Fill Out the FAFSA Early
The first step in receiving student aid for college is filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. If you need help paying for school, you'll want to do this as soon as you can. That's because the early bird often gets the aid -- and that bird can be extra early this year.
Starting next month, the FAFSA will be available to students three months earlier than ever before. For the 2017-18 school year, that means you can complete the FAFSA as early as Oct. 1. This is one of a number of changes to this application this year.
[Discover what you need to know about FAFSA changes.]
Don't wait to complete your application, even if you're a high school senior currently evaluating colleges. Some of the most beneficial financial aid funds are first come, first served, and you don't want to give everyone else a head start to getting them. The following are tips to keep in mind as you file the FAFSA this year.
-- Know your deadlines: You can complete the FAFSA up until the end of a school year -- June 30, 2017 -- to receive federal student aid, but don't wait. At that point, you'll likely be too late to receive options like Perkins loans.
Schools receive limited funding for these low-interest federal loans, which are only available to certain students now. Apply early to be sure you're considered.
In addition, each college or university has its own earlier deadline for the FAFSA, known as the priority filing deadline. Completing your FAFSA by that date will help ensure you receive all the aid you're eligible for, including gift aid or loan options from the institution. Contact your school's financial aid office if you aren't sure when this is.
[Learn what to expect your first time filling out the FAFSA.]
Like your school, your home state will typically have an earlier deadline for completing the FAFSA too. Your state may also have limited funding -- grants and loans -- to award, so you'll want to be sure you submit your application by that date.Federal Student Aid, an office of the Department of Education,has a helpful tool that lets you easily find your state's FAFSA deadline.
-- Get ahead of verification: Another change for this year's FAFSA is that students and their families will now be able to complete the application using their tax information from two years before the filing date, also known as "prior prior year." In this instance, that would mean using 2015 data for your 2017-18 FAFSA.
A one-time quirk of this new rule is that your 2016-17 and 2017-18 applications will both utilize your 2015 tax information. If that information does not match on both forms, you may have an issue with your aid for both years.
[Read the seven questions college financial aid officers wish parents would ask.]
If you complete the FAFSA online, the application will warn you if your financial values aren't the same. Should you submit the form anyway, the school may have to verify this information. Not everyone with different financial information will be subjected to the verification process.
If you are, the school will hold disbursements of all your federal aid -- including federal work-study funds -- for 2016-17 and 2017-2018 until it completes its findings. Filing early won't prevent this verification process, but it could ensure that the review is completed sooner rather than later and that your application is OK by the priority deadlines.
-- Use the Data Retrieval Tool: One thing that will eliminate any discrepancies between your FAFSAs, and reduce the likelihood you'll be selected for verification, is the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. As its name implies, this tool retrieves your tax data directly from the IRS to insert into your FAFSA when you complete the forms.
As a bonus, the tool makes it easy to complete your FAFSA as early as possible. Previously, families may have estimated this information, which could have affected award amounts down the line, or delayed completing their FAFSA altogether until filing their taxes.
Since you no longer have to wait for that paperwork -- though you can still estimate information if you haven't filed your 2015 taxes yet -- you can not only apply for aid earlier but also do so with exact financial information. That should give you a better sense of how much aid you'll receive. And you can make sure it's as much as possible by filing early.
Ryan Lane is the senior editor for American Student Assistance, where he oversees the financial website saltmoney.org and its online community, SALT Central. He graduated from Syracuse University with a B.S. in journalism.
