Fafsa

My niece completed the forms last year and she did not pay a fee. There was a "counselor" that came to the school to assist as a specialist and would have charged a fee. Unless you know you will pay cash for the year, I would complete the forms.

There is an estimation of aid calculator of the FAFSA website:

https://studentaid.ed.gov/fafsa/estimate

Likely your student wouldn't qualify for a grant, but maybe a low-interest Stafford loan or work study. Work study can be a blessing because some departments use it for extra help, and your son M. be able to get a job within the department of his major. then he would be getting work experience in his field and getting to know the department better as well.

ETA: BTW, I definitely think he needs to be involved in the process of applying for financial aid, start to finish. If I were you, I would sit down and do the financial aid calculator with him. IMO you'll be doing him a big favor by walking with him through the process, rather than completing the paperwork for him.

It's pretty easy to skip class when you don't realize you are paying $100 for every class you skip. Then figure out your Dad makes $33 an hour after taxes (a nice living for many people), that means he's working 3 hours for every class you take. Most students have no real idea their parents income and the cost of the their education, if they did, I doubt they would be as entitled or disconnected as some students I encountered when I was a professor.

Yes, it is worth the time and you absolutely should do it. Many colleges will not consider you for any type of aid, private scholarships or even award merit-based aid or give work study without a FAFSA being filed. Remember that "aid" is not only grants and scholarships, it's also loans. FAFSA is used to determine loan eligibility, so if your kid will be needing any loans, you'll need to do the FAFSA

Absolutely fill it out! "Good paying job" means nothing with college costs running $40K-$65K!

There is no "all or nothing" deal about financial aid - what they give is proportional, based on income, expenses, number of children, etc. You will probably get some aid unless you are a millionaire! Don't assume you don't qualify because you can meet your mortgage and put food on the table.

The FAFSA is also used by financial aid offices at colleges to determine what additional aid they will award through grants and scholarships. Absolutely you should do it! I was astounded at the package my son received, what with federal loans, grants and scholarships.

Always fill it out. It will determine your accessibility to student loans and minor scholarships.

It doesn't hurt to fill it out. I am not sure where the cut offs are but not only does your income go into the equation but so does his.

There should not be any fee ever for the FAFSA...
Absolutely, you never know what he may be eligible for or qualify for. Once it is completed and sent in, the information can easily be referred to in future needs. There are all sorts of scholarships, grants etc that could come up.. Even at whatever college or University is accepted to. Sometimes they are merit based...

Yes, fill out your FASFA form and get it in as early in the year as possible. You have to file your 2014 tax return first. Even if you do not qualify for government funding, many colleges require that you file FASFA forms in order to qualify for private funding or scholarships. Good luck!

ETA: Tara, thanks for clarification..... However, we did not pay to have someone or another site to assist with paperwork and filling out forms... that is stupid. We are fully capable of preparing our own paperwork.

By now on MMP, you know me... I do not pay anyone to do what I can do myself!! Possibly there are some differences with states, etc. I don't know.

I went back and checked my paperwork to be sure my statement was factual based on what WE did. WE filed with www.fasfa.gov and WE were charged $89 on 2/7/13. I have the receipt.

I DO know that the students my daughter graduated with also paid the $89 fee. It was a hot topic of discussion because we were all under the impression that it was "free" as well. Maybe we were all charged due to our particular school district or something. It is a well known highly rated district

I am glad the program is working out for you and many others. I agree that it is a great program for those who qualify.

ETA2: I don't know why our group was charged either. We all completed the simple forms ourselves as we are not stupid parents and teens. We do come from a district where monies are taken from us and our schools to be used elsewhere.. It's likely we were helping fund the program.

I still agree that it is a good program for upcoming college students to apply.
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We filled it out the first year and you pay each year to resubmit which is around $90.

We have since declined to fill it out. When you don't qualify for anything, all you are doing is donating $90 a year and filling out paperwork that means nothing for your family. We are not interested in loans.

You can still get scholarships.... just because you don't fill out that particular form, does not disqualify you from all scholarships.

For instance.....Our daughter received an academic scholarship through the business school at her college based on her grades. We had no idea she got a scholarship, never applied, until she got a check in the mail a week or so ago which was in the amount of her Spring tuition!!

I got on the phone to see what was going on because it is not uncommon to receive a check if schedule changes, etc but not that that much money. She was selected based on her perfect GPA among some other students in the business school.

You might do like we did and fill it out 1 time just to see what they report back to you.

I do agree with Ms May... it is important for the student to be involved in the process so they know how important it is to go to class and get good grades. They do understand the costs much better when it is laid out for them.

Congratulation on college entry!!!

Yes, you should fill it out. It looks daunting but it is really pretty easy. If you use an online tax program they ask you if you want a FAFSA printout. It pretty much lists exactly what numbers to put where on the form so after the first year it is a breeze. I'm pretty sure we were required by the various schools to fill it out each year. We never paid anything to send it in but we were told by the college to do it as early as possible. We did this twelve years in a row. It is really not a big deal.

Yes, you should definitely do the form. I don't think that you can get any grant, scholarship or work study job without having done so. It is a pain to fill out, but just a necessary part of college.

As others stated below, FAFSA is used to determine eligibility for some grants, as well as loans and other federal aid. The money for loans doesn't run out, but grants are awarded early in the application process, and if you file late, you may qualify but not be awarded due to limits in funding.

Many colleges & institutions will also have their own scholarships & grants to offer, but in order to receive them, you must have a FAFSA on file.

Even though you & your husband have a solid income, it never hurts to fill out an application & have some of the tuition covered, & offset your out-of-pocket expenses.

There is NO FEE to complete a FAFSA application, it is "Free Application for Federal Student Aid". I have completed the application 3 years now, n order to get the loans I need to pay for my degree. However, there are sites that will help you fill out the application, & they may charge a fee. That might be what TF is referring to below.
http://www.fastweb.com/financial-aid/articles/are-there-a...
http://www.ecampustours.com/for-students/paying-for-colle...

T.

You never know, so fill it out. I didn't qualify until I was a senior and my brother started college. But a girl a couple of years older than me got lots of aid. Her family had a lot more money than mine, but all of her dad's business expenses qualified her. Another girl I knew came from a family with a lot less money than mine. She didn't qualify at all and ended up not going to college until she was able to earn some money.

You still might need loans?

If your family has enough money to pay for college out-of-pocket, then no, you don't need to do the FAFSA. But you still need to do it to get loans, even if you know that you make too much money to get grants.

I have never paid to fill out the FAFSA, so I don't understand why TF did. I think there are services that will do it for a fee, but you don't need them, the FAFSA is pretty simple to fill out.