The "F" comes before the "S" so it's FAF-SA. FAFSA F A F S A? Yeah.
The FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid that students can
complete in order to receive aid. There's scholarships, grants, work-study, and loans.
Grants, which are free money, gift aid from the federal government and/or the state.
Any need-based scholarships, that's also gift aid. Federal loans, you
repay them once you finish school. And federal work-study, is to be able to work
on campus, they will have an allotment of funds that they can receive as a result
of working. Filing the FAFSA is the only way to apply for federal financial aid.
There was never a doubt in my mind that we were always going to file the FAFSA.
I do have a scholarship, and that's amazing and I'm really grateful for it,
but knowing that my scholarship alone wasn't gonna cover everything,
it definitely determined whether or not I went to a university or Community
College for a few years. We encourage all families to submit the FAFSA regardless
if they plan to use the assistance provided or not. It's important to know
that not only Pell eligible students qualify for financial aid. There's a lot
of need-based aid that still goes to middle income students. Not a lot of
community college students necessarily get into veterinary school so being able
to go to a university and have like that foot-in-the-door, in a way it
gave me the go-ahead to do what I wanted to do with my life, so. Oh, don't start crying.
When that stuff came through, I was elated. I'm just like, oh, thank the
Lord cuz I don't know how we were gonna do it. Big weight off the shoulders
definitely. Huge. I remember that day. So, the FAFSA makes a lot of people anxious.
It can be confusing because a lot of the language and information it's asking for
is very new to a student. But we promise, it's not that bad. Number one,
go get your FSA ID at studentaid.ed.gov Once you have that FSA ID, go login to
the FAFSA at fafsa.gov It's always best to have your parents with you because
you do need parental information. It's very easy to figure out. Self explanetory. I think one of the
keys, they started a new system where you can download your tax forms. Plugs all
those numbers in for you, you don't even have to worry about it.
Don't get overwhelmed by the process, just read the instructions and take it
literal. Both you and your parent would sign the FAFSA and then submit and wait
to hear back from Nebraska. Please do not pay someone to file the FAFSA for you. If
you need help, come to any financial aid office in the country and they can help
you file the FAFSA no matter what school you're applying to. Another question is,
why why do I have to put my parents information on the FAFSA, they're not
paying for college, they're not helping me with this. Unfortunately, if you're
saying no to all the questions on the FAFSA that's determining dependency you
are a dependent and do have to put mom and dad on the FAFSA.
You can actually put up to ten schools on your FAFSA--Nebraska can be number one.
And then that makes sure all the schools that receive your FAFSA will have the
information in order to be able to award you. The FAFSA is available each year
starting October 1st. Honestly, do it as soon as it opens if you can. It's
important to file early because there are certain financial aid programs that
have a limited amount of money available. We encourage all students to
file at least by April 1st each year.
I would advise parents not to get discouraged the first time you file the
FAFSA. It can be intimidating at first but once you go through the process, it's so
much easier. At the scholarships and financial aid office here at Nebraska, we
can be reached by phone or email or walk-in in person, we're open 8 to 5
Monday through Friday walk-ins all day. I guess my last piece of advice for you
would be to make sure that as a student you're just on top of it because if your
parents forget about it it's on you to remember especially if you want to make
sure you're getting the money first school. Don't let money sit on the table, file the FAFSA.
Well, we ain't gonna have no problems today, then.
Do we need to look in any particular direction?