Best financial tips on the net


How Free is the FAFSA?

The first word on the Free Applicationlittle in the way of coaching or
for Federal Student Aid, the form allassistance for these families. The
students must use to apply for federalcomplexity, the timing - spring of
financial aid programs, is "Free".senior year is too late to learn how
However, the FAFSA costs many families amuch college will cost so as to 'plan'
lot of money in lost aid.for college costs - and the increasing
The FAFSA is a 128 question form that isgap between aid awarded and actual need
used to determine a family's eligibilityall prevent lower income students from
for need-based financial aid and resultsgetting a college degree.
in a number called the Estimated FamilyMiddle income families are suffering
Contribution, or EFC. The U.S.from a very large disconnect between
Department of Education claims that thewhat they see as their ability to pay
FAFSA takes one hour to complete. Howand what the FAFSA formula determines
complicated is the form? According tothey should be able to afford, even if
the Department of Education,the form is done correctly and on time.
approximately 80% of the forms submittedMany families either don't bother to
for processing are done incorrectly orapply, given the confusion in the
are incomplete. After submission,process, or do file the FAFSA and are
families receive a Student Aid Reportshocked by their EFC. How, for example,
and are asked to confirm their answersis a family earning $75,000 per year
and make corrections. Assuming thesupposed to pay $20,000 per year for
family notices errors or omissions andcollege?
corrects these, the corrections are thenMany upper income families do not fill
resubmitted. Usually, each time theout the FAFSA because they just "know"
process goes from the family to thethey will not qualify for aid, setting
government back to the family one canaside the hassle factor. However, almost
expect a four to six week processingevery family gets an offer of some kind
time. Federal financial aid is awardedof aid, even if it's just a loan
on a first-come, first-served basis.package, by going through the process.
Processing and correcting errors costsThe fact that many families of all
families money because there is less aidincome levels don't apply because of the
available the longer it takes to submitconfusion, misinformation, and hassle of
correct aid reports to the government,the forms and processes is unfortunate,
who then passes the information along toand costs families many thousands of
the colleges who distribute federaldollars per year in college costs and/or
money in the form of loans and grants.missed opportunities.
If the 128 question FAFSA takes one hourIn a recent draft of a report by the
to complete, how does that compare toU.S. Secretary of Education's Commission
the much more familiar tax forms? Moston the Future of Higher Education, the
families file either the 1040A or thecommission notes that "The existing
1040EZ for federal tax purposes. Formconvoluted, complex and
1040EZ asks 37 questions; Form 1040Acounterproductive financial aid system
asks 83 questions. If we use U.S.for students should be restructured and
Department of Education math, that meansthe current federal aid form (the Free
that the 1040EZ should take 17 minutesApplication for Federal Student Aid, or
to complete and the 1040A should onlyFAFSA) should be eliminated..." We
take 39 minutes. The Internal Revenuecouldn't agree more, but don't count on
Service, however, suggests that thea massive overhaul anytime soon. While
forms take 8 and 13 hours to complete,you wait for systemic change, be advised
respectively.to start the financial aid process as
For lower income families the complexityearly as possible. And remember to set
of the financial aid process can beaside more than an hour to fill out the
overwhelming as by and large there is(somewhat free) FAFSA.



1 A B C D 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110