fill out fafsa – Debunking the FAFSA’s Common Myths That Drive Students Away

Posted by admin on October 24, 2011 under FAFSA Tips | Be the First to Comment

Find More Financial Aid Information Here!

To anyone going to or already at any college or community college:

It is summertime! It is the time of finding a job, going to summer school, or if you are like me, we took the summer off! What should you be doing during this time? One of the many things is to make sure you have filled out the FAFSA already! The earlier you fill it out, the more benefits are readily available to you. Now there are many common myths from students for their reason to NOT fill out a FAFSA, and I will do my best to debunk each of the myths to the best of my abilities:

1- “I live in a nice house and we are pretty well off, I do not think I would qualify for financial aid money.”

Your parents may have been well off, but with the recent economic crisis our country has been having, maybe one of your parents were laid off at work, and that would already probably qualify you for the FAFSA.

2- “I do not want to pay to apply for FAFSA, I might not even get any money anyway.”

There is a reason why FAFSA stands for “a Free Application for Federal Student Aid”. Because, it is all free! There are many one scam sites out there that require you to pay money to fill out your FAFSA, the most infamous of them is FAFSA.com, which is a scam site! Be wary with any sort of financial aid websites that require you to pay money.

3- “You have to pay back all the money you received from FAFSA back after you are done with college.”

By applying for FAFSA, you could (most likely) get the following benefits:

* FREE Money (It depends on how much you qualify and also what school you are going to, my friend got about $4,000 per semester and she goes to Mt. Sac, which is a community college)

* FREE money for books ( around $250-500 a semester)

* the cost of all your classes going from whatever the current price is to FREE (At my school, Mt. Sac, the $22 cost per unit would be $0 for me :] )

* The price for a parking permit on your school halved (From $40 to $20 at Mt. Sac)

* eligibility for many Cal Grants and scholarships that only require you to FILL out the FAFSA, not necessarily having to qualify for it

The best part about financial aid from FAFSA is that you DON’T have to pay ANYTHING back! The only part of the FAFSA that you have to pay back is the loans, and that is not even part of the FAFSA. FAFSA only sends you information on loans if you check on the application that you are interested in them.

4- “It is already too late to apply, I wish someone told me about it earlier.”

The 2009-2010 School Year (July 1st, 2009 – June 30th, 2010)

To get financial aid money for this year you can already begin to fill out the FAFSA as early Janurary 2st, 2009 all the way until June 30th, 2010. That means you can apply for financial aid for the current school year throughout the entire school year! If you decide to fill out the FAFSA later in the year, they still mail you the money for the entire school semesters that you were at your school. It is still better to fill out your FAFSA early on as you get earlier access to the benefits FAFSA provides, and also priority for the State’s financial aid, which is totally different from the FAFSA, but the same free money nonetheless. If you want to see those deadlines, go to this link and scroll down to the bottom.

These are the myths that I can list on the top of my head, if you can think of another one please tell me so I can write back to you! Now that you have demythed the common myths of the FAFSA, hurry and go fill it out! In my next post, I will write about why you should go fill out a FAFSA application, but until then have a great summer! The FAFSA website is

http://www.fafsa.ed.gov

- Joshua Wu (currently attending Mt. Sac)

check out my blog at http://oysterinmypants.wordpress.com !
my daily Bible devotions are at http://joshuahwudevotions.wordpress.com !

Different Types Of School Grants

School grants, you don’t have to pay those back. Grants are a form of financial aid that does not need to be repaid. They are usually awarded on the basis of financial need, unlike most scholarships, and come from the usual aid providers: the federal government, the states, the schools, private organizations and individuals. Here we are letting you know about the different types of school grants available to afford financially weak students.

Pell grants:

If you are a student who is seeking financial aid help to fund their education, then you must have heard about the ‘Federal Pell Grants’. When it comes to Government grants for education, the Federal Pell Grant tops the list. F
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AFSA, the ‘Free Application for Federal Student Aid’ is the form that is used to apply for the Federal Pell Grant. The Pell Grants are geared toward the students who cannot afford to complete their college education. The Federal Pell Grant offers financial aid of over $5000 for each semester. You can fill in the Federal Pell Grant application online or you can also apply for Federal Pell Grant at your college. The results of Federal Pell Grants application are declared after 3 weeks from submitting the FAFSA.

Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants (FSEOG):

The Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant is reserved for the neediest of undergraduate students at about 4,000 participating colleges. Recipients can get between $100 and $4,000 a year. Pell grant recipients get top priority. The FSEOG differs from the Pell grant in that funding for the FSEOG is not guaranteed for all qualified students. It’s often up to the particular school’s financial aid office. Each institute is also responsible for 25% of the allocations. If a student is chosen, the school will either credit the student’s account or pay directly by check at least once per academic term.

State grants:

Many states offer their own grant program. You must be a state resident and, in most cases, go to a state-supported public college, be enrolled at least half time and, in some cases, maintain satisfactory academic progress. Such grants may be guaranteed to students with a specified grade point average or class ranking in high school. They may also be earmarked for certain expenses, such as fees, books and supplies. In some states you apply by simply filling out the FAFSA. Other states have separate applications, usually available through the financial aid office.

Private foundations school grants:

Most colleges, especially private colleges, award grants out of their own funds. They may appear quite similar to scholarships. The criteria are not always published, but colleges generally have the discretion to adjust the size of grants to financially needy students based on academic qualifications. Many colleges also award grants to students regardless of financial need. Check with your college to find out the application process, if any. Finally, private organizations, companies, associations, foundations and individuals award grants, whose criteria typically mirror those of the colleges that administer them.

By: Mathhew Lavan

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The author of this article has expertise in school grants. The articles on scholarships reveals the author’s knowledge on the same. The author has written many articles on scholarships as well.