With the high cost of higher education today there is an increase in the number of families who are turning to student loans. If you are one of those who are counting on this financial grant in order to finish your studies then you need to know about the basics of the application process that you would have to go through.
The government department that regulates these applications claim that it only takes an hour to fill out the FAFSA or the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form. That claim can be misleading and it might lead to frustration on your part. It would really take an hour or even less if you have all the necessary paperwork and information. If you do not have access to those needed papers then you can forget about filing your application.
So what are the needed papers for filing a FAFSA? Here is a list that you can use:
1. Your income tax return and this should be the most recent. If you are still dependent then your parent’s or your guardian’s income tax return would do.
2. Statements for your bank accounts.
3. If you have any investments like stocks or real estate then you should include records of it.
4. If you have any untaxed income then you must include records of it.
5. Include your driver’s license if you one.
6. You social security number is also very important.
7. Non-U.S. citizens can also apply for student loans. You need to include permanent resident card or if you don’t have that yet your alien registration card.
Those are the necessary documents that you need to include in your application. It is understandable that some of them are not readily available. That’s why it is strongly recommended that you find out all the requirements first before you try to fill out the form. You need to sit down with your parents when completing the form. There are places there with needed information that only they can answer.
It is important that you file early for financial aid. As we have mentioned at the start of the article more and families are turning to student loans. That means it is a lot tougher to apply. If you wait for too long then it might be too late and there could be no more financial aids left for you.
One problem seen by many students has something to do with the tax information. Normally people wait until April to file their taxes. The problem is that by that time there might not be any financial aid left for you by then. What you can do then is just estimate the amount, file the application and then make the necessary corrections later on when the data is available. There’s nothing wrong with that practice and you are going to provide the accurate information later on.
