by Wayne Ramsey

Created on: April 06, 2007   Last Updated: October 24, 2010

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is probably one of the most important steps for anyone that is looking to attend college. The FAFSA as it is normally referred, is generally one of the first steps that a college will require you to take, regardless of whether or not you need student aid. This application is run by the United States Department of Education and allows you to find out what you qualify for in terms of grants and loans. By filling out this application, more students are afforded the ability to go to college at a much lower out of pocket expense to them. For many students, especially those that are filing alone, they will find that they are eligible for a great deal of federal money as well as federally backed loans.

FILLING OUT THE FAFSA
In order to fill out the FAFSA is relatively easy. In fact, you can even fill out the FAFSA online at FAFSA,edu. By filling it out online, you will get a substantially faster turn around on your paperwork, generally within a week or two. When I filled out the FAFSA for this current school year, it took about 3 days before I heard back about the results. This of course is great news if you don't have a whole lot of time to fill out the FAFSA and get the funding before classes start. Generally, the FAFSA is filled out in January and by filling it out early, you will ensure that you are eligible for the most money possible. Keep in mind that the FAFSA funding runs from school years, not the calendar year, so when you fill out the forms in January 2008 for example, you are actually filling them out for the 2008-2009 school year, which starts in the summer term.

The FAFSA paperwork is incredibly easy to fill out. The main thing that you are going to need is if you are filling out the paperwork alone and applying without your parents, you'll want to know your current and last years tax information. With this on hand, it is incredibly easy to fill out the FAFSA as it is very straight forward. At the very end of filling out the paperwork, you will be told to sign the forms electronically and submit it. After that, you have about a week before you'll hear back with the results.

If you are filing the paperwork with your parents information, which is need for parent loans, then you are going to need their tax information for the last year and current year, as well as your own. Keep in mind that if you are the one that is going to be paying back these loans, using your parents might get you a lower interest

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