HELPING STUDENTS BUILD A BETTER FINANCIAL FUTURE
Every year thousands of students and parents are faced with the difficulties of applying for Financial Aid for college. Applying for a student loan from the U.S. Department of Education is free but very complex. The complexity of the application has taken its toll year after year as many students are forced to delay their enrollment due to financial aid intervals and mistakes while filing the application.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
The application has over 135 diverse questions stemming directly from federal and state income tax returns, which one would likely hire a tax consultant for.
Neither high schools, colleges nor the federal student aid help desk have the appropriate trained experts available to assist all students with their financial aid obligations.
College financial aid offices are available to assist their students with the financial aid application, but they only have limited knowledge and lack the hours in the day to prepare every student’s application.
The lack of resources has made the FAFSA application a yearly anticipated headache for students and parents.
TYPES OF FINANCIAL AID
There are currently three types of financial aid:
What type of financial aid are you looking for? Understand what you’re looking for with our financial aid breakdown.
COMPLETING YOUR FAFSA
The first step in completing the financial aid process is to first fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This is the first step to receiving funding for college. The application process reviews the student’s or family’s annual income to determine how much funding the student can receive in the form of grants, work-study, or federal loans.
Before completing the FAFSA, the student will need to have proper tax information and possibly their parent(s) tax information, from the previous year. For more information on preparing to fill out your FAFSA, visit Federal Student Aid’s website.
After completing the FAFSA, the U.S. Department of Education will send a Student Aid Report (SAR). This report helps the government determine the necessary financial aid for each individual student. The report generates the expected funds a student needs to contribute to their education expenses.
The colleges you select will review the SAR report and determine their financial aid award package for each student. Their report will detail information about different scholarships, grants, work study, and federal loans the student is eligible for. Any mistake to the application can greatly alter and affect your SAR score so it is vital that students review their application carefully. Not understanding the financial aid can greatly impact a student’s future later on