Understanding the FAFSA

Your FAFSA determines how much money your family will be expected to pay for your college education, as well as how much is available to you in student aid. It pays to understand it!

Navigating the maze of financial aid can be a pretty daunting task, but once you get all of your personal information submitted, you will be one step closer to getting your degree. If you have filled out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, you may have some questions about what happens next. Read on to learn what to expect after you fill out your FAFSA.

If you chose to submit your FAFSA electronically, your information will be sent to the Department of Education. The Department of Education will then process the information you provided to determine your Student Aid Report, or SAR. Your Student Aid Report will contain your preliminary Expected Family Contribution or EFC. This number is determined by making some calculations from your family’s income, expenses and assets and it is what your family will be expected to pay toward your college education.

When you filled out your FAFSA, you were required to designate some schools to receive your information. The Department of Education will send both you and the schools you listed your Student Aid Report, Each school will examine your EFC to determine your family contribution and how much financial aid you are eligible to receive.

Depending on what kind of admission schedule the schools which you applied to have, you could get your financial aid award letter as late as spring of your senior year. From the information you receive you will need to decide which school to go to, as well as your best options for paying for your education. You may be able to pull off paying for your degree with your savings and the grants and scholarships you received. If, however, you come up short, you and/or your parents may need to take out student loans. If student loans are the way to go for your particular situation, make sure you shop around for the best interest rates and repayment options so that your decision is one that you can manage after you finish your degree.

When you are filling out your FAFSA or you are going over any information that has been sent to you, remember that if you don’t understand something, you can get help for free. Visit the official FAFSA website at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov or call 1-800-4-FED-AID.