Filling out the FAFSA: How Long does it Really Take?

Depending on which student you asked, you’d probably get wildly differing answers when it comes to how long it takes to fill out a FAFSA. Some students are able to complete a FAFSA in 15 to 20 minutes, while others require several hours. The reason for these startling time differences is because the FAFSA is different for everyone. The form is the same from school to school and even from year to year, but not every question applies to every student, and not all students are seeking the same level of aid.

If you are pressed for time, there are a number of things you can do to speed up the FAFSA process. First, you should read the entire application from front to back, taking notes of information and documents that you will need to submit the FASA correctly. Only after you have gathered all of this information should you begin to actually fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. This is because mistakes or omissions on a FAFSA can be costly, resulting in a rejection of aid or a delay in processing. Essentially, delays in processing means more time spent dealing with the FAFSA.

In general, students who fill out the FAFSA online are able to complete the process much more quickly than students who do not. Completing the FAFSA with all necessary documents and information at hand can often mean only spending 20 minutes or so on the form. Students who have never filled out a FAFSA and are totally unprepared can expect to spend an hour or two to accurately complete the form. In fact, when time spent gathering information and documents is added together, the FAFSA may take some students days or even weeks.

The reality of the situation is that filling out a FAFSA takes as long as you make it. If you’re not too busy and don’t have much else going on, then you can relax and get around to the FAFSA process whenever you feel like it. But if you’re like most students working against FSEOG deadlines and the many pressures of a full school load, you’ll want to be as efficient as possible and approach the FAFSA from a prepared and diligent angle.

Is it really necessary to fill out a new FAFSA every year?

Many students dread the yearly filing of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. For some students, nothing changes from year to year, so the form really becomes more of an annoyance than anything. Other students may simply forget to fill out a new FAFSA, which can result in serious educational funding complications. But in both cases, filling out the FAFSA is not only required in order to be awarded federal aid, it’s also usually quite fast and can be done entirely online.

The United States Department of Education asks for student’s financial information each year in order to re-evaluate a student’s financial need. So even if nothing has changed for a student, filling out the FAFSA is the only way to be processed for loans, grants, work study, or scholarships. For many programs, award money is only disbursed once per year, which means the USDE needs applications in order to determine how much money to budget for that year.

But even if a student thinks that nothing has changed for them financially, they might not be seeing the whole picture. Students who have changed the number of hours they work or their total class load may be eligible for additional federal aid. Additionally, students who have changed their major or concentration, or students at different stages of education may be eligible now for aid that was not available to them previously.

Students who experience the death of a parent may not be thinking about how that relates to the FAFSA, but the fact of the matter is that this information is vital for award determinations. For those students under age 24, financial need is always assessed with the “expected family contribution” in mind- even if there is no direct contribution made. Therefore, when a student loses a parent, it’s vital to update this information on the FAFSA.

Ultimately, students that are well prepared can complete a FAFSA online in a matter of minutes. It’s a small price to pay once each year for the generous amount of aid offered by the federal government.

Can Foreign Students use the FAFSA?

The short answer to this question is yes; international students can use the FAFSA. There is no special FAFSA for International Students. However, there are a number of exceptions and things to consider, and not every international student who applies will receive aid. Because the FAFSA is used to award federal educational aid, most programs available on the FAFSA are only awarded to US Citizens or permanent residents. In most cases, if you don’t have a social security number, you can’t use the FAFSA or Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

International students may not qualify for federal aid, but there are other forms of aid available and in most instances the FAFSA is the best way to apply for them. Colleges, trade schools, universities, and other schools sometimes have “in house” grants, scholarships, and work study programs that are not federally funded. In many cases, international students can qualify for these forms of financial aid. But in order to apply, a FAFSA should still be used. A foreign student can go about this one of two ways:

1.) Obtain a social security number. The federal FAFSA processing center will not process any submitted FAFSA’s that do not include a valid social security number. Foreign students that have SSN’s will probably still not be eligible for aid, but the school can use the information on the FAFSA to make in house determinations and awards

2.) Find a school that processes applications “in-house.” Some schools will have an international student fill out a FAFSA, but not send the completed FAFSA to the federal processing center. Instead, the form is processed by school officials whose specialty it is to award foreign students with various types of aid. Filling out the form does not automatically make you eligible for aid.

Because the reality is that most international students will have a difficult time finding educational aid, it’s important for foreign students to look at other, non-governmental resources. Many private financial institutions in the US will make loans to international students if the student has a co-signer who is a US citizen with good credit. Foreign students are also urged to contact businesses, associations, charitable organizations, and private individuals who award scholarships and grants for academic excellence, ethnic or religious affiliation, foreign language proficiency, and many other considerations.

