A cheat sheet to understanding your college financial aid letter
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Time to study up!
Whether your student is college-bound in the fall or still in the early years of their high school career, understanding the college financial aid world is probably an important part of your—and their—education.
That’s why we at LearnVest are offering this crash course in college financial aid lingo on everything from FAFSA to Ford. This list is especially helpful if you’re in the middle of deciphering a financial aid offer letter.
Flickr / Francisco Osorio1. Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
Each year, the office of Federal Student Aid provides more than $150 billion in financial assistance to more than 13 million students—and the FAFSA is how they do it.
The federal financial aid application is filled out every year by current and prospective college students. By submitting your FAFSA, you can become eligible to receive grants, loans or work study to help fund your kid’s studies.
The FAFSA is free to submit and available online, and every college student should submit it every year. The deadline for the FAFSA varies by state—but some aid is first come, first served, so it’s best to be the early bird on this one.
Beginning with the 2017-2018 academic year, you’ll be able to submit your FAFSA as early as the October before your aid year using tax data from two years prior to your aid year.
2. CSS (College Scholarship Service)/Financial aid PROFILE
The CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE is a nonfederal online application for financial aid. Nearly 300 schools in the U.S. use it to determine financial aid eligibility and connect students with nongovernmental aid, from internal funding to scholarships and loans. You should submit a PROFILE only if your college or scholarship program instructs you to do so.
The PROFILE is more thorough than the FAFSA and determines aid eligibility a little differently, considering factors such as your family’s medical expenses, debts, home equity and business net worth. Unlike the FAFSA, the PROFILE has a fee (for the 2016-2017 academic year, it was $25 for the first school and $16 thereafter), though eligible students may apply to have it waived.
Flickr/Robert Scoble
3. Student Aid Report (SAR)
After you’ve filled out your FAFSA, you’ll receive a Student Aid Report that will handily summarize all the information you provided in your FAFSA application. You can request your SAR online or through the mail. When you receive it, review it carefully to make sure all information is correct and complete. If you do find an error, you’ll need to correct and resubmit your FAFSA.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider