FAFSA INFO

For your information….

What is the FAFSA?  For students and parents, many know they must complete the FAFSA but have no idea what is or how it is used.  We often hear students say, “I didn’t get FAFSA on my award?” So it’s important to understand that it is more than “the Pell grant form” or “how you get a loan.” 

The FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and will be completed by going to www.fafsa.gov. 

·       FAFSA completion is required for a student to receive any federal aid (Federal Pell, Federal work-study, Federal loans, etc.)

·       The results of the FAFSA are used by many colleges and universities for their need-based aid. 

·       The FAFSA results are also used for one of the eligibility requirements for the HELP grant, one of our state aid programs.

·       Many private foundations, such as the Bill Gates Foundation, use the FAFSA results as well.

When should a student complete the FAFSA? For the school year 2017-18, you can begin filing the FAFSA on October 1, 2016 and can complete the FAFSA until June 30, 2018.  Students should complete the FAFSA soon after it becomes available on Oct. 1. Filling out the FAFSA as early as possible can help the student get a jump on other financial aid applications (state or institutional aid) that may have early or priority deadlines. It also will give the student more information earlier about the financial aid for which they might qualify and will help them make an informed decision about which college is the best financial fit.

For an overview on ‘how to fill out the FAFSA’, you might watch this short video:  https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/how-to-fill-out-fafsa.wmv

Create an FSA ID. When students start the FAFSA on the web application, the student (and parent) will need to create an FSA ID which includes a username and password. The FSA ID may be used to electronically sign the FAFSA. When creating the FSA ID, the student (and parent) will provide their SSN, legal name and date of birth, and when possible, they will also provide their own email address.  Having an email is not required but makes retrieval of username and password easier if the student forgets them. (Parents will create their own account using a different email address and create their own username and password).

For an overview on ‘how to create a FSA ID’, you might watch this short video:

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/how-to-create-fsa-id.wmv

FAFSA questions:

·       Is a student independent or dependent?  Working with high school seniors at FAFSA completion days, most students will be dependent.  However, there WILL be independent students.  If a student is independent, then the only information used on the FAFSA is the student’s income and asset information.  If the student is dependent, they will use the parent’s income and assets along with the student’s income and assets.

For an overview on ‘dependency status’, you might watch this short video:

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/dependency-status.wmv

·       Who is the parent?  It is not always intuitive who the parent is for FAFSA completion. 

For an overview on ‘who is my parent’, you might watch this short video:

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/who-is-my-parent.png

·       How many are in the household?  Again, the FAFSA rules may count household size differently than what you might expect.

-        You count in the household:

o   Student – even if student does not live with parents

o   Student’s parents (step-parent included if parent remarried)

o   Parents’ other children (even if they do not live with parents if (a) your parents provide more than half of their support between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018 or (b) the children could answer “no” to every dependency question.

o   Other people if they now live with your parents, your parents provide more than half of their support and your parents will continue to provide more than half of their support between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018.

The IRS Data Retrieval Tool:  For students entering 2017-18, the student and parent will use 2015 income tax information.  On October 1, most families will have completed their 2015 tax returns which will help simplify filing the FAFSA. In most cases, you can transfer income data directly from the IRS website to the FAFSA, making it easier to accurately complete the FAFSA.  This process is called the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT).  It will transfer the student and parent income tax data directly from the IRS to the online FAFSA.

For an overview on ‘how to create a FSA ID’, you might watch this short video: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/how-to-create-fsa-id.wmv

After the FAFSA - The Student Aid Report (SAR):  Once the FAFSA is processed, the student will receive a SAR that contains the data that was entered on the FAFSA either by email or by postal mail.

For an overview on ‘after the FAFSA’, you might watch this short video: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/after-the-fafsa.wmv

The State Grant Application:  After you complete the FAFSA, you will submit the MS Office of Student Financial Aid application which can be linked from the FAFSA confirmation page.  Please review the MS Financial Aid page for more information on the state grants, MTAG, MESG, and HELP.