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The History of the FAFSA

The history of the FAFSA is directly tied to that of the Federal Direct Loan Program, or FDLP. The FAFSA form that college students fill out today has evolved from decades of public policy and federal lending requirements that sought to determine which students had the most financial need, and how federal funds could best be applied for them. In general, the FAFSA is used to apply for all types of federal aid, and most often does not qualify a student for state, private, charitable, or other forms of educational assistance.

Many students remember the FFEL program, or Federal Family Education Loan program. This program utilized the FAFSA, but the questions, content, and amount of aid that was available on the form at the time was quite different from the FAFSA of today. In fact, due to abuses, waste, and mismanagement by lenders and school officials of the FFEL program, the federal government stepped in, obliterated the program and instituted the Federal Direct Loan Program. This program is now the sole source of federal education aid, although students who have existing FFEL loans can continue to pay them as agreed, or consolidate them into a Direct Consolidation loan.

With the eradication of the FFEL came the overhauling of the FAFSA. Redundancies were eliminated, the form was streamlined, and the application became more comprehensive in the amount of aid that a student could apply for all in one place. The form’s questions were also re-developed to more fairly establish financial need and distribute federal aid accordingly.

Because the Federal Direct Loan Program has aggressive goals that stretch into the next decade, it’s likely that that FAFSA will continue to be the sole application method for all forms of federal educational aid for some time to come.

Filling out the FAFSA: What Happens if I “alter the truth”?

The FAFSA is not a joking matter. This questionnaire to determine eligibility for all types of federal aid is comprehensive and asks a lot of probing questions that some people might find personal. However, federal student aid is awarded to students with financial need, so the information is required in order to fairly determine who should receive what kind of aid. If students lie or distort the truth they are really doing a great disservice to other, less fortunate students and to the country’s education system in general. Don’t forget that it is taxpayer dollars that fund the federal student aid program in the United States, so students that manipulate the system are essentially stealing from everyone around them.

Besides, unless you are a financial genius, how do you know how your answers will impact your financial aid award? If you’re that smart, chances are that you probably don’t need to fill out a FAFSA anyway. Distorting the truth can in many cases result in a student receiving less aid than if they had simply been honest. Answer the questions truthfully in order to find out what type of aid you are eligible for. The worst case scenario is that you’ll only be entitled to unsubsidized loans. However, even unsubsidized loans are a great resource- requiring no payments while you are enrolled in school, and featuring low interest rates.

If moral issues are not enough to convince you not to alter the truth on the FAFSA, then it might help you to know that your information is cross-checked in a number of ways. First, financial aid officials might use your credit report to verify what you reported on the FAFSA. If the numbers don’t match, expect resistance. Second, tax officials, education officials, school officials, public records, credit companies, unemployment bureaus, and many other organizations all consolidate and share their information. This makes it fairly easy to spot a student who is lying on their FAFSA. If it is determined that you falsified information on a FAFSA, you could be fined, imprisoned, or both. Not to mention, you’ll most likely never be eligible for any type of federal aid again.

It’s not worth it. Tell the truth. Get the aid you require and deserve- fill the FAFSA out correctly and truthfully.

Is the FAFSA used by “untraditional schools”?

The FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is used by all schools that participate in the federal direct loan program. The United States currently has more than 4,000 schools that use the FAFSA. The web is loaded with resources to determine which schools use it and which don’t.

The FAFSA can be used by practically any type of school. This includes state colleges and universities, community colleges, trade schools, technical schools, art schools, health services schools, automotive education centers, online colleges and universities, and many other types of schools and programs. In fact, there are even equestrian/farrier schools and massage therapy schools that now participate in the federal direct loan program, and therefore will also use a FAFSA. There are comprehensive lists available both on the Department of Education' web site and on tons of web-related sources, but these are all sort of redundant. Chances are great that the school you will be applying to uses the FAFSA to determine eligibility for certain types of federal student aid.

The easiest and fastest way to find out is to simply go to the website of the school/s you wish to attend. Click on each school’s financial aid link, and you’ll quickly discover whether that school uses the FAFSA or not. Remember that federal student aid is only available by filling out the universal Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Besides, chances are that if you’re looking to fill out a FAFSA, you wouldn’t want to attend the schools that don’t utilize this form anyway.

Filling out the FAFSA: The Differences between Loan Types

Being a student is often the busiest time of a person’s life, and when FAFSA season arrives, it’s easy to find yourself preoccupied. You might stare at that FAFSA document and not even know what type of loan you need to apply for this year. If you require a little help to clear the cobwebs and figure out what direction to go in, the following are the basic definitions of the major loan types available by filling out the FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid. All loans under this program are referred to as direct loans, as they are part of the Federal Direct Student Loan Program.

