3. What you need • Your Social Security Number • Your driver’s license, if you have one • Your W-2 Forms for the 2010 tax year and other records of money earned • Your 2010 Federal Tax Return – IRS Form 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ • Your parent’s 2010 Federal Income Tax Return • Your untaxed income records for the 2010 tax year – i.e. Social Security Temporary Assistance to Needy Families and welfare
32. Find more information, including scholarship updates! www.facebook.com/uheaa www.youtube.com/uheaa www.twitter.com/uheaa
33.
Notes de l'éditeur
The five minute FAFSA, produced by fastweb.com, does an excellent job of describing what you need, and how to fill out the FAFSA.
Start by clicking the PIN SITE icon at the top to apply for a PIN. This will allow you to electronically sign your FAFSA, and will reduce the amount of time it takes to get your financial aid processed.
You need your SSN, Name, birthday, address, email address and a challenge questions. That simple. The floating keyboard in the middle of the screen is for additional security. If you do not want to type out your SSN or Date of Birth, you can click into the appropriate field, then hover your mouse over the character you would like to enter. This means that there are no keystrokes or clicks that can be recorded.
This page asks you not to share you PIN. Remember this number can be used to sign your FAFSA and other documents for Financial Aid (like loan documents.)
Your PIN is now provisionally active. You can use it to sign your FAFSA. The Department of Education will match your data against the IRS, so if you provided inaccurate information they will make you correct it and resign your FAFSA.
This is the main screen at FAFSA.gov. To start filling out your FAFSA select the top link in box 2.
This is the information that you will use to log into your FAFSA. This way you can save progress and come back later to complete the form. You need your SSN, Name and birthday. You can create your own password to access the FAFSA later. You’ll notice the little keyboards besides some of the fields. These are virtual keyboards. They are for security. Some people do not like entering their information on a public computer because people can install key trackers that record your key strokes. You just need to be in the correct text box, and click on the keyboard. This will bring up a virtual keyboard. You then just hover your mouse over the appropriate character for a few seconds and it will enter it in the FAFSA. This means there is no typing or clicking to be recorded.
A little more basic information about yourself. Address, phone number, email address, marital status, DL number Notice the boxes on the right display where you are in the application process, and helpful information on each subject.
To be eligible for Federal Financial Aid you have to meet certain requirements. You need to be US Citizen, or eligible non-citizen, have graduated from high school (or met an alternate requirement like the GED). Some types of aid depend on your grade level, or if you have a bachelor’s degree. If you are male, and under the age of 26, you must also be registered with Selective Service in order to qualify for federal aid. Since this slide is for Lisa, the question does not appear on this screen. Citizenship Status Yes I am a U.S. citizen (of U.S. national) No, but I am an eligible noncitizen No, I am not a citizen or eligible noncitizen High School completion status High School Diploma GED Certificate Home Schooled None of the Above What will be your grade level? Never Attended College/1 st yr Attended college before/1 st yr 2 nd yr./Sophomore 3 rd yr./Junior 4 th yr./Senior 5 th yr./Other Undergraduate 1 st yr. graduate/professional Continuing graduate/professional or beyond What degree will you be working on? 1 st bachelors degree 2 nd bachelors degree Associate degree (occupational or technical program) Associate degree (general education/transfer degree) Certificate/diploma (occupational/technical/education program of less than 2 yrs) Certificate/diploma (occupational/technical/education program of at least 2 yrs.) Teaching credential program (nondegree program) Graduate/professional degree Other/undecided Will you have your 1 st bachelor’s degree by July 1? Highest level of education your parents obtained? Middle school/jr. high High School College or beyond Other/unkown
If you know the school’s code, enter it in the first box. (You can search from the FAFSA’s main page, or on most school’s financial aid pages). Of you can search by state, and narrow it down by the school’s location and name. Once you add a school you must enter your housing plans, do you want to live on campus, at home, or off campus in an apartment. The school uses this information to help determine your Cost of Attendance. Housing Plans On Campus With Parents Off Campus
Dependency status Starts with 5 questions, 3 already answered based on previous questions. Are you over 24 Are you married Are you a graduate students Do you have children who will receive more than half of their support from you Do you have dependents (other than a spouse) that receive more than half their support from you If you answer no the other questions appear one at a time to determine your independent status Are you currently on active duty with US Military Are you a veteran At any time since age 13 were you orphaned, in foster care or ward of the court Are you an emancipated minor Are you in a legal guardianship Are you homeless or at risk of being homeless
Submitting your FAFSA without parental information will severely restrict the types of aid you can qualify for. If you cannot get this information, submit it without. You may qualify for an unsubsidized loan. If this applies to you please speak with your colleges financial aid department. They may be able to help.
