Helen asks…
FAFSA… not free anymore?
A friend of mine recently filled out her FAFSA but said she was asked for her credit card number and was going to be charged $79.99 for a “review” of her application. I haven’t applied recently, nor plan to, but I thought that was a little off… is the FREE Application for Federal Student Aid not FREE anymore???
And do you happen to have links to where I can see if this is true or not. I have looked into it some, but without actually applying, I have no good way of checking that out.
Michelle answers:
The FAFSA is always free! FAFSA is short for “Free Application for Federal Student Aid.”
It’s possible your friend stumbled upon a site that submits the FAFSA for a fee. Thanks to recent changes, the FAFSA is so much easier to fill out than ever. The sections are color coded between parent and student sections so you can see at a glance what you have to answer — and what is left for your parents.
Fill out the FAFSA as early as possible — you have a better chance at snagging grants (which don’t have to be paid back) than not. Otherwise, colleges can still use your FAFSA info to match you up with their institution-specific scholarships/grants.
William asks…
FAFSA Due date situation?
I am a undergraduate class of 2012 and was wondering if I can still fill out my fafsa even though I have not submitted any college applications, the college I am most likely going to is a community college and the term I want to enroll is Fall or Winter 2012 but it is not available yet, instead the college I want to go to is offering Spring 2012 according to my state California, I should have my fafsa in by March 2 ( for initial awards) / September 2 (for additional community college awards) Am I allowed to wait until the term I want is available and then do the Fafsa or do I have to have the Fafsa in regardless if the term I want to apply for isn’t available?
Michelle answers:
Only FAFSA application that is available to fill out is 2012-2013 which is for Fall 2012 and Spring 2013. If you are interested in going to a college starting in the fall of this year you can fill out the 2012-2013 FAFSA application. And you do not have to apply to the college, university or community college prior to filling out the FAFSA application. You can list the schools you are interested in possibly attending. The schools you list will be able to view all the information you put on the FAFSA application. It’s actually best if you fill out the FAFSA first so it has time to process then immediately fill out the applications and send payment in for the application to the schools you are interested in attending. And as far as the community college goes list them on FAFSA as well, fill their application out and then register for the courses you are interested in. Most community colleges have priority registration and some require you to see a counselor and take a specific weekend course in order to boost your priority from last to 3rd or 4th (this is what the local community college requires where I live in Northern California), and then the more courses you take & then talk to a counselor in regards to your academic plan then your priority goes up as well.
Good luck!
Robert asks…
FAFSA not working, HELP!?
I applied for FAFSA a couple weeks ago & I got a confirmation email after saying I was qualified for financial aid. I just registered for my classes this week, & when I checked my pay fees it said I had to pay $300+. I know financial aid is suppose to cover mostly everything for college and I just wanted to know what’s wrong with FAFSA?
Michelle answers:
FAFSA is just a form/application to apply for grants/loans and you submit it to your college using it FAFSA school code. Then the college financial aid office use FAFSA to determine the amount of grants/loans you should receive based on the tuition.
If you have problems with your financial aid award package, ask or see a financial aid counselor on campus. There is nothing wrong with FAFSA. Unless you submitted wrong information.
Charles asks…
FAFSA money overseas?
Is it possible to use money received in a FAFSA in a university outside the US? I’m applying to a school in Canada (Concordia to be exact) and I want to know if the money I receive from my FAFSA can be used there. Thanks for all the help.
Michelle answers:
The FAFSA, Free Application For Student Aid, is just that — an application only. It is used by colleges and universities in the USA to help them determine what sort of financial aid package (loans, scholarships and grants) they will offer to students who have applied and been accepted to each college/univ.
Any financial aid offers resulting from a FAFSA application are made by the specific college/university to which one has applied. The financial aid funds do not come from FAFSA.
Therefore, for Concordia Univ. In Montreal, Quebec, Canada, I doubt if the univ. Uses the U.S. Dept. Of Education FAFSA form to help determine the financial aid it will offer to an applying student.
No doubt you have read the financial aid info Concordia Univ. Has on it’s web pages:
http://www.concordia.ca/admissions/financial-aid-and-awards/
This is a link to info from the univ. Regarding US students with loans through the US Dept. Of Education:
http://faao.concordia.ca/main/news/getannounceitem.shtml?category=news&id=620
If you have not already done so, I recommend you telephone the Concordia Univ. Financial Aid Office
514-848-2424 ext. 3507
and speak with a univ. Financial aid counselor about the possibilities for financial aid for a student from the USA.
Best wishes.
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