Comments on: How to Navigate the College Financial Aid System

By: MFallon

MFallon — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:34:20 +0000

There’s no way getting help from a professional FAFSA preparer messes up the numbers or hurts your chances of aid. Just like filing income taxes with the help of a tax consultant to maximize your return, good FAFSA preparers can help you become eligible for the most aid possible. One value fafsa.com offers is a 450-point error check by computer and a person to re-read all your answers because you can answer questions incorrectly yourself and have your app approved by the Dept. of Education – but the mistake will lower your student aid award. At least one-third of the people who use our online service saw their expected family contribution decrease a lot which made them eligible for more aid.

By: MFallon

MFallon — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:29:22 +0000

High school seniors don’t have a college counselor to turn to because they aren’t in college, and the ratio of high school counselors to students is high 350 to 1 on average (sometimes 1,000 to 1 in big cities). Not everyone wants no help. While College Goal Sunday is a great idea – often it’s only 1 night in a local area. Getting professional help for a modest fee to make you eligible for the most aid possible is a good value. It’s good both options exist.

By: saladdin

saladdin — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:34:07 +0000

If you can do taxes then you can fill this out.

saladdin

By: hatcco01

hatcco01 — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 23:59:47 +0000

FAFSA stands for FREE Application for Federal Student Aid, and I strongly believe you shouldn’t pay anyone to help with it! There are many no-cost ways to get help with the FAFSA, such as your high school guidance counselor, college financial aid officer, and many non-profit organizations, as well as websites such as finaid.org.

By: thomas

thomas — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 05:30:04 +0000

#9. Find closest bar that takes fake ID and get hammered.

By: MFallon

MFallon — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:28:02 +0000

Did you know that the US government authorizes 2 options for preparing your federal student aid application? You can do it yourself and file for free on the Dept. of Education Web site OR get professional help from a paid FAFSA preparer. The law that authorizes the options is the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008.

One of the big “gotchas” of doing the FAFSA yourself is making an error that cannot be detected by the Dept. of Education’s computer program. By doing the FAFSA yourself, you can answer some questions incorrectly and still have your application approved but receive a smaller aid award.

Other inaccuracies can cause rejection, which in the first-come, first-served world of student aid means that less aid will be available when your application is finally considered.

Like tax consultants help people maximize their income tax refund, professional FAFSA preparers can help people become eligible for the most aid possible.

With the average student aid award of $9,500 at stake, help from a professional could relieve some of the stress of finding money for college.

By: SmartSecurityPeople

SmartSecurityPeople — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:57:28 +0000

For readers getting prepared to do the FAFSA for the first time, DO NOT click on MFALLON’s link(screen name).

It takes you to FAFSA.com, who will gladly prepare your FAFSA and submit it for you. However, they charge you around $85 and do not always do you any favors and are known(those in financial aid offices will tell you) to mess up the numbers and hurt your chances to maximizing your access to aid.

Go to FAFSA.ed.gov. The process is pretty straight forward but if you ever have questions, just drop a call to your local financial aid office. they are usually more than glad to assist…and for free…

By: Eric N.

Eric N. — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 01:54:24 +0000

Great walkthrough. Pretty much what I had to do! Seek outside scholarships if you can. It’ll pay off (literally).

By: Katie W

Katie W — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 01:45:27 +0000

Thanks for the great info!

By: MFallon

MFallon — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:06:08 +0000

The 2009-2010 federal student aid application asks 137 income, asset, and dependency questions, and can be daunting. You can answer some questions incorrectly and still have your application approved but receive a smaller aid award. Other inaccuracies can cause rejection, which in the first-come, first-served world of student aid means that less aid will be available when your application is finally considered.

If taking the do-it-yourself route for preparing the aid application isn’t for you, the government authorizes the use of paid professional FAFSA preparers to help you answer the questions.

Choose one who explains the “do-it-yourself and file for free option,” has a A+ Better Business Bureau rating, has high client ratings, charges modest fees, and not only checks your answers with a computer program but also double-checks each answer personally to ensure accuracy.

By: Stephanie PTY

Stephanie PTY — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 20:19:36 +0000

This is a really great walk-through! I had to do everything myself when I started college, so it was a real challenge the first year. But you get used to it. The hardest part ended up being trying to convince my mom to do her taxes early every year!