Category Archives: FAFSA Errors

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Changes to Look for on the 2022-23 FAFSA

While big changes are planned for the FAFSA later down the road, there are two changes that are already in effect that you need to know about.

Two questions on the FAFSA will no longer be used to determine a student’s eligibility for federal financial aid—the Selective Service question and the drug conviction question.

  • Do you want us to register you with the Selective Service System?
    Males ages 18-25 who complete the 2022-23 FAFSA will still see the option to register if they haven’t yet done so, but it’s no longer a requirement for males to be registered to receive federal financial aid.
  • Have you been convicted for the possession or sale of illegal drugs for an offense that occurred while you were receiving federal student aid?
    This question will also appear on the 2022-23 FAFSA, but a previous drug conviction will no longer disqualify a student from receiving federal financial aid.

Once a FAFSA is processed, the Department of Education may still place comments on the Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) of a prospective student regarding these questions, alerting a financial aid office they must take steps to resolve either issue before the student can be eligible for federal financial aid. But as of June 7, 2021, financial aid personnel have been instructed to ignore the comments that would deny eligibility based on the answers to these two questions.

Students who’ve already been denied federal financial aid for the 2021-22 academic year for reasons related to the Selective Service and/or drug conviction questions will receive an email from the U.S. Department of Education or Federal Student Aid (FSA) informing them of the recent changes and advising them they may now be eligible to receive federal aid for the academic year beginning this fall. Affected students should contact the financial aid office at their institution(s) of interest to ask for a review of their eligibility requirements.

Don’t forget to complete your FAFSA as soon as possible after Oct. 1!

Apply Online, FAFSA Errors, FSA ID, Students and Parents

The FAFSA is Always Free!

College is an important financial investment in any student’s future. Between talk of scholarships and savings plans, it’s exciting to come across something completely free. The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is one step in the college financial process that won’t cost you a cent. The FAFSA is an application that will help determine your eligibility for financial aid. The official application can be found at FAFSA.gov. Other websites may offer to process the application for you for a fee, but these sites are scams and are not the official free FAFSA application.

When filling out the free application on FAFSA.gov, you’ll need a FSA ID (Federal Student Aid ID). This is a username and password that you’ll use to log in to your application. It will also serve as your electronic signature. Create your FSA ID at fsaid.ed.gov and save your information on our FSA ID Worksheet. Once you create your FSA ID, you’re ready to log in to your free application. After your application is completed, the colleges that you applied to will send you a financial aid offer. This offer will list the amount and types of federal and state financial aid awarded to you. Remember, the official application is on FAFSA.gov and the FAFSA is always free!

FAFSA Errors, Students and Parents

Verification

After you’ve submitted your FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), it’s possible your application could be flagged for verification. Don’t panic! Annually about 30% of all FAFSA applications are chosen for this process which means the financial aid office at your college is required to verify your data.

Verification is the process a financial aid office must complete to determine the accuracy of the information on your application. If your FAFSA is selected for verification, you may be asked to provide documentation to your college about the addresses, names or financial data you provided.

After submitting your FAFSA, monitor your email for requests for additional information and swiftly respond to those requests. Your eligibility for financial aid will not be reviewed until the verification process is complete. Follow up with the aid office to check your application status because the more you cooperate with them, the faster the process will go. Verification is the last official step before you’ll be provided with a financial aid offer. The offer will list the amount and types of financial aid you may use to help cover your college expenses. If you have questions about the FAFSA or your financial aid offer, you should contact your school’s aid office directly. They’re here to help!

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Changing Information on Your Submitted FAFSA

Do you want to add another college code to your FAFSA? Have you moved since you submitted your FAFSA? When you reviewed your Student Aid Report (SAR), did you discover that you had made a mistake on one of the answers you gave?

Most students file their Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA electronically, and it’s quick and easy to make corrections online as well. Let’s look at the three examples given above.

  1. Add a school code. This one is super easy. Log in to FAFSA.gov using your FSA ID. Choose ‘Make FAFSA Corrections’. Use the tabs at the top of the first page of your FAFSA and/or use the ‘Next’ or ‘Previous’ buttons to find the list of college codes you’ve already submitted. Add your code(s), and don’t forget to click the ‘Submit’ button on the last page when you’re done. In a few days, you should receive another email telling you that your new Student Aid Report (SAR) is ready. Review your SAR once more to make sure your changes have been made.

2. Update your demographic information. If you’ve moved or have a new phone number, be sure to update your demographic information at fsaid.ed.gov (Manage My FSA ID) and FAFSA.gov (Make FAFSA Corrections). Don’t forget to click the ‘Submit’ button on the last page when you’re done. In a few days, you should receive another email telling you that your new Student Aid Report (SAR) is ready. Review your SAR once more to make sure your changes have been made. If your last name has changed, contact a financial aid officer at your college of choice and ask them what steps you need to take.

