FAFSA Application 2012-2013, Financial Aid for College

Before you file your 2012-2013 FAFSA, you should learn more about the application, instead of jumping into it.

To fill out the 2012-2013 FAFSA application you will need your:

• social security number
• driver's license (if you have one)
• 2011 W-2's and records of all 2010 earnings
• 2011 federal tax return forms- and spouse's, if married (If you haven't filed, you can estimate and make corrections later.)
• parents' (if a dependent student) 2011 federal tax return forms
• 2011 untaxed income records- including veterans non-education benefits, child support received, and worker's compensation
• bank statements, business and investment mortgage information, business and farm records, stock market assets, bond and other investment records (as of the day you fill out the FAFSA- this is supposed to be a current snapshot of your finances)
• alien registration or permanent resident card if not a U.S. citizen

If you need some really basic information about the form, check out, "What does FAFSA stand for?" Otherwise, this page will give you a overview of the 2012-2013 form. There are differences between the printable FAFSA and the online form. (Although they collect the same information, of course.) If you are looking to renew FAFSA, use the online form with its prefilled information. Students are advised to file early enough to meet their state FAFSA deadline.

1. Student demographics- These are the questions that would be classified as personal identification and they will be used to establish your basic eligibility for federal aid.

   *New for 2012-2013*

   Students who say they have a high school diploma will be required to name the school and its city and state. (The online form has a dropdown list.) If a match cannot be found for the school listed (after reviewing) your form will be flagged for corrections.

   The drug conviction question now only applies to returning students. If you indicate that you were convicted of the possession or sale of illegal drugs while you were receiving federal aid, your SAR will include this worksheet to be filled out:

   English

   Spanish

   Two questions have been dropped from this part. You will no longer be asked what your enrollment status will be, and you won't be asked if you intend to take any teaching courses (because there is no funding for the Teach grant in 2012-2013).

   The last question in this part was changed from asking if you would consider loans and work-study, to one that simply asks about work-study. (Federal loan eligibility will be automatically calculated on your FAFSA.)

2. School selection- You are allowed to list up to ten. This part of the FAFSA form is often rushed through by students and not given the thought and research it deserves. Even if you're fairly sure about where you will go (and especially if you have no clue) list as many as you can. Go for all ten! It costs you nothing to indicate your interest- see what kind of nibbles you get. They will all send you some information, but you can compare their levels of interest to make a decision about which ones to apply to.

   Check out the FAFSA school codes before you start the application.

   Include at least one expensive school so that you can find out the maximum Pell grant amount you might qualify for.

   This year, if you want to add or delete schools you will have to make "corrections" on your form, but you can also change the order in which the schools are listed.

3. Dependency status- If you answer "yes" to any of these questions:
   • birth date before January 1, 1987
   • married
   • working on an advanced degree
   • children or dependents you support
   • active duty or veteran
   • orphan, foster care or ward of the court
   • emancipated minor, in legal guardianship, or homeless

   you will be considered independent and you will not have to provide parental info.

   If you are dependent, but cannot provide parent information for one of the following reasons (and only these):

   • Your parents are incarcerated.
   • An abusive environment forced you to leave home.
   • Your parents whereabouts are unknown, you are unable to contact them and you have not been adopted.

   you will be allowed to submit your FAFSA, but you will not receive an EFC (expected family contribution) number until you follow up with the financial aid officer at your college. (This means aid might be delayed.)

   If your parents refuse to provide information or any financial support, you may still qualify for an unsubsidized Stafford loan, only.

4. Parent demographics- Key questions in this section are household size and number of college students in the household.

   It is important to realize that these dependents are not necessarily the same as tax exemptions, since the FAFSA application is looking for a picture of your household as of the day you fill out the form (and for your future college year). Tax exemptions refer to the previous year.

5. Financial information- The parent's information comes first. If income tax forms for 2010 were not yet filed, you will still have to indicate which form will be used and estimate earnings and income tax.

   There is a list of additional sources of earnings and untaxed income that you will need to supply dollar amounts for if they apply to you. (For purposes of FAFSA, deferred compensation counts as income.) This list is summarized on my Pell grant form page.

   The student's financial information comes next. This year, parents and students will be allowed to skip questions about assets if they answer that their assets are below the protected amount. This amount will be calculated based on age and marital status and will be included in the question itself.

   If the financial info qualifies you for a Pell grant, you would have been asked in previous years to provide academic information to see if you also qualified for an ACG and National SMART Grant, but as these are no longer funded, the questions have been eliminated.

6. Sign and submit- You (and your parent if you are a dependent student) will need to sign your FAFSA application, either now or later. (Your application can be processed without a signature, but no aid will be released without it.)

   You can print a signature page and mail it, but the quickest and easiest way is to apply for a FAFSA PIN.

7. Confirmation- FAFSA website changes have made this confirmation more secure. Your confirmation number will be randomly generated (instead of being made up of your social security number and first two letters of your last name, as in the past).

   Of course, this also makes it more difficult to remember, so write it down and save it.

   Your (estimated) EFC number will also be displayed on this page, but may be somewhat harder to find this year.

   This page will also have:

   • your Data Release Number (DRN)
   • estimates for Pell Grant and Direct Loans amounts
   • an option for parents to transfer the info to another FAFSA application for a different child
   • an opportunity to transfer FAFSA info to a state application if your state participates in API (for instance, New York state's TAP program)
   • graduation, retention and transfer rates for each college you put on your FAFSA

800/4-FED-AID (800/433-3243); 319/337-5665;
or
TDD/TTY 800/730-8913

If you do not complete the FAFSA application in one sitting (although it is supposed to take on average- 1 hour and 15 minutes) you can save your information. The system will store it for up to 45 days.