THE BIGGEST DON`TS OF FAFSA

Undeniably, one of the biggest money concerns that can be encountered by families is college tuition fees. Parents often get headaches over an overwhelmingly huge sum of fees which does not even include additional payments such as dormitories, books, and allowances. While there are several scholarships your child can apply for, not everyone has the privilege to qualify for one. This is where the concept of Free Application for Federal Student Aid or simply known as FAFSA comes in. This is an application that may provide you with financial aid such as loans and grants. A good feature of this assistance is that it does not require individuals to pay for it. The amount of cash given to a student eligible under this initiative depends on a lot of factors as well, like enrollment status and college expenses.

Despite the opportunity, a large number of high school graduates miss the chance to even try for this, due to a few avoidable mistakes. Billions of dollars go unclaimed just because of failure to file for one. The catch in FAFSA is you need to follow the proper procedures when applying, and avoid these common errors.

#1: Negligence to file

Since many assume they will not be qualified for the program, they do not bother to apply at all. This is not completely true as according to studies, if majority of secondary education graduates filed in 2014, more than 740,000 would probably have received a grant but since they did not register, they have lost around $1,861 of aid. In cases where you are not fit for the support, you can consider other types but would still need a FAFSA filing to complete the process.

#2: Blanked items

The six-page form is composed of questions ranging from personal to financial ones. Skipping a question would cause the processor to assume you forgot to fill it our or intentionally left it without an answer.

#3: Procrastination

Do not wait until the last meeting to arrange your application since the system is a first come, first serve basis. Aim to submit early, and do your own research as every school sets their own deadline.

#4: Providing the parent’s info

During situations wherein your folks will do the filling out of queries for you, advise them to give your personal data, instead of theirs. These include items asking for your social security number or birthday.

#5: Writing down unnecessary assets

The FAFSA does not ask for a report of assets, like retirement plans and funds. If you include all of these, the magnified sum may greatly impact your eligibility for the assistance.

#6: Forgetting to double check

Before passing your form, go through it first to make sure you have written down everything correctly and did not miss anything, like signature. For dependents, both the parent and the applicant must sign while for online registrants, an electronic one will do.