Local

Starting Today Families Can Apply for Student Aid

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid – also known as the FAFSA – rolls out today (Oct. 1st) for students who plan on attending college in fall 2020. While college application deadlines may be months away, experts stress that students and their families should file their FAFSAs as soon after Oct. 1 as possible.

Filling out the form is not an easy task. "What a pain," says WSB consumer expert Clark Howard. He says you will need to set aside time with no distractions and access to all your financial records. Howard says, "the more accurate you are in what you post, the more credible your application is going to be."

The FAFSA is a financial aid form administered by the Department of Education that helps students qualify for loans and financial aid. Household data from the FAFSA –such as annual income and savings – is crunched by the Education Department to determine how much a family could pay toward college. Colleges also receive data from the FAFSA, which serves as the basis for their financial aid offers to applicants, as well as state agencies.

Howard says don't depend only on FAFSA. He says apply for other scholarships to supplement FAFSA. They can be hard to find. Hs says one place to go is fastweb.com.

Listen

news

weather

traffic

mobile apps

Everything you love about wsbradio.com and more! Tap on any of the buttons below to download our app.

amazon alexa

Enable our Skill today to listen live at home on your Alexa Devices!