Based upon your selection under parents’ marital status you will get different information to enter. Possible answers Married or Remarried Single Divorced/Separated Widowed
The next page deals with your parents’ finances. It asks for information found on the federal income tax forms. If they have not completed these yet, you can submit the FAFSA. You need to estimate what was earned based on their payroll information. If you do submit a FAFSA based on estimates, you need to come back and correct the information after they file their taxes. If you have e-filed your federal tax return at least 2 weeks prior to filing the FAFSA, you can use the new IRS Data Retrieval system to automatically import and fill out the financial sections of the FAFSA!
If you choose not to use the IRS Data Retrieval system, you will have to enter information by hand on this screen. If you check one of the boxes, you will be asked to provide more information. This additional information is to make sure that the Dept of Ed has a complete view of your current situation. Some of these items will not be held against your financial aid, for instance “Work-Study”. This is reported to the IRS, but does not count in what you can contribute this year to school
If you choose not to use the IRS Data Retrieval system, you will have to enter information by hand on this screen. If you check one of the boxes, you will be asked to provide more information. This additional information is to make sure that the Dept of Ed has a complete view of your current situation. Some of these items will not be held against your financial aid, for instance “Work-Study”. This is reported to the IRS, but does not count in what you can contribute this year to school
Notice the change in color, the blue is the student’s information. This is exactly the same as your parent’s information section.
Notice the change in color, the blue is the student’s information. This is exactly the same as your parent’s information section.
Maybe Lisa decided to work for AmeriCorps and earned some educational benefits. Simply click on the Grant and Scholarship aid box and fill in the amount earned. This is the same for all of the above boxes.
There are two options to sign your FAFSA. You can sign electronically with the PIN you created before filling out your FAFSA, or print a page and send it in. Printing can up to 2 weeks processing time, so it is recommended you use the PIN.
Leaving blank fields– enter a '0' or 'not applicable' instead of leaving a blank. Too many blanks may cause miscalculations and an application rejection. Using commas or decimal points in numeric fields– always round to the nearest dollar. Listing incorrect Social Security Number or Driver's license number– check these entries and have someone else check them too. Triple check to be sure. Entering the wrong federal income tax paid amount– obtain your federal income paid amount from your income tax return forms, not your W-2 form(s). Listing Adjusted Gross Income as equal to total income– these are not the same figure. In most cases, the AGI is larger than the total income. This mistake is particularly common. Listing marital status incorrectly– only write yes if you're currently married. They want to know what you're marital status is on the day you sign the FAFSA, or Renewal FAFSA. Listing parent marital status incorrectly– the custodial parent's marital status is needed; if they've remarried, you'll need the stepparent's information too. Leaving the question about drug-related offenses blank– If you're unsure about something, find out before you submit your FAFSA instead of leaving it blank. A conviction doesn't necessarily disqualify you from getting aid. Forgetting to list the college– obtain the Federal School Code for the college you plan on attending and list it–along with any other schools to which you've applied. Forgetting to sign and date– if you're filling out the paper FAFSA, be sure to sign it. If you're filing electronically, be sure to obtain your PIN from www.pin.ed.gov . Your PIN is your electronic signature and will always be assigned to you only. Entering the wrong address– your permanent address is not your campus or summer address. Sending in a copy of your income tax returns– you will be contacted if your information needs verification; you don't need to send a copy of your tax returns in with your application.