<p>
</p>
<p>I totally disagree. I WOULD agree with this statement, “If a scholarship is purely need-based and your EFC is above COA, then there is no advantage to filing the FAFSA.” But, there are many scholarships and many schools that require a FAFSA merely to establish eligibility. They are NOT all need-based! For several of them, the actual number or EFC on the FAFSA is irrelevant. If the instructions for a scholarship application say that a student must file a FAFSA to be eligible for said scholarship, then that student must file a FAFSA, period, if that student wants to be eligible for that scholarship. Likewise, if a university’s Financial Aid and/or Scholarship webpage says that a student must file a FAFSA to be eligible for scholarship consideration, then that student must file a FAFSA to be eligible for consideration. To NOT file is to forgo potential scholarship money!</p>
<p>Like AGmomx2, for us, the FAFSA formulas don’t typically dictate “need.” In general, my kids haven’t qualified for “need-based” aid other than unsubsidized federal loans in all the years they’ve applied. However, my kids have earned all sorts of very generous merit scholarships from schools and private organizations that required the mere FILING of a FAFSA. From what we could tell, the EFC didn’t matter at all. I have always wondered, “Then why must the student file?” But, if the end result is that one is eligible for additional scholarships merely by filing an accurate assessment of income and assets, then I find the filing worth it. After all, if you’re honest when filing your taxes, the IRS and government already have a “paper trail.” What’s to lose?</p>
<p>In sum, I would answer your questions this way, OP. Yes, January 1, 2014 is the first day that your student is eligible to file the FAFSA. Before that date, you and your child can get your PINs, sign on to the FAFSA.gov website, read all the material, and begin to compile all the numbers before that date, but you can’t submit the form until January 1, 2014 at the earliest. (You’ll need good estimates and or completed returns for 2013 prior to submitting the FAFSA. You can submit the FAFSA based on estimates in January and then easily correct the FAFSA online after your 2013 returns are complete, if need be.)</p>
<p>And yes, I agree that you should file the FAFSA even if you do not believe you qualify. My own kids have benefited greatly from doing just that.</p>