Subsidized Direct Loans: These federal loans are granted to students with the most financial need- although a student may be awarded a combination of different loans. Subsidized loans are those where the interest is paid by the government while a student is enrolled at least half-time. Therefore, no interest accrues on these loans until the student has graduated or drops below half-time status. When the loan enters repayment, the interest rate will be very low- 4.5% for loans disbursed prior to June of 2011, and 3.4% for any loans obtained after that time.

Unsubsidized Direct loans: Students with less financial need will often be awarded unsubsidized loans. On this type of loan, interest accrues from the day the loan is issued. However, the rate is still low: only 6.8%. Students utilizing this type of loan are advised to pay at least the interest on the loan while they are still enrolled in school.

Direct Plus Loans: These loans are granted exclusively to parents who wish to pay for their children’s education but don’t have the immediate funding to do so. Loan amounts are equivalent to a student’s educational expenses, minus other forms of aid such as grants and scholarships.

Direct Consolidation Loans: For students that have attended multiple schools or have multiple loan servicers, this type of loan allows you to roll all loans into one federal loan at a low rate of 7.9%

Don’t forget that these are just loans- you can also apply for grants, scholarships, and work study by filling out a FAFSA.

College after 30: How the FAFSA Applies to You

Attending college at any age begins by filling out a FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid. If you are over the age of 30, the primary difference for you versus any other student is that you’ll know right from the start that your student status is independent. You won’t be required to provide information on the FAFSA concerning your parent’s income, assets, or their education history. Instead, the FAFSA will utilize your income information alone to make award determinations.

For students 30 years or older, your status will always be independent, but there are some conditions where it might be important to report on the FAFSA that you are an “independent with dependents.” This would occur if you have children that depend on you for more than ½ of the cost of their care. It can also happen if you have dependents that live with you, such as children or dependent adult parents or grandparents.

In general, being an independent with dependents will result in more aid being awarded. However, if you are simply an independent, but have very low income, you may qualify for just as much aid. Regardless of your situation, the FAFSA will be used to determine all aid. Your income and asset information, education history, and dependent information will all be taken into account, and loans, grants, scholarships, and federal work study will all be awarded accordingly.

Many students over 30 prefer to take classes online. This does not pose any problem whatsoever. In most cases the FAFSA makes no distinction between traditional classes and online classes. As long as you are enrolled in an accredited school at least half-time, chances are that you can qualify for a great deal of aid.

Work Study and the FAFSA

The FAFSA not only allows you to apply for subsidized and unsubsidized loans, it also allows you to apply for the Federal Work Study Program. Under this program, students who demonstrate financial need can be awarded a federal work study program allotment. A student is permitted to work in a field relative to their studies and earn up to the amount of the award. The award amount and conditions are all determined by information provided by the student on the FAFSA.

Most federal work study awarded by the FAFSA allows a student to be networked into the work study system and apply for a job related to their field of study. When this is not possible, a student may be able to work in a related field, or in a position that serves the public good. By doing so, a student is able to earn money to pay for educational expenses, and gains valuable experience at the same time.

Students wishing to apply for the federal work study program must fill out the FAFSA as early in the year as possible. This is because the federal government only awards each school so much money each year for work study programs. When that money has all been allotted, there is no more available until the following year, and the application process stops. Even if this is the case when you are filling out a FAFSA, you may still be able to get the money you need to attend that year if you are awarded scholarships, grants, or loans.

Be certain when you fill out the FAFSA to ensure the program you are enrolling in is at least half-time, and that you have all documents required by the FAFSA to prove income and eligibility conditions.

The Hard Facts about Establishing Financial Need through the FAFSA

In order to qualify for any type of federal student aid, you must fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. All programs available on the FAFSA use financial need as a basis for awarding different types of aid. Many students question how financial aid is established. The following lists the general information that is used to determine how much “financial need” you have.

Independent students are usually judged according to their income. Full or part time jobs, baby sitting, gifts, investments, and all other sources of income must be reported. Because federal student aid seeks to help those that cannot help themselves, your income information is crucial to determining how much aid you need. Obviously, the less reportable income you have, the more financial need will be established on the FAFSA.

If you have scholarships coming in from private citizens, businesses, charitable organizations, or scholarship establishments, these amounts will be used to reduce the amount of federal student aid you might otherwise qualify for. Outside grants will also be applied as an offset on the FAFSA.

If you are a dependent student, then your parent’s income and assets will be used in conjunction with your own income (if any) to determine how much aid to award you. This is called the “expected family contribution.” Low income families and families that are on different types of federal or state aid, welfare, or other public assistance programs usually qualify for the most aid.

It might be tempting to “fudge the numbers” on the FAFSA in order to get more aid; but you shouldn’t do this. Federal aid officials will seek to verify the information provided to them using various resources, and the FAFSA will instruct you to provide documentation to support your position. In any case, almost everyone will qualify for subsidized or unsubsidized loans, making college within the reach of most Americans.