FAFSA Financial Aid Form News Blog

Via NASFAA:

As amended by the Senate, HR 5175 makes the following changes::

* Directs all savings generated by the bill into the ACG and SMART Grant programs

* Adds a fifth year to SMART Grant eligibility for programs that require five years

* Allows students attending at least half time to qualify for ACG and SMART Grants and requires proration based on Pell Grant methodology for less than full-time attendance

* Allows eligible non-citizens (e.g. permanent residents) to qualify for ACG and SMART Grants

* Changes “academic year” to simply “year” for purposes of progression through grant levels, but did not include companion amendment recommended by NASFAA that would have allowed students who are classified as second year based solely on AP or IB coursework to be considered to have met the second year 3.0 GPA requirement

* Allows students who are enrolled in an institution that offers a single baccalaureate-level liberal arts curriculum that permits no subject area major, but who are taking coursework in an area equivalent to a SMART-eligible major at other bachelor degree-granting institutions, to qualify for SMART Grant eligibility

* Extends first-year ACG eligibility to students enrolled in at least a one-year certificate program and extends second-year ACG to students enrolled in at least a two-year certificate program. In both cases the certificate must be offered by a degree-granting institution

* Appears to remove some of the Secretary’s authority to define “rigorous secondary school program of study,” permitting only states to designate such programs. This amendment may further restrict what is currently considered a rigorous program

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While filling out the FAFSA can potentially give you free money from the government, so can taking the time to find scholarships on the web. It can be time consuming but it results in free money for school that you dont have to pay back. I found this really great article about how to get a scholarship (click below):

really great article

If anyone knows of some interesting scholarships, tell us about it

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This is for all the parents out there who help their college bound teenager with the paperwork necessary to receive grants and loans from the gov’t. Once you submitted the FAFSA form…the gov’t processes it and then they send a SAR (student aid report) to the school(s) listed on the FAFSA form. Once the school receives this, they create a financial aid award letter for your child. Typically, you get this is the mail, and it’s at that point in time you start wondering where this money is going to come from. The Stafford loan will cover some of the tuition, but not usually all of it. From a lot of the parents I talk to, they are short an average of 7k-14k a year…after all Federal aid is utilized (Stafford loan, pell grant, scholarships). The question I get is…should I borrow a Parent plus loan, or should I co-sign an alternative loan for my child?
Well that depends on several things:

1. If you want loans that are all deferred until after graduation, then the parent plus is not for you…those payments begin when the loan is disbursed to the school

2. If you want the child to bear some responsibility for these loans in the future, the parent plus loan is not for you….this loan will ALWAYS remain under the parent’s name until it is paid in full. However, most parents borrow these loans, and then require their child to make the payments once they are out of school.

3. If you want to help the child get through school, but you want them to be on their own when they finish, then an alternative loan might work best. You will be the cosigner, but most alternative loans have co-signer release programs after a certain number of on time payments are made.

***something important to remember: federal loans are forgiven/cancelled if the borrower of the loan becomes deceased…for parent plus loans, this holds true for the parent and for the child it was borrowed for. The same cannot be said for alternative loans. It’s hard to think about, but it’s an important factor in making your decision about what type of loan to borrow.

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From NASFAA, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators:

After the paper version of the FAFSA was published by the Department of Education (ED) and the FAFSA on the Web site went live on January 1, 2008, IRS changed the Form 4136 line item for reporting the credit for tax on special fuels from line 17 to line 18.

IRS Form 4136, line 18, is the correct line item to use for reporting the credit for tax on special fuels on Worksheet B for the 2008-09 award year.

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Some folks get confused by this question on your FAFSA - what is your state of legal residence?

The state of legal residence has nothing to do with immigration status or anything else - it’s the state in which you, the student, reside permanently. Many students have a school-based mailing address, but they are legally still living at home, at least for tax purposes.

Two easy ways to determine your state of legal residence - it’s whatever is on your driver’s license (if you have one) or whatever address you list on your IRS federal tax return (if you file one).

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While some state priority deadlines have passed, it’s still not too late to file your FAFSA to qualify for the maximum amount of federal student aid available. The earlier you can file your FAFSA, the more likely it is you’ll receive scholarships and grants (if eligible) from a limited pool of money. In tough and declining economic conditions and times such as these, every dollar of aid counts that much more.

File today!

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Did you get your FAFSA results back by mail or email? Want to know how to interpret them and what steps to take next?

Tune into the February 19, 2008 episode of the Financial Aid Podcast to hear how to understand your FAFSA EFC results!

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We’ve got a new FAFSA video out on YouTube - give it a watch and learn about 6 major updates to the FAFSA form.

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One of the provisions in the Higher Education Act Reauthorization (HR 4137) currently moving through Congress would allow students, parents, and families to authorize the IRS to pre-populate the FAFSA with information from the federal tax return.

This provision would be a huge advantage to families in terms of saving time on FAFSA preparation. By porting over the data, it will also ensure greater accuracy. Let’s hope the provision remains a part of the legislation and becomes law!

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Source: FAFSA blog

If you are a current student looking for the 2008-2009 renewal FAFSA, be warned: there isn’t one anywhere on the FAFSA site or in the initial application. Thankfully, Carla Berg of Bentley College mentioned that the FAFSA renewal option was gone. Apparently, when you go to file a FAFSA as a returning student, the application pre-populates with last year’s data, but that’s not obvious anywhere on the site.

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