The most important Finacial Aid Application

If you are a current college student or are going to college in the 2007-2008 school year your first step to finding money for college is to get your FAFSA filled out and submitted.

What is FAFSA? It stands for Free Application For Federal Student Aid. Although it is the application that must be submitted to receive any type of Federal Aid, such as federal student loans and grants, it also must be filled out before your college or university will even process your financial aid request to their school. Why? Because the school uses the same qualifications that the federal form uses to determine your need based aid. But it must have the FAFSA filled out prior to granting you and merit based scholarships too. Although the deadline to submit your FAFSA isn't until June 30th, the sooner you submit it after Jan 1st the more likely you are to get scholarships, grants, and loans. Once they're gone, they're gone.

• How do you submit a FAFSA? You can go online and submit it at www.FAFSA.ed.gov. Submitting it online is faster than by mail. But you may choose to fill it out on the paper form and then submit by mail. See www.FAFSA.ed.gov for all details and instructions.

On the FAFSA you must select the schools you want your information sent to. My suggestion: list all the schools you are considering attending. By doing this, even your last choices of schools to attend will have your information and be able to offer you financial aid. You don't want to run the risk of changing your mind at the last minute and attending your #3 school choice only to realize you haven't submitted a FAFSA to that school and won't be considered for any financial aid. You can always submit it later, but if it's after the deadline, you are out of luck until next year. If it before the deadline, but close to it, you probably missed out on the bulk of financial aid. Most of it has probably already been given away.

After you submit your FAFSA, also check with each school you are considering attending and fill out the school's financial aid form. (Yes, they will have a separate form). These typically ask you more personal information such as your activities, honors, awards, etc. They also often ask you to write an essay. Do not underestimate the importance of the school's financial aid application. There are many scholarships offered by individual schools.

The sooner you fill out these applications (after Jan 1st for the next school year) the more likely you are to receive scholarships, grants, and loans to help you FUND COLLEGE.