FAFSA Application Questions

The FAFSA or Free Application for Federal Student Aid is the comprehensive form that all college students must fill out in order to determine eligibility for college money. This form is comparable in content and length to the IRS 1040 form, but may have additional questions for students with financial need. You would think there would be dozens of companies out there trying to get you to hire them to help you fill out the form. Well, there is not. There is only one mainstream company that you can hire to help you file the FAFSA. Or, of course, you can do it for free with the help of the contractor of the federal government. They do have a call center staffed with highly trained, er more like sweat shop workers that are happy to answer your questions and walk you through anything. Of course, as long as you can do it in under 3 minutes!

So how on earth are you supposed to answer questions like, "IRA deductions and payments to self-employed SEP, SIMPLE and Keogh"? Wow, would your accountant even know that? Well, of course they would, but that is not the point. The FAFSA application questions are pretty tough and you want to make sure you know exactly what you are doing so as to not cheat yourself out of any federal aid by making mistakes.

You can always go to the FAFSA site and go through a worksheet first to make sure you have all the information handy when you start the application. Most colleges offer a "Super Sunday", where you can go down to the college with all your information and there are people there ready to help you submit your application.

Whatever you decide to do, please make sure you know the FAFSA application questions before you start.