We’ve posted longer articles about college financial aid, but in this post, I just want to cover a few quick points:
- There are 2 kinds of college financial aid: NEED-BASED aid and MERIT-BASED aid. Need-based aid is based on a government formula that will determine how much you can afford, based on your income and assets.
- The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the first step towards applying for need-based financial aid. When you fill out the FAFSA, you’ll get a reply within a few days which will tell you the result of the formula, which is called your Student Aid Index (SAI). This is the amount you are expected to contribute towards your child’s education EACH YEAR.
- The FAFSA (and the CSS Profile, see below) typically open for each senior class on October 1.
- Both the student and the parent will need to create an FSA ID first. It takes a few days for the Department of Education to validate your FSA ID, after which time, you’ll use your FSA ID to create and access your FAFSA account.
- The student should create an FSA ID and start the FAFSA first. FAFSA refers to parents as “contributors” and the student will invite them as they fill out their portion of the FAFSA.
- You can get a feel for what your SAI might be (it’s almost always higher than you think it should be) by using this practice calculator.
- When you fill out your FAFSA, READ THE DIRECTIONS! It should take you less than an hour. Here’s a list of the things you’ll need to fill it out.
- About 200 colleges require an additional document called the CSS Profile, which probes more deeply into your family’s financial situation. Your SAI at colleges that require the CSS Profile may be higher than at colleges that use only the FAFSA. Here’s the list of colleges that require the CSS Profile.
- Need is determined by this formula: COA-SAI=NEED. It’s the gap between what each college will cost and what the formula shows you can afford.
- Your financial need will be different at different colleges, because need is the difference between total cost of a college (tuition + room & board + transportation + books + other expenses), which varies between colleges, and your SAI. You may not have a demonstrated financial need at one college (in-state public, for example), but you may have demonstrated need at another.
- Again, you’ll need to set up an FSA (Federal Student Aid) ID to get started. Both the student and the parent need their own FSA ID.
This other post has much more information about college financial aid, but the above was just to get you started!
Best of luck on your journey navigating the college admission process! Let us know if we can help.