FAFSA Form Guide: 2010-2011 FAFSA Form Help

How to fill out the FAFSA Form (ree Application for Federal Student Aid) and not miss a dime of financial aid!

The FAFSA is one of the most important and most confusing documents you will ever complete in your quest to make college affordable. Take a deep breath. Relax. The FAFSA form may be time-consuming, but it's not impossible, and you can do it with the help of this line by line guide to the 2010-2011 FAFSA.

Start Your FAFSA - Financial Aid Application Form

Looking for the 2009-2010 FAFSA? You'll find our previous year guide here.

Before You Begin the FAFSA Form

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You will need to gather some personal paperwork as well as the appropriate IRS tax forms. We strongly recommend that you do your taxes prior to filing your FAFSA. If possible, do them using estimates so that you can file your FAFSA as early as possible.

We will be using the 2010-2011 FAFSA on the Web as a reference during this tutorial. This is a departure from previous years’ FAFSA guides, but only because the Department of Education is working overtime to eliminate the paper form entirely.

Quick Tips

• When the FAFSA refers to "I", "You", "Your", etc. it is referring to the student! (not the parent, family, or FAFSA preparer)
• Always double check even basic things like your address and ZIP code.
• Nothing will kill a FAFSA faster than errors or omissions! Check everything!
• Colors matter and each year's FAFSA is different.
• Student-related items are in blue this year, while items for the parent(s) are in purple.
• The FAFSA is free. You do not need to pay for it.
• File your FAFSA as early as possible! Some federal financial aid is allotted on a first come, first served basis, which means that if a student with greater need applies later in the year than a student with lesser need, the student with lesser need will get more financial aid because they were in line sooner. File your FAFSA as soon after January 1 of each year as possible to ensure you are awarded the maximum amount of financial aid you are eligible for.

Ready to get started with your FAFSA? Move on to Step 1: Pre-FAFSA preparation.

Start Your FAFSA - Financial Aid Application Form

FAFSA Form Step by Step Guide:

• Step 1 | Prepare

• Account Set-up

• Student Section

• Eligibility for Aid

• Dependents

• Independent Status

• Student Financials

• Student Tax Info

• Parent Tax Info

• Parent Financials

• Grant Eligibility

• Complete and Sign

• FAFSA Filed | Next Steps