Updates and changes
The first days of school are only weeks away, and paying for education expenses is a pressing thought for many collegians.
If a financial aid application has not been completed already, it is time to fill one out. Students and parents can get started on their financial aid journey by filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, also known as the FAFSA. The application is available at www.fafsa.ed.gov.
The FAFSA must be submitted before a student may be awarded aid such as Pell grants, student loans or federal work study.
To fill out the FAFSA, be sure to have the previous year’s taxes on hand, along with W2s and other records of money earned, Social Security numbers for the student (and any dependents), alien registration number if not a U.S. citizen, records of any untaxed income, and an FSA ID to sign the application electronically.
Centenary College Assistant Director of Financial Aid Barbara Tillman said the FAFSA also contains an IRS Data Retrieval Tool that may be used to import the student’s tax information into the form, saving the student the time entering the information manually.
A copy of a tax return will be needed if a student is selected for a process called “Verification.” The student will need to provide additional documents to their school’s financial aid office to verify information provided on the FAFSA. Tax information, assets, household size and number of household members that will attend college during the aid year, are part of the information that will checked. Students who do not have a copy of their tax return can request a tax transcript from the Internal Revenue Service on www.irs. gov, or at the IRS office located at 3007 Knight St. in Shreveport.
Some students may be required to provide information about their parents as well. If parent information is requested on the FAFSA, a parent will also need to sign electronically with his or her own FSA ID. A link to apply for a FSA ID can be found at the top of the www.fafsa.ed.gov home page.
It doesn’t take long to hear back about an application once the FAFSA is completed.
“Once a student hits ‘submit’ (on their FAFSA application), eligibility information is usually generated at that time,” said LSUS Assistant Director of Financial Aid Linda Wimbley. “It will say, ‘based on the information that you’ve provided, this is what your Pell eligibility is, and this is what your loan eligibility is.”
Wimbley said initial information could change, though, if the student is selected for verification.
The financial aid office should also be notified of any significant changes to a student’s circumstances, such as the loss of a student or parent’s job, divorce or unexpected large medical bills. If adjusted on the FAFSA, these changes could result in an increase in the amount of funds a student may be awarded.
Be aware of the school’s financial aid processing deadlines. Most schools set a priority date for students to complete their financial aid file, and aid is processed and awarded in the order the files are completed.
While a student who misses a deadline can still be awarded financial aid, there is no guarantee the money will be available to them at the start of the semester. Wimbley said students can also contact the business office to set up a payment plan while their financial aid is being processed.
There will be a couple of changes to the application process for the 2017-18 aid year. Currently, a student must use the prior year’s tax return to fill out the application. For example, the 2015 tax return must be used to fill out the 2016-17 FAFSA. Starting with the 2017-18 FAFSA, Tillman said applicants will be able to use “prior prior” year’s taxes – which means 2015 taxes can be used to complete the 2017-18 application. This will make the process easier on students who have filed an extension to submit their tax return. Before this change, students have been asked to estimate their income on the FAFSA to get the process started.
“By the time they fill out their 2017-18 FAFSA, everybody will definitely have their 2015 taxes done,” Tillman said.
Tillman said many of the students she has worked with who have filed an extension were self-employed or own a business.
Another change is the release date of the upcoming year’s FAFSA. In the past, the latest FAFSA has been available for students to complete in Jan. 1 of each year. Tillman said the 2017-18 FAFSA would become available on Oct. 1 of this year.
Keep in mind that the school must be able to contact students to keep them updated on their status, so be sure the school always has the most current phone number and address. Time-sensitive information and aid opportunities could be missed if a student cannot be reached.
– Melissa Airheart
