<span roman?;?="" new="" ?="" times="" 10.5pt;="" roman?,?serif?;="" style="font-size: 18pt;;color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 24pt; text-decoration-line: underline;">FAFSA
To apply for financial aid, you must go to www.fafas.ed.gov the year your child will enter college. The FASFA must be filed every year your child is in school. Please note that it is FREE to apply.
To apply for a pin # ahead of when you file, please visit: http://pin.ed.gov/PINWebApp/pinindex.jsp
A reminder that the FAFSA is now open and accepting applications. This is the first time that the FAFSA has been opened prior to January 1st. You may start applying for financial aid even before you child has been accepted to a college. You must list on the FAFSA the schools your child is applying too. Applying to a NYS school? There is a link for TAP (Tuition Assistance Program) in the FAFSA as well. Make sure you apply for TAP!
There IS a deadline to file for FAFSA: June 30, 2017. You're financial aid must be filed before that deadline. In an effort to help students and parents, SUNY has created SUNY Smart Track which is a collection of resources to help. This can be found at:
https://www.suny.edu/smarttrack/about/
Financial aid MUST be applied for EVERY SINGLE YEAR your student is in college. Even if you think you do not qualify for financial aid, the FAFSA must be filled out. You can not get any merit-based scholarship money if you do not fill this out.
A quick breakdown of financial aid...
What is it, exactly?
- Any scholarship, grant, loan or work study employment offered to help a student meet college expenses such as tuition, room & board, books, personal expenses
What happens when I fill out my FAFSA?
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Your FAFSA information is shared with the colleges and/or career schools you list on the application. The financial aid office at a school uses your information to figure out how much federal student aid you may receive at that school. If the school has its own funds to use for financial aid, it might use your FAFSA information to determine your eligibility for that aid as well. (The school might also have other forms it wants you to fill out to get school aid, so check with the financial aid office to be sure.) Your FAFSA helps you apply for federal, state, (NYS TAP if you applied to a state school) and school financial aid. Not bad for a form that takes students an average of less than 25 minutes to complete!
- The amount of your Pell Grant is calculated by the information you provide on your FAFSA.
Unless you send in your renewal, you won’t be eligible for federal student aid (and, possibly state aid as well) for the particular year.
Helpful websites regarding the financial aid process:
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov: Application for Federal Student Aid: This site provides information on federal student aid. The form, which is required for all colleges, may be downloaded here.
http://www.nycolleges.org/financialAid.php: Site provides a review of the financial aid process.
http://www.hesc.com: This site provides financial aid information for NYS residents, family needs calculator, and has many links to other financial aid site.
http://www.salliemae.com: A national leader in student loan financing and services. Includes financial aid calculator for families to estimate their contributions and student need.