{"id":8417,"date":"2018-10-19T16:00:13","date_gmt":"2018-10-19T22:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.petersons.com\/blog\/?p=8417"},"modified":"2019-02-26T15:52:12","modified_gmt":"2019-02-26T22:52:12","slug":"what-the-eff-is-the-fafsa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petersons.com\/blog\/what-the-eff-is-the-fafsa\/","title":{"rendered":"What the eff is the FAFSA?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hearing the word FAFSA everywhere you turn in your high school halls? You may be utterly confused by what the thing is, or have heard horror stories from your parents about a big thick packet asking questions about which you don\u2019t have the answers. This article will guide you through the process of understanding what the FAFSA is, how and when to fill it out. We also hope to calm your nerves around the form. <\/span><\/p>\n

We talked to Elaine Griffin, who is the Senior Contributor and Communications Specialist for <\/span>Edvisors<\/span><\/a>. Griffin formerly worked for the <\/span>U.S. Department of Education<\/span><\/a> and her latest project was working on <\/span>Edvisor\u2019s 2019-2020 Guide to Filing the FAFSA\u00ae<\/span><\/a>, so she knows a thing or two about this behaamouth application.. Griffin offered background and advice for the application process.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the FAFSA?<\/b><\/h1>\n

The name in itself is somewhat explanatory, as FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. But, essentially, the FAFSA is an application you need to fill out in order to be eligible for federal student aid, like federal grants, work-study, and loans, as well as some states and colleges.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe FAFSA is one of the most important if not the most important applications for financial aid for students of the United States attending U.S. universities. It will allow students to basically fill out one application, and it awards them the federal funded student aid that\u2019s available to them based on the information provided in there,\u201d said Griffin, who added that it also \u201cgoes a step further because the FAFSA is also used by states and institutions to further assist in awarding financial aid to those students through their state and institutional programs, so it\u2019s a very important application.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

How does the FAFSA apply to you?<\/b><\/h1>\n

You may hear that some of your peers are choosing not to fill it out because they don\u2019t think they\u2019ll get anything out of it. However, Griffin recommends that also students fill out the FAFSA.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a myth out there that financial aid is only for need-based purposes, and that’s not true, said Griffin. \u201cThere are some non need-based programs available. So, you don\u2019t have to accept anything that you\u2019re awarded, but it\u2019s always good to see what your options are in all of them if you do need additional assistance, especially if you don\u2019t think you\u2019ll qualify.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While you may not think you\u2019ll qualify for need-based financial aid, you may need to take out student loans. As student debt continues to rise, it\u2019s especially important to understand the federal student loan options.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat federal student loan, it\u2019s got some great benefits to it that you\u2019re just not going to find in the private market,\u201d said Griffin.<\/span><\/p>\n

These other benefits may include subsidized loan options, Stafford loans, direct loans, fixed interest rates, and payments that aren\u2019t due until after you graduate. Most also don\u2019t require a credit check.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are also other specific loan types with benefits can help minimize your debt and interest. <\/span><\/p>\n

Then, on the specific school and state side of things, there are various criteria that students can qualify for to receive other types of aid.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never a bad idea to just try and see if there\u2019s any programs that the student could possibly qualify for, that maybe have some other income brackets. That\u2019s going to vary a little bit more, but there is a chance that there are other types of aid that the student can qualify for outside of that federal aid package,\u201d said Griffin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is the FAFSA hard to fill out?<\/b><\/h1>\n

\u201cThere is a bit of a fear around the FAFSA, but I will say I think a lot of that comes from the older versions,\u201d said Griffin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Griffin explained that the FAFSA has \u201cevolved quite a bit\u201d over the last decade or so, as the form used to be a lengthy paper document that was quite intimidating to high schoolers. Obviously, the first step was to put the FAFSA on the web, which has been done. For this 2019\/2020 cycle of the FAFSA, there is also a mobile application option. <\/span><\/p>\n

The application also has what Griffin referred to as \u201cskip logic\u201d, which means the application is only going to ask questions that you need to fill out and it will skip over questions that don\u2019t pertain to you, as the computer knows to skip based on your previous answers, making the process shorter and easier. There is also the availability of an IRS data retrieval tool, that will pre-fill some financial tax information for you. This also applies to when you renew your application each academic year.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you’re just getting started, here’s a checklist from Edvisors of what you’ll need to have with you to fill out the form:<\/p>\n