Tuesday, January 1, 2008

FAFSA updates

Wow - Good news about changes to the FAFSA.

First - you can now submit your FAFSA results for 10 schools! It was limited to 6 schools last year.

Second - when you complete the Fafsa online the system will determine your eligibility for 3 new programs:

ACG - Academic Competitiveness Grant
SMART - National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant
TEACH Grant - Teacher Education Assitance for College and Higher Education

For ACG and SMART you must qualify for a Pell Grant in order to be eligible.

Please help get the word out to any low income families you know. There are programs out there to help make college affordable for children from those families.

Ready, Set, Go

The FAFSA for the 2008-2009 school year is now available on www.fafsa.ed.gov.

Remember, it is important to file the FAFSA as early as possible. This is the data used by the college to determine your financial aid package. Make sure you are first in line to receive any grants, scholarships, awards available for you.

But you don't have your taxes done for 2007 yet? No one does. Well, answer this question for me - how different is your tax return from year to year? For the majority of us, there is very little difference. Therefore, don't wait. Use your 2006 tax return to complete the FAFSA NOW! You will need to go back and update the FAFSA with your actual numbers, but if the actual numbers are close to the numbers you entered on the FAFSA, there won't be many, if any, adjustments needed.

Be sure to answer each question carefully. If you are confused about how to answer a question post your question on this site - I will respond as quickly as possible and then everyone can learn.

Do not leave any blanks - if the answer is zero, then enter a zero.

Happy Filing!

Sunday, December 30, 2007

The REAL FAFSA website

There are many sites that google will show you if you do a search on FAFSA. However, the only one you should use to complete your FAFSA is
www.fafsa.ed.gov

The FAFSA for the 2008-2009 school year should be available January 1, 2008. Happy Form Filing!!