Sadly the holidays are over.  I hope that you enjoyed some time with friends and family, and maybe even spent a day or two finishing up those college applications that you still need to complete.  But now vacation is over and it’s back to reality.  We’ve been talking about the FAFSA and explaining that you couldn’t complete the form until January for months now, and it always seemed like light years away.  You had months before you had to worry about that pesky form.  Well the months have quickly passed and FAFSA time has indeed arrived!

I wanted to take a couple of minutes to remind you about some key points before you complete your FAFSA. 

First, check your deadlines.  Colleges have the ability to request that the information be completed whenever they have deemed appropriate.  Some may list a deadline as early as January 15th; others need to be completed by March 1st (Keene, Plymouth and UNH fall into this category), and still other schools have deadlines in between those.  File before the earliest deadline listed by your colleges and you will not have to worry about missing out on any free money.

Make sure that you are going to the right website to file.  www.fafsa.ed.gov is the correct website.  Any other site advertising FAFSA completion is a scam and may charge you money to file the FREE form.  If a website asks for payment or credit card information, leave that site immediately; you’ve somehow been re-routed to a non-government site.  The government site will not ask for your credit card number.

Because many parents end up filling out the FAFSA form, it is very easy for them to begin entering in their own information in the student section.  While the mistake is common and completely understandable, it can greatly change the outcome of the form.  If you are a parent filing this form, keep reminding yourself to answer the questions as if your son or daughter was the one completing it. 

Before you sit down to file the form we recommend having these items handy (and if you are filing it with us, please remember to bring each of these items with you):  2009 federal tax forms (or 2010 if complete), last pay stub from 2010 employers (student and parent), social security numbers, birth dates, FAFSA pin numbers (for student and one parent, if possible), balance of cash, savings and checking accounts, balance of other assets, and list of colleges/universities applied to by the student.

And finally, please know that you can call us at the Center for College Planning anytime for help.  We can sit and file the FAFSA with you and/or your family as well as answer questions that you may have over the phone.  To schedule an appointment, or to get information, call 888.7.GRADUATE x. 119.

Happy filing,
Val