As of January 1, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is available online for students and families looking for federal financial aid.
Many colleges and most states use the FAFSA for figuring out whether students are eligible for grants, loans, scholarships and work-study programs. The form uses financial information and other personal data from students or their parents if the student is still dependent.
Students need to fill out the FAFSA every year that they need aid.
It is important for students to file for federal aid as soon as they can, because the closer to Jan. 1 they fill out the form, the better their chances are for getting the most financial aid.
Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Edvisors.com, a website that focuses on financial aid, told The New York Times that students who complete their FAFSA form between January and March get an average of twice as much money in grants as students who file after March do.
Deadlines can impact students’ aid money, as they may miss out on opportunities that they qualify for if they wait too long to file. Some grants only have a specific amount of money to award, so once it is gone, students who haven’t applied yet will miss out on that money.
Students can complete the FAFSA online or fill out a hard copy of the form.
To make the process easier, the online version is compatible with the Internal Revenue Service’s Data Retrieval Tool, allowing data to be pulled from tax forms straight into the FAFSA. Unfortunately, the IRS tool is usually not available until February, so students who want first shot at financial aid may not want to wait that long.
Since the mismatched timelines could make it harder for students to get the aid they need, the Institute for College Access and Success along with other education groups got together to write a letter to President Barack Obama asking to allow students to use financial information from the previous year. This would make it easier to align tax information with federal aid deadlines.
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