What is FAFSA?

However far my college years seem to me, the importance of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, more popularly called as FAFSA, has not faded a tiny bit. Remember this, students (who are eligible for federal aid), fill out your FAFSA as soon as you have your parents' tax return figures.

In a nutshell, the FAFSA is a form that gathers pertinent information about the financial situation of the student and their household. The FAFSA is every (eligible) student's financial aid application. The information from the FAFSA form is then aggregated and processed to come up with the student's Expected Family Contribution or EFC, which is the amount of money the family is expected to contribute towards payment of the student's tuition and other fees. The EFC is used to help determine the amount of federal and state aid (grants, scholarships, work-study allocation, loans) the student is qualified to have. Additionally, it is important to file the FAFSA because while colleges and universities consider several factors in deciding the amount of scholarships and grants to award a student, the FAFSA and the EFC are very informative and helpful in making this decision, especially if the scholarship or award in consideration is need-based. Bottomline is, if students want the chance to receive federal and state aid and be considered for other relevant scholarships and grants, they SHOULD fill out the FAFSA and file it by the scheduled deadline.

More information about the Free Application for Federal Student Aid can be found on the FAFSA web site. The College Board also provides some additional information and tips on filling out the FAFSA.