I will transferring to an university in fall of this year (have been at a junior college paying out of pocket). I will be needing aid to pay for school so i need to know about fasfa and student loans. Please Help!
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its pretty simple if you work and file taxes, its only difficlut when you are a minor and you have to put your aprents info. That is SO CONFUSING and you always end up getting denied becaues they make too much.
But once you are single and have a average job that doesn’t pay well, financial aid is almost guaranteed. The school also helps you out, just go on the FASFA website and fill out a spring 2011 form. They might ask you for your tax return info so you might wanna wait until you get that. I am waiting to file taxes to do my 2011/2013 FASFA application. FASFA needs that tax return info so they can make their decision. Dont worry, you will be approved unless you are a celebrity making millions…lol
There are like 3 companies that issues the loan
I use student Direct loan and the ALWAYS give me too much money every semester. So I have the choice of giving them back the extra immediately (which as like $3000) or I can just pocket it and pay it all back after I get my degree
Most people choose Direct Loan when they are approved by Fasfa and the college so you should do the same. They pay on time and they give you alot so you can use the extra for dorm, books, savings…etc. Remember the more you take is the more you have to pay back, so if you dont need the extra money you get every semester then give it back IMMEDIATELY so they can deduct it from your balance
FAFSA. Free application for federal student aid.http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/
What is federal student aid: It includes grants, work study and loans. Filling out the FAFSA you are applying for all the federal aid listed on this page, plus others certain states and colleges have individually: click federal aid programs on the right. http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/grants.jsp
When FAFSA? Jan 1 of the year you will need it.You have the option on the FAFSA to do an estimate FAFSA using the previous years taxes and send it through. Then ASAP when you can you do the taxes for that year and go on the FAFSA home page under #3 where it says make corrections and put in the actual tax information. For example, my daughter was attending Fall 2010. On Jan 1 we did the FAFSA as an estimate using our 2008 taxes, then as soon as we got or W2s and did our taxes for 2009 we made the corrections on the FAFSA. Why file an estimate: Because colleges are all given so much grant/work study money and its given to students first come, first serve, even if you qualify if you file later, it may be gone. So file early!
How much do you get: Federal aid is offered given to students based on their financial need. Your financial need is determined based on the questions you are asked on the FAFSA which will be about income, amount in banks, property owned, stocks and the like, as well as questions about your current home situation, how many, how many in college at the same time etc. These questions will determine your financial need. They use all the info to determine your EFC, estimated family contribution which is the amount of money your family is expected to pay for your college because they can afford that based on your financial picture. This EFC amount is subtracted from the cost of the attendance (also called school budget) and the result of this is your financial need. COA/student budget is tuition, books, travel personal expenses, housing, fees. You can get an estimate here: http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/F4CApp/index/index.jsf Even if you do not qualify for federal grants or work study you may qualify for federal loans which most all students have. This EFC and recap of your FAFSA will be put in a report called SAR, student aid report. You get an email this is ready in a week or two if you did it online and it can be viewed on the FAFSA home page #3.
The only way you will know what federal aid you qualify for is the colleges you listed on the FAFSA will be sent your SAR and a financial aid award created for you based on your financial need. Each college award will be different, as the cost of attendance is different, colleges have their own aid to offer, and when you apply makes a difference in what aid they have available to offer. You need to look at all the offers. If your federal aid grants, work study and federal loans do not cover your cost of attendance you will need to get a private loan to cover the rest like from a bank, so it may be smarter to pick a cheaper college where you need the least loans
How do you get your aid once you accept it: It gets deposited into your college account, usually by semester not all at once on certain disbursement dates your school has where everyone will get their money disbursed on a certain day. We applied Jan 1 2010, school started 9-1, our semester federal aid was disbursed 8-25. The colleges takes out their charges for housing, meals, tuition, and fees. We did have money left over and if you do you get a refund either a check or card system depending on the school, and we got that a week after school started by card system. Use that refund if any for books, materials etc.
Helpful sites:
All questions FAFSA, financial aid: http://www.finaid.org/
http://www.gocollege.com/financial-aid/student-loans/benefits-of-loans.html
Click BEGIN THE PRESENTATION: http://www.nextstudent.com/financial-aid-tutorial/financial-aid-tutorial.asp#
http://www.knowhow2go.org/
Does your state/program participate in out of state tuition for instate cost: http://www.sreb.org/page/1304/academic_common_market.html
http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/timeline.jsp?tab=applying
http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/student_guide/2009-2010/english/typesofFSA_grants.htm
Understand a few basic terms when searching for financial resources. This site will give you the basics including starting with a FAFSA application.
Follow Peta’s excellent advice.
Also, talk with (either via phone or in-person) a financial aid counselor at the university you will be attending in the fall, as soon as possible. He/she will do the best for you. The univ. may have some financial aid funds (scholarships/grants) that are only available to it’s own enrolled students.
Filing out the FAFSA and filing it is the key!
Be sure to use only the official U.S. Dept. of Education FAFSA web site, as noted by Peta:
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov
There are a lot of other unreliable (and what I consider disreputable) web sites out there claiming to help with FAFSA applications, loans, scholarships, etc. Be careful.
For electronic tools to help you find scholarships and grants for which you can consider applying, I recommend:
* From the FAFSA web pages: Financial Aid & Scholarship Wizard:
https://studentaid2.ed.gov/getmoney/scholarship/scholarship_search_select.asp?13817/
Try both the Search for Scholarships and the Scholarship Matching Wizard links.
* College Board (they publish the College Blue Book & administer the SAT.) They do not sell your email address to other sites which will send you a lot of spam.
Go to: http://www.collegeboard.com
Click on the For Students link
On the next page, click on the Pay for College link (green tab)
On the Pay for College pay are links to a number of useful electronic tools:
Financial aid planning; Scholarship Search
You will need to register for free for the best results, but they are excellent electronic tools.
* Public Library – Like my local public library, your local public library may subscribe to an electronic database which can be useful for locating specialized scholarship funds. If you are not familiar with the electronic databases available through your public library, then either go in-person to the library or telephone and talk with a reference librarian. The database available through my public library is called GrantSelect. It is accessible from my home computer/internet with my valid library card.
Please select Peta’s answer to your question as Best Answer, by the way.
Best wishes