Have you heard of the FASFA? Basically, it stands for the “Free Application for Student Financial Aid”. This is a form you must fill out to receive any federal aid for college. (In Florida, you now need to fill this out even with the Bright Futures scholarship). Is it fun to fill out? NO! But is it necessary? YES! It has around 100 questions about your family income and assets, any student assets, family members and many more… your answers will be used by the Government and then your school’s financial aid office to determine how much THEY believe you can afford to pay for one child to go to college that year. This is called your EFC – Expected Family Contribution. Millions of $ is left on the table every year because people who didn’t think they would qualify did not even apply! Do not make this mistake! Many families making over $100,000 a year qualify for five figure awards!
Many colleges have a deadline of Feb. 15 for financial aid and most of you will not have your 2011 taxes done by then… No PROBLEM! All you need for the FASFA is a good estimation of income. You can amend the form after your taxes are done and it is easy to amend. The College Board stated that about 90% of forms have mistakes on them so they expect you to have to amend.
Those were the facts, now for the SECRETS… I know some great strategies that could help you reduce your EFC and get more financial aid. Filling out the FASFA is easy but knowing the rules and loopholes is another story. Before you hit “submit” on your form, let me take a look at it! I offer this service for FREE! I will be glad to make sure that you are not leaving any money on the table!
The form is available for free at www.fasfa.gov . There are other sites with similar names that will try to charge you to fill out the form but it is free.
You are more than welcome to fill out the form on your own and I suggest you do it soon! But if you want to KNOW that you have maximized your chances of optimum aid, let me go over it with you first! The Department of Education reports that 40% of families leave money on the table. Let’s make sure you are in the 60%!
If you have a younger child and you are not ready to fill out the FASFA yet, we REALLY need to talk! I can help you make some small adjustments that make sure you qualify for the maximum amount of aid.
The time to act is now. Talk to you soon!
Dusty
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