How to Get Financial Aid in the USA

Steps

1. Make a list of the schools you are interested in attending.
2. Go to www.fafsa.ed.gov and request a PIN if you don't already have one.
3. Once you have a PIN, go back to the website and complete the FAFSA on the Web Worksheet. If you do this first, then you can be sure to have all the data and forms you need at hand before you fill out the FAFSA itself. Be sure you include the code for each college you are interested in on the FAFSA.
4. Complete the FAFSA and submit it to the Dept of Ed. The Dept will process it and send a copy of the data to all the schools you listed. You will also receive a paper confirmation.
5. The FAFSA is also an application for many states' scholarships. The website www.fafsa.ed.gov lists the states and their deadlines. You apply to your state of residence, not the state where you will attend school. You should also access your state scholarship website for more information about the specific types of scholarships they offer. Google your state if you don't know the website.
6. Institutional awards are offered by the school, for example, athletic scholarships. You should be sure to ask both the admissions and financial aid offices for information on these.
7. Other types of aid may come from your church, Kiwanis Club, etc. You can also Google "college scholarships" or something similar to check out other opportunities. Stay away from any sites where you have to pay for their information.

Tips

• Contact the financial aid offices at all the schools you are interested in for information on deadlines, additional forms needed, and institutional aid to apply for.
• Talk to your admissions representative to find out if there are any other awards you may qualify for.
• Print out copies of all the forms you complete on line and keep them for your records.
• Keep copies of forms turned in to your financial aid office in case anything goes wrong. Losing forms in the mail equals lost time.
• Respond to any communications from the financial aid office promptly! They serve a lot of students and if they don't hear from you, your awards may go to someone else who did respond on time!
• DO NOT WAIT to file your income tax returns before you fill out the FAFSA. You may thus miss your college's deadline and not qualify for some types of aid.
• Use estimated figures, get the FAFSA in on time, and after your return is filed, you can file the corrections electronically, using www.fafsa.ed.gov. Another option is to update the information via your school, thus avoiding the problem of the school receiving updated information and then being forced to verify it with more paperwork.
• It is usually not necessary to hire a financial aid consultant. The financial aid people at your school should provide all the information you need.
• Have your tax documents ready; you may be selected for verification and the school could request to see them.

Warnings

• Again, DO NOT WAIT to file your taxes before you fill out the FAFSA. Send in the FAFSA with estimated figures and then correct them later.

Things You'll Need

• Access to the internet
• Ability to print from the internet
• Tax returns
• List of schools you are interested in

Sources and Citations

• www.fafsa.ed.gov
• List of U.S. schools that offer full scholarships [1]

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