THE FIRST STEPS

One of the largest chunks of your finical aid will come from our government.  Filling out your FAFSA not only opens the door for federal aid, but it also unlocks many scholarships at your school.  In fact, your FAFSA is often an admission requirement at most colleges and universities.

FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid.  It is part of the Department of Education and is a fair way of determining need based scholarships and loans.

The very first step is to get your PIN number for your FAFSA.  It can take up to three days to be emailed to you, so do that first before working on the rest of your application process.  The government’s education PIN site is at www.pin.ed.gov.

The next step is to track down all the items you will need to fill out your FAFSA.  If you are still living with your parents, you will need all of the following information for them, in addition to your own.  If you live on your own, you do not need your parent’s information.

1) Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, and alien registration numbers (if not a US citizen).

2) Your tax documents from 2005, such as your tax return or W-2’s.

3) Records of untaxed income such as Social Security, welfare, veteran’s benefits, or other sources.

4) Records of all other income, such as investments and business assets.

5) If you are a male, and are at the current draft age, you will need to register with the Selective Service before you can receive Federal Aid.  This only takes a few moments and can be done at any US Post Office.

Once you have gathered your requirements and received your PIN number, go ahead and log into www.fafsa.ed.gov and complete your application.  Don’t forget to bookmark us so you can come back later and find out more of my tips on college savings!