3. Make corrections. Log in to FAFSA.gov using your FSA ID. Choose ‘Make FAFSA Corrections’. Use the tabs at the top of the first page of your FAFSA and/or use the ‘Next’ or ‘Previous’ buttons to find the page that contains the incorrect information. Make the necessary changes, then be sure to click ‘Submit’ on the last page when you’re done. In a few days, you should receive another email telling you that your new Student Aid Report (SAR) is ready. Review your SAR once more to make sure your changes have been made.

Note: If any of the income figures you reported need to be changed, it’s likely that a financial aid officer at your college will need to make them for you. If this is the case, be sure to give them your Data Release Number (DRN), located near the top of your Student Aid Report (SAR). They cannot ask you for your FSA ID.

Keeping your FAFSA data current will help you avoid delays in the future. Be sure to review your SAR carefully to look for discrepancies. ­­If you encounter any problems, you can call Federal Student Aid (FSA) at 1.800.433.3243.

Dependency Status, FAFSA Errors, Students and Parents

When to Talk to Your Financial Aid Office About Special Circumstances

Do you have reason to believe that the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) you recently submitted needs to be updated or reconsidered due to special circumstances in your family? You can correct simple errors by logging in to your FAFSA at FAFSA.gov, but some adjustments can only be made by a financial aid officer at your college.


Dependency Status

The FAFSA will ask up to 13 dependency questions, and the answers to those questions will determine whether you are dependent or independent. If you answer NO to every dependency question, you’ll be considered a dependent student, which means you’ll be asked to report one or both parents’ income and tax information. But supplying parental information can be a challenge to some students due to ‘special circumstances’. You’ll have an opportunity on the FAFSA to state that you’re unable to provide your parents’ information, at which time the FAFSA will inform you that a dependent student who doesn’t include his/her parents’ information will only be eligible for one type of federal financial aid—an Unsubsidized Federal Student Loan. Not reporting your parents’ information can definitely affect the amount of financial aid that you would otherwise be eligible to receive.

There are times when a financial aid officer can ‘override’ your dependency status and change it to an independent status. This can be done if:

  • You had to leave home due to an abusive environment,
  • Your parents are incarcerated or
  • You’re unable to contact your parents and don’t know where they live.

A financial aid officer won’t be able to switch your status to ‘independent’ simply because:

  • Your parents refuse to contribute their information,
  • You weren’t claimed as a dependent on their tax return or
  • You aren’t living with your parents.

Basically, a dependency override can only be done in extreme situations. If you still believe you should be declared independent, discuss your circumstances with a financial aid officer at your school(s) of interest.

Adjustments to Family Income

If you and your parents have experienced a loss of income since 2019*, be sure to talk to someone in financial aid. Some reasons your income could be lower are:

  • Change in employment status
  • A divorce or separation
  • Unusual medical expenses not covered by insurance
  • Unusual dependent care expenses

Once you supply documentation that shows your current family income or special circumstance, a financial aid officer may be able to make adjustments that reflect what you and your family are currently experiencing, rather than what was reflected on your FAFSA. This would be done after you have reported your correct 2019 income on your FAFSA, and only someone from your financial aid office can adjust those figures.

The financial aid staff at your college will always be your best resource when you have questions about special circumstances. It’s important to contact them if you have any comments or concerns.

*Information from the 2019 tax year must be reported on the 2021-2022 FAFSA. The FAFSA will always ask for information from two years prior to the academic year for which the application is being submitted.

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I Submitted the FAFSA. Now What?

The new 2021-2022 FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) was released on October 1, and students are encouraged to complete this financial aid application as soon as possible. After submitting the FAFSA online, you may be wondering what your next steps are. Here’s what you can expect.

Upon submitting the FAFSA, you’ll see a confirmation page on the screen. You’ll also receive a confirmation email which confirms your FAFSA was submitted and is being processed. After a few days, you’ll receive your Student Aid Report, or SAR, by email as well. The SAR is a summary of the information you listed on your FAFSA. Be sure to review your SAR for any errors.

When your FAFSA is processed, it’s sent to the schools you listed on your application. Watch for communication from the financial aid offices at those schools. They’ll let you know if any additional documentation is required. Financial aid offices at those schools will also send you an aid offer after you’ve been accepted. The aid offer explains the types of financial aid available to you. Read this offer carefully as there may be additional steps you need to take to accept or decline certain types of aid. You don’t have to accept everything offered.

Watch this short video from OCAP explaining financial aid and the FAFSA to learn more!

