Department of Education and dispersed by the individual schools. The EFC is the amount that a family can reasonably afford to pay each year for higher education.
To calculate the amount of financial aid a student receives, a school's financial aid office will subtract the student's EFC from the total cost of attendance tuition plus living expenses. Keep reading to learn more about the application process and some tricks for streamlining the process. The FAFSA is for any student who plans to enroll -- or is currently enrolled -- in postsecondary education. That includes two- and four-year colleges, graduate schools, professional schools like law, business or medical school and just about any program rewarding a degree, certificate or credit, including most vocational and technical schools.
So if you attend a four-year college, you will need to fill out and submit the FAFSA four separate times. This is because the government needs the most up-to-date and accurate financial information to make its calculations. Not everyone living in the U. First of all, you need to be a U. This one gets complicated, because there are exceptions for people who are born in several Pacific Islands like the Federated States of Micronesia, American Samoa and the Marshall Islands.
There are also exceptions for people with refugee status, victims of human trafficking and those who have been granted political asylum [source: FAFSA]. If you're a U. If you're a male between the ages of 18 and 25, you must also register for the Selective Service. The final pre-requisite for receiving federal financial aid is a high school diploma or a General Equivalency Diploma GED. In general, people with criminal records are still eligible for federal financial aid.
The only exception is if you were convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs while you were receiving federal financial aid in the past [source: FAFSA]. After all, this is the same government that brought you the IRS. That said, you can streamline the process considerably by gathering all of your documents and information before you start the actual application.
The first step is to complete your income tax return for the most recent year -- which is easier said than done [source: FAFSA]. The FAFSA asks for financial information directly from your tax returns, so it's very helpful to have your returns handy. If you're applying for financial aid as a dependent of your parents, then you'll be using your parent's tax returns.
If you're applying as an independent, then you need to supply your own income information. While you're digging out the tax return, you might as well grab all of your financial records. This includes W2 forms, investment data bonds, stocks , CDs , mortgage statements, IRA statements, bank statements -- anything that shows how much money you have and where it is.
If you can't remember your Social Security number, now is the time to figure it out. If you're applying as a dependent, you will also need at least one of your parents' Social Security numbers and birth dates. It's a good idea for all students to submit the FAFSA, since it doesn't have an income cutoff and can be used for more than just federal aid," says Rebecca Safier, a student loan counselor for Student Loan Hero. Students can also lower their college costs by appealing the first financial aid offer they get from a college they want to attend.
Skip Navigation. Jennifer Liu. VIDEO Pell Grants , the main federal grants for college, are intended for students with "exceptional financial need.
A college or university's financial aid office determines how much money students qualify to receive, based on their family's EFC and the school's cost of attendance COA.
These grants also do not need to be repaid, but they are only available at certain schools. As with Pell Grants, these supplemental grants are meant for students with few other financial resources. These loans are subsidized by the government, which means that will not be required to pay interest on them while you are in school and for a grace period of six months after you graduate. These subsidized loans are not available for graduate study.
The federal work-study program makes paid part-time jobs available through participating colleges and universities. Both undergraduate and graduate students may be eligible. Federal loans, whether subsidized or unsubsidized, tend to be less costly than private loans and have more flexible repayment options. If students or their parents don't pay the interest during this time period , it will be added to the principal of the loan. Schools can offer these loans as part of a financial aid package regardless of a family's financial situation.
These loans are intended for parents or graduate students. To qualify, the student must take certain classes and, within eight years of graduation, have worked for at least four years in an elementary or secondary school or educational service agency that serves low-income families.
These grants don't have to be repaid unless the student fails to fulfill the requirements, in which case the grant is converted into a direct unsubsidized loan. The U. Department of Education uses the FAFSA application to determine a student's eligibility for need-based federal financial aid for college based upon their financial situation.
It is simply an application that you fill out in order to determine your eligibility for receiving a federal loan. There are three main types of financial aid that a student may be deemed eligible for after completing a FAFSA application. Some of this money is free money, some must be earned through work, and some must be repaid. The most general eligibility requirements to qualify for the various forms of federal student aid include that you have financial need, are a U.
However, there are more eligibility requirements you must meet to qualify for federal student aid and these requirements are specific, based on the type of aid. The majority of students are eligible to receive some type of financial aid from the federal government to help pay for college or career school.
The age of the student, race, and field of study are not taken into account when determining their eligibility. To be considered for federal student aid for the — award year, you needed to complete a FAFSA form between Oct.
Most families—regardless of how much they earn or have accumulated in assets—will find it useful to fill out FAFSA.
If it turns out that they are ineligible for free money in the form of grants or scholarships, they are still likely to be eligible for non-need-based aid in the form of direct unsubsidized loans from the federal government.
Federal student loans typically have more favorable terms than loans from private lenders and offer a variety of flexible repayment options.
Federal Student Aid. Department of Education: " Wondering how the amount of your student aid Is determined? Department of Education offers low-interest loans to eligible students to help cover the cost of college or career school. Student Loans. Saving For College. Your Privacy Rights.
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