The Free Application for Federal Student Aid ( 2023-24 FAFSA ) is open. Parents of Seniors will receive a lot of correspondence about the FAFSA in the upcoming weeks. I think that it’s also helpful for parents of high school underclassmen to familiarize themselves with this topic.
Each year, the office of Federal Student Aid provides more than $112 billion in grants, work-study, and loan funds each year to help pay for college or career school. If you can, get your portion!
FAFSA is now open and available so colleges are urging families to file the form. It’s important to complete and file the FAFSA. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation out there about it. That is why I’m sharing some important things to note about the FAFSA as well as resources to help you complete it.
Noteworthy 2023-24 FAFSA Tips
1. The 2023-24 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is available and ready for you to file online on the Federal Student Aid site. It has been open since October 1st. *Please note that their myStudent Aid app (which was used by those who preferred a mobile app) was retired on June 30, 2022.
You and your dependent student must establish a Federal Student Aid ID (FSA ID) before completing the FAFSA. You can visit FSAID.ed.gov to create one. It can be used as your electronic signature for the FAFSA and related transactions for future years. ***Don’t share your FSA ID with anyone since they act as legal signatures. Even if your family is receiving help filling out the FAFSA, don’t share it.
Along with the FSA ID, you will need your Social Security Number or your Alien Registration Number (if you are not a U.S. citizen) and your federal income tax returns, W-2s, and other records of money earned.
In addition, (if applicable) bank statements and records of investments and records of untaxed income are needed to complete the FAFSA.
2. The FAFSA helps to determine your teen’s eligibility for awards and other need-based financial assistance. It is the primary document that the federal government and most schools require before they consider students for federal financial assistance (such as federal grants, scholarships, student loans and work-study programs).
Many colleges also use the FAFSA to determine eligibility for additional assistance from state and private sources. That is why the FAFSA is most important in helping to secure as much funding as possible for your teen’s college education.
3. The 2023-24 FAFSA will use 2021 Federal Income Tax Return information. If you are eligible, consider using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT) to import your 2021 tax information into the FAFSA.
It is an easy way to provide the necessary data and to make certain that your FAFSA has the correct information. The IRS encrypts the tax information that is transferred to your FAFSA for security.
4. If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to file your FAFSA right away. Since most schools use the FAFSA to distribute their own school-funded assistance (and some types of school financial assistance are offered on a first-come, first-served basis), fill out the form as early as possible.
You can find federal, college and state FAFSA deadlines on the Federal Student Aid’s FAFSA® Deadlines page. The 2023-24 form must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. CT on June 30, 2024, but the sooner that you apply, the more time your family will have to make the best college financial plans. Just be sure to include any schools that your teen is considering attending on the form. (Each school has its own FAFSA code.)
5. Even if you don’t believe that your teen will qualify for federal financial aid, complete the FAFSA anyway. You might be surprised by how much aid you’re eligible to receive. Besides, many scholarships and grant programs will still require a FAFSA for consideration.
5 FREE Helpful FAFSA Resources
If you have questions about the FAFSA and/or need help completing the FAFSA, there are several free options:
1. Online help is available at the Federal Student Aid site.
2. You can contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243) and a customer service representative will assist you.
3. Many high schools provide help through their guidance offices. They often partner with city or state financial aid and higher education organizations to offer free online or in-person professional assistance
4. Contact the financial aid team at your teen’s prospective college or university.
5. The College Board has partnered with Benefits Data Trust—a national nonprofit—to connect Opportunity Scholarship participants with Wyatt℠, a free around-the-clock FAFSA-assistance chatbot that answers questions via text message.
If your teen hasn’t signed up for the College Board’s FREE Opportunity Scholarship program, consider doing so. Seniors can sign up at Get FAFSA Help.
With all of the free help that is available, think twice before paying someone to help you fill out the FAFSA.
Personal FAFSA Thoughts
1. The FAFSA isn’t very difficult to complete. With all of the presentation information that parents of Seniors received, I thought that it would be much more difficult to complete than it was. I suggest that you use the IRS DRT that I mentioned earlier in this post. It really saved time and helped to simplify the process.
2. The government’s idea of financial need and my idea of financial need were very different! After you submit the FAFSA, you will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) that shares your eligibility for federal student aid.
The SAR includes your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). This is the amount that your family is expected to contribute to your student’s college education each year. A college will subtract the EFC from the total cost of attendance at their institution in order to calculate how much need-based aid your child is eligible for.
I don’t think that the EFC is accurate at all because it doesn’t factor in geographical differences in the cost of living for families. My family’s EFC ended up being multiple five figures (?!) As such, we would have received little to no need-based aid at the schools on our son’s college list.
While there are no income limits to apply for the FAFSA, I should have known that my family wouldn’t receive a lot. For instance, the income limit for an automatic zero EFC was $27,000 for 2022-23. The income threshold for an automatic zero Expected Family Contribution did slightly increase from $27,000 to $29,000 for the 2023-24 award year though.
If you want to get an early estimate of your Expected Family Contribution and eligibility for federal student aid, you can use the Federal Student Aid Estimator.
3. Get your finances in order. Start saving as early as possible. On the positive side, my husband and I have been saving for our sons’ college through a 529 plan since they were young. I’m happy that those automatic deductions really added up over time!
If you’re a six-figure+ family I suggest meeting with an accountant or financial planner as early as possible to come up with a comprehensive college savings plan. Take College Ave’s helpful How to Get More Money From FAFSA post with you.
Especially during your teen’s junior year of college, ask your advisor how you can (legally!) adjust your assets to minimize your family’s EFC.
4. You can appeal. If your family is experiencing a negative financial impact that isn’t reflected on the FAFSA, contact prospective schools directly. They sometimes offer “professional judgments” in special circumstances when there have been significant changes in income or expenses.
The judgment allows their team to adjust certain elements on the FAFSA to account for special circumstances that have not been adequately considered. We didn’t appeal but I think that it’s important for families to know that the option is available.
5. Don’t let the financial aspect of college stress your family out. There are options. For instance, our oldest son chose to enroll in a Computer Science Honors Scholar Program at a local City College. He received scholarships, a computer and more. He could have gone to a more expensive college and tapped into his college savings. I’m not upset that he didn’t though! 😊
I hope that you found this information useful and that filling out the FAFSA is relatively painless for your family.
P.S. This 18 “I’m Telling FAFSA” Tweets That’ll Make You Laugh, Then Say “Too Real” Buzzfeed post put a smile on my face. As a Starbucks caramel frappe drinker, I especially appreciated this one:
I’m telling FAFSA y’all got “I just prefer Starbucks over Dunkin” money
— Capybara Whisperer 🇩🇴 (@Fake_Anarchy) September 28, 2018
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