Once you have all the documents mentioned in FAFSA Part I together and ready, you can start filling out your FAFSA form. Print the worksheet here.
Filling Out Sections
Begin by filling out the basic information required in the first part of the FAFSA Worksheet to the best of your ability.
Section two deals with dependency status; part one gives you more information on determining your dependency. If you are dependent, you will need to fill out the next section, number two, shown in purple, which requires extensive information from your parents. Having this information handy when filling out the form will save you time and aggravation later.
Next you will need to complete section four, which details your own finances. You will need to have your income tax form on hand to complete this section.
Finally, enter the schools you’d like the information sent to in section five. The online FAFSA form will look up your school’s code in a database if you don’t know it.
Deadlines
Deadlines vary for submission of the FAFSA. First and foremost, check your school’s deadline for submission of the form, and then check the FAFSA’s. The federal deadline is usually in late June.
After you’ve begun working on your FAFSA online, you can save it and continue working on it for up to 45 days after the saved date. After that, you’ll have to start over.
After Submission
Once you have submitted your FAFSA, they will process your application and send you a Student Aid Report (SAR), which your schools can also access. You can check the status online if you used a PIN as soon as one week after submission. If you need to make corrections to your FAFSA after you’ve submitted it, you need to wait until after it’s processed and then go to FAFSA’s ‘Corrections on the Web’ site.
Finally, if you need help on any section of the form, you can call FAFSA at 1-800-4-FED-AID or access dedicated FAFSA help sites, like FAFSA Online. Just be sure to avoid paying for anything—there’s plenty of free help available on the FAFSA—and to fill out the form at the official FAFSA web site.
Once you receive your SAR, you can move forward with the process for getting federal aid. If you don’t qualify for need-based aid, there are other scholarships and grants available to you: check Scholarships.com and other sites, and talk to your school about other ways to get aid.
Renewal
If you do qualify for aid, you will need to fill out a renewal FAFSA every year of school, which will save you time on filling out a regular FAFSA by remembering your old information. Either way, you may want to look into other scholarships. Make sure to do your research: there are plenty of organizations looking to provide help for students like you.