Then you filled out the student section (their earnings, bank accounts); there is a parent(s) section for the parents’ earnings and assets and then a student section. Parent needs to get an ID and the student needs to get an ID. For me, the year those came out (I think 2015) was the hardest part of the whole process as I kept screwing up getting the ID number for one of my kids. I did fill out the FAFSA for both kids as I had access to all their info because i also did their taxes. Those things had to be done while they were away at school and I did them and talked to them on the phone to make sure they didn’t have additions or changes.
I recommend you file the FAFSA if you are unsure. One of my kids went to an OOS public and while we did qualify for need based aid, the school also had a lot of little scholarships that required filing the FAFSA to qualify for them (they were merit, but required the FAFSA to be filed since they were administered through the FA office). A number of them were awarded through the departments, then the dept informed the FA department. They were for teachers and engineers and fine arts etc. and ranged from $500 to $2500, but hey, everything helps. Also, all students in the study abroad program got $1000 to $2500, so that year it is necessary to file FAFSA. My other daughter at a private school also got a few little awards too. But we filed the FAFSA to get the real money!
Some schools gave out extra money during covid, and having filed FAFSA automatically qualified them for the covid money (as a citizen or eligible non-citizen) while others had to file proof.
My husband is in charge of fafsa, he’s been filling it out yearly for the past 10 years for all of the kids, 1/2/3 a year. He fills out their part too, just easier.
I don’t know - don’t remember the form - but I know I did it all. I used the download feature. It was two years ago so I can’t remember- and it was a pain because we had more than ten schools and you had to delete and then add.
With the new FAFSA, your child only sees their part of the form, which they fill out with the FSA ID. You fill out the financial details on your own part with your own login. I don’t think they can see anything that you entered.
For me too! In the beginning I was horrible writing down login/passwords/emails. I finally figured and wrote it all down. And then one year it took me a full hour to get into it. I reset my password I don’t know how many times. Turns out I had typed my own bday in wrong!!! I was so mad. Why couldn’t it tell me my bday didn’t match? It said login/password was wrong.
Technically the kids should do their part, but at that time, their bank accounts were still their kiddie accounts joint with me. And I also did their taxes. So for us, it would go.
Text to kid A/B: I’m getting ready to fill out FASFA for you. Here’s your login/password (encrypted hint we use) if you want to see.
Kid: THANKS!
XX minutes/hours later… text to kid A/B: I’m getting ready to file on your behalf. Ok?
Kid: yes. Thanks so much!
We had to file every year for one of our kids’ local scholarships. They required a copy of the SAR among many other things.
I did the same thing but for my daughter’s DOB. At the time, all the info you put in was grayed or XXX’s out and I couldn’t see my mistake. She has a double first name and a middle name. I kept putting in all the info I could think of to change - name with initials, name with spaces, name without spaces, name EXACTLY as it is on her SS card. And her name is MARY! Finally I cleared everything and re-entered. That was the first year for FSA ID, and you had to wait 3 days if you screwed it up to apply again. Turned out it was the DOB entered wrong, not the name.
Yes, made those same calls “Okay?” for FAFSA. I doubt my kids ever knew their passwords because I did it all. I had to do the taxes to take the credits on mine and then do theirs. Same calls. “Okay?” Push send.
Not all of them. That school just ran everything thru the FA office. My daughter got a talent award from the theater department that was based on a tryout, and she got that before FAFSA was even available to file that year (remember the olden days when you didn’t even file FAFSA until Jan 1 and couldn’t finalize it until your taxes were filed?) so they didn’t know who had need, just whether they had acting talent, or music talent, or dancing. A lot of the scholarships were called “alumni” scholarships and the alum or family funded them and got to pick which department ran the scholarship - nursing, education, art. Those departments didn’t really know which students had need when awarding the scholarship. There were a few that the FA controlled and I think they did go to students with need. The best part, IMO, was that the student had to write a thank you letter to the alum/family. It taught them that there really were people behind the funding. And of course the Cheney family got a lot of letters from students studying abroad.
Just a different way of running FA and merit. It also was convenient for the 1098-T forms.
my understanding is u cannot apply for fed loans w/o fafsa neither apply for merit awards in some schools. pls correct me if im wrong. they r trying to do fafsa a mandatory thing everywhere indirectly
This is not something that is being done “everywhere” when it comes to merit awards. It’s actually not done often at all for merit awards that have NO need component.
WRT the federally funded loans, if you want those, you need to do a FAFSA. But no one is forcing you to take those loans either.
I’m not sure where you are getting your information.
When Obama was president, he (and Michelle) made a big push to have every high school student fill out the FAFSA. I was living in Florida at the time (I think around 2012)and Michelle came down and visited several schools and they filled out FAFSA for the TV cameras. There were prizes and benefits. A few colleges gave everyone who filled out the FAFSA a small scholarship ($1000/YR). Problem was, of course, that the parents had to fill them out too and sometimes that just couldn’t be done.
Bright Futures used to require FAFSA to qualify, but at some point they stopped and students could qualify without proving citizenship. It seems in some ways there is less pressure to fill one out. However, if you want federal FA (loans, Pell grant, SEOG) you have to fill it out and unless they are exempt, the parents need to fill it out too).
Do the Ivies and other CSS schools require FAFSA? I think so to ensure that a student is getting every dime from the feds, which means the school is getting reimbursed for school’s need based aid (getting Pell grants and SEOG money to use first, then use school money). I know some athletic departments helped student complete the FAFSA to get Pell grants for players to get them up to COA, but not sure what they do now that schools can give stipends.
FAFSA is the application for federal loans. FAFSA gets processed and the school then offers the loan (subsidized or non-subsidized) based on the FAFSA filing, and it is directly on your tuition billing. There is no way to directly apply for a federal student loan without going through your school, so yes, the FAFSA is required.
Most schools have their own requirements for ‘applying’ for merit aid. Some do require FAFSA but many do not. Some have separate applications while others just use the admissions application with your grades, scores, essays. A lot of private schools use CSS while many public schools use FAFSA to award need based aid (their own aid in addition to Pell, SEOG).
FAFSA isn’t mandatory anywhere as far as I know.
Yes, you need to file it if applying for financial aid or federal loans, and in a small number of cases for merit aid.
But seeking aid in any form isn’t a requirement so no, FAFSA isn’t mandatory.
There have been a few full ride merit scholarships that required FAFSA, probably to ensure that the scholarship amount plus any Pell grant did not exceed the cost of attendance.