Financial Aid/FASFA question

AdaQuince
Thu, 31 Jan 2013 14:21:22 +0000

Some schools are Feb. 1 and some schools are Feb. 15. They have these deadlines so that everyone can be considered at the same time. Although, the FAFSA is the primary tool for need based aid, some schools factor the FAFSA into determining merit awards as well (example, if you don’t qualify for need-based then a school may decide to give you a bit more merit). This is certainly not the case every where, but there are schools that do DO this. You would want your FAFSA in while the merit pot is hot. If you wait too late, there many not be any merit $ left. That would be the only reason to get it in by the school’s published due date. Some schools will state this is their preferred due date, but they still accept FAFSA afterwords the date. You will also want to check and see if schools require the CSS Profile, because I believe they have the same deadlines as FAFSA. There are a number of MT/Acting programs on this board that do require the CSS.