FAFSA DAY MASSACHUSETTS - January 29, 2012

Happy Friday everyone! I hope everyone is compiling their information and chugging along on getting your FAFSA filed (or at least planning on doing it by early February)!

Just wanted to share a great resource with you - FREE Help for filing your FAFSA is available at over 25 locations across Massachusetts.

COLLEGE GOAL SUNDAY ~ FAFSA DAY MASSACHUSETTS  will be held on
Sunday,  January 29, 2012 - over 25 locations across the state will be staffed with knowledgeable financial aid professionals and will provide FREE assistance to students and families to complete the FAFSA as well as share lots of pertinent information on financial aid.

Visit www.FAFSADAY.org to view site locations, times, get directions, and a list of all the wonderful services that will be available at each of the sites.

FAFSA Filing - Please be sure to go to the right FAFSA Site

As you know from an earlier post, I have a page devoted to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid on this BLOG which I highly recommend that you read so that you can get started on completing your FAFSA so that you can be evaluated for federal need-based financial aid options.

Please be sure that you go to the Federal Student Aid Site to complete your FAFSA - remember this is a FREE application. The site is http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/. I wanted to make a note about this as there is a FAFSA dot com site out there as well which actually comes up first in a google search due to their paid advertising. BEWARE as this dot com site asks people to pay to complete the FAFSA which is NOT necessary at all.

Completng the FAFSA is something that everyone can do on their own - no one needs to pay for a company to complete their FAFSA for them. Yes, you will need to spend some time completing it and will need to have your financial information with you (see list of helpful documents on the FAFSA.ed.gov site) but you can do it!

Scholarships

Greetings! Just wanted to share that there is a newly published page available for you to read and the topic is Scholarship Searches - timely information as you move forward with your college financial aid plans - definitely worth checking it out!

CSS Profile Form - Check to See if it is Required at Your School

As I mentioned in yesterday's post (January 10, 2012) "FAFSA" Post, everyone needs to file a FAFSA to be considered for federal need-based financial aid programs. In addition to the FAFSA, some college bound students and their parents will need to file the CSS Profile Form. The CSS Profile Form is a product of The College Board and is required by some PRIVATE institutions. It is NOT free (the cost is $25 for the initial application and first school report and $16 for each additional report), thus you should only file this form if the college or university requires it. A complete list of private schools that require the CSS Profile is available on The College Board's website http://www.collegeboard.com under the "Pay for College" tab. If your private college requires it then this is the time of year that you should complete it and file it two weeks prior to your college's financial aid deadline. Many colleges have deadlines in early to mid-February, so now is a good time to think about completing this form.

You will need to "register" online at The College Board's site before completing the form. Similar to the FAFSA, the CSS Profile Form will collect information on parent and student income and assets, although in greater detail than the FAFSA. For example, home equity information and retirement account information will need to be included on the CSS Profile among other things.

Families will receive an acknowledgement form after the form is filed and payment received and colleges will receive the processed information electronically.

So there you have it, the FAFSA and CSS Profile Form (only if required) should be a focus of your financial aid planning efforts this month.

To see our newest magazine article on the FAFSA, please visit our Financial Aid $ense Article.

Thanks for being part of the Financial Aid $ense BLOG.

Financial Aid Application - Need to Complete FAFSA

FAFSA - Time to File your FAFSA

Don't miss out on federal financial aid options! Be sure to complete your FAFSA online and on time so that you are considered for federal financial aid programs.

Please see our Free Application for Federal Student Aid Page on this BLOG for more detailed information about filing your FAFSA.

Welcome to Financial Aid Sense

Navigating the financial aid process can be both confusing and stressful! As a financial aid professional for almost 25 years, I wanted to develop a blog to assist families through the financial aid process. People come up to me all the time ~ neighbors, family members, parents at sporting events, parents of my kid's teammates, etc, and ask me questions about financial aid ~ all the time!!!! I realized that there is a lot of anxiety concerning the financial aid process thus I wanted to "give back" to those around me. As a longtime committed financial aid professional I wanted to share accurate, solid, and helpful information about financial aid and the related process. Check back often for financial aid related articles, updates and posts that will be designed to assist you in navigating through the process and hopefully providing you useful tips related to college financing in general.