FAFSA Form & Financial Aid Form Blog

FAFSA season opens in 3 days - are you ready? Have you got all your documentation? You know, this stuff:

• Your Social Security Number (can be found on Social Security card)
• Your driver’s license or state ID (if any)
• Your W-2 Forms and other records of money earned
• Your (and your spouse’s, if you are married) 2004 Federal Income Tax Return - IRS Form 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ, 1040TeleFile, foreign tax return, or tax return for Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia
• Your parents’ Federal Income Tax Return (if you are a dependent student)
• Your untaxed income records - Social Security, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, welfare, or veterans benefits records
• Your current bank statements
• Your current business and investment mortgage information, business and farm records, stock, bond, and other investment records
• Your alien registration or permanent residence card (if you are not a U.S. citizen)

A few tips on the W-2 forms:

First, employers are required to complete and mail you your W-2 forms for tax preparation purposes by January 31, 2006. This is required by law, so if you don’t get yours, speak up.

When it comes to FAFSA preparation, early is good and early with accurate info is better. If you have a complicated tax situation (meaning you would use the IRS 1040 instead of the 1040EZ) it’s probably better to wait and file your taxes, then your FAFSA. If you have simple taxes, file your FAFSA with estimates and then submit corrections if need be.

Be sure to double check info on your W-2!

We’ve just put up a link in our navigation bar in case you’ve lost or need a Department of Education PIN number, which by far is one of the most commonly asked questions we get. The URL is PIN.ED.GOV and you can get one there.

Pace University’s Pace Press did a very nice article summarizing the FAFSA from our FAFSAonline.com site - thanks, Jackie Berg, for a great article. Stay tuned as we deconstruct the IRS 1040 coming soon. Promise.

Their article:

PacePress Article

The final FAFSA forms in English and Spanish are up on FAFSAonline.com along with the new tax line guide! Check them out!

Guide to the FAFSA Form

Scholarship season is approaching along with FAFSA season, and that means lots of scholarships will have upcoming deadlines. Are you ready? Are you prepared to apply for as many scholarships as possible? If not, be sure to check out our free scholarship search secrets guide, available to subscribers of the Financial Aid Podcast.

How do you get it for free? Visit FinancialAidPodcast.com and follow the directions for subscribing.

Thinking about the FAFSA and financial aid eligibility before the holidays! Great idea! Even better idea - this holiday season, pay cash only. Not only will you avoid loading up with unnecessary debt (debt, I should add, that does NOT improve your eligibility for aid) but you’ll burn off cash assets which WILL improve eligibility for financial aid. The less cash you and your family have, the better your chances of receiving federal financial aid, because available cash is one of the key questions in determining need.

Remember: consumer debt - credit cards, personal loans and lines of credit, etc. - do NOT improve your eligibility for federal financial aid. They only make you poorer. So this holiday season - cash is king!

… lay off the plastic.

While this is a FAFSA blog, I also write the Financial Aid News blog and podcast, and can say with certainty that spending more than you have cash for this holiday season will make for a really unpleasant holiday season.

So please, folks… cash only (or cash equivalent, like debit cards)… for everyone’s financial health.

Thanks.

The new FAFSA forms have arrived. A bunch showed up at the office yesterday. Some things:
+ Color coded!
+ Blue for students, purple for parents
+ Bad references to IRS 1040 fixed!
+ Online version at FAFSAonline.com