Apply Online, Deadlines, Dependency Status, FAFSA Errors, Financial Aid Offers, Financial Need, FSA ID, Grants and Scholarships, Homeless Youth, Money Management, Student Aid Report (SAR), Student Loans, Students and Parents, Tax Information, Types of Financial Aid, UCanGo2 Resources, Work Study

The FAFSA Is Now Available

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now available!

It’s the key you need to unlock money that will help you pay for college or other education after high school. Students often ask if the FAFSA is a scholarship, it’s not. The FAFSA is simply a statement about a family’s financial situation, and it’s used to determine how much federal financial aid a student may be eligible to receive.

A new FAFSA is available October 1 each year. You can submit your FAFSA even if you haven’t applied to any colleges yet. In fact, if you’re not sure which college you want to attend, you can request that your FAFSA information be shared with up to 10 different campuses that you may want to learn more about. Every student who may need money for college for the 2021-22 school year should complete this FAFSA.

The current FAFSA is available online at FAFSA.gov.

Need some guidance to get started on your FAFSA? Check out our resources:

FAFSA in Five Steps: This publication explains the steps to completing the application and provides reminders for additional materials you might need.

FAFSA Modules: These five PowerPoint presentations walk through the details of each step of the FAFSA process.

FAFSA and Financial Aid Video: Sometimes it helps to hear someone explain the FAFSA process. Our new FAFSA video walks students through common FAFSA questions.

If you’re still wondering why the FAFSA is so important, keep in mind that during the 2018-2019 school year, $2.6B dollars in federal financial aid for college was left unclaimed by students. They would have been qualified to receive the aid, but they didn’t simply because they didn’t submit a FAFSA. Discover what you’re eligible for by submitting your FAFSA today!

FAFSA Errors, Financial Need, Grants and Scholarships, Money Management, Student Loans, Students and Parents, Types of Financial Aid, UCanGo2 Resources, Work Study

New Videos

Our friends at UCanGo2 have produced two new videos about financial aid!

FAFSA and Financial Aid provides an overview of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and how it is the first step in successful financial aid!

Scholarships 101 provides an overview of looking for and applying for scholarships.

You can also view these two videos on our Videos page!

Deadlines, FAFSA Errors, Financial Need, Students and Parents

What is Verification?

After you’ve submitted your FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), it’s possible that your application could be flagged for verification. Verification is the process a financial aid office must complete to determine the accuracy of the information on your application. If your FAFSA is selected for verification, the financial aid office from the school(s) listed on your FAFSA may ask you to provide documentation about the addresses, names or financial data you provided. The aid officer will let you know which sections must be corrected and the documentation you’ll be required to provide to verify your information.

Being selected for verification doesn’t mean your FAFSA is incorrect. Annually about 30% of all FAFSA applications are chosen for this process and the financial aid office is required to verify your data. Monitor your email for requests for additional information and swiftly respond to those requests. Your eligibility for financial aid will not be reviewed until the verification process is complete. Follow up with the financial aid office to check on your application status because the more you cooperate with them, the faster the process will go. Verification is the last official step they’ll need to complete to provide you with a financial aid offer. The offer will list the amount and types of financial aid programs you may use to help cover your college expenses.

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What’s a Student Aid Report?

After you complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), be on the lookout for your Student Aid Report (SAR). The SAR is an electronic or paper document that summarizes the data you put on your FAFSA. It also provides some basic information about your eligibility for federal student financial aid. If you completed, signed and submitted your FAFSA electronically, this document will be sent to your email address within 3-5 days. If you did not include an email address, a paper version of the SAR will be mailed to your postal address in approximately 2-3 weeks. You can also access your SAR by logging in to your account at FAFSA.gov.

The SAR contains important information, like your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and your Data Release Number (DRN). The EFC is a measure of your family’s financial strength and is calculated according to a formula established by law. It’s based on the information provided on the FAFSA, but the EFC is NOT the amount of money your family will have to pay for college. It’s a number used by your school to calculate the amount of federal student aid you’re eligible to receive.

Your DRN is located below your EFC on the SAR and is necessary if you want your college or career school to change certain types of information on your FAFSA. Speak with someone at your college financial aid office if there has been a significant change in income for you or your parents or you have a special circumstance you need to discuss with the aid administrator.

Your SAR might indicate that you’ve been selected for verification. This is a process schools use to confirm the information on your FAFSA is correct. Your college financial aid office will notify you if additional paperwork is needed to fulfill this requirement.

Review the remainder of your SAR for any errors. If you find anything that should be corrected, log back in to FAFSA.gov, access your FAFSA, and make the necessary changes. Then enter the appropriate FSA IDs and submit your FAFSA again.