.

There are many ways you can make the FAFSA work better for you and increase your opportunities for financial help. To find out more, visit www.eduLaunchpad.com.