The FAFSA

The FAFSA is a process that can be completed without having to pay someone to assist. There are multiple hotlines that the Department of Education provides to families for their questions and advice. As long as you have the necessary documents for its completion, then completing it should be timely but not impossible.

Having a strategy to maximize financial aid is important. Paying a consultant for advice can often be a very good investment.

You must use the information of the parent you live with most and/or the parent that provides the majority of financial support. The stepparent's income and assets that is associated with that parent does need to be included.

I would advise almost everyone to fill out the FAFSA. It is very hard for families to determine they are not eligible for aid, and there are many other options that require the FAFSA to be filled out.

While severance pay is income, not all income is equal. The fafsa provides opportunities to explain. It is important to fill the fafsa out completely and with as much detailed information as possible.

Income is most most important. Assets are also very important and are not created equal. Some assets are much more advantageous than others when applying for financial aid. Early Planning can make a huge difference.

Short Answer: Yes! Detailed Answer: Unless you can afford to simply write a check every year to cover the cost of your education, you should complete and submit the FAFSA. The FAFSA is an important mechanism that colleges use to determine scholarships. The fact is, the college financial aid picture changes every year, so to ensure that you are in the pipeline for anything you may be eligible for, make sure to submit your FAFSA -- and submit it in January with estimated tax information. You can change it later.

Though you can still fill out the FAFSA the old-fashioned way (pen and paper), it is now available online, which is easy and much more convenient. It can be found at www.fafsa.gov (make sure to go here and not other sites that might try to charge you to fill it out! Remember filling out the FAFSA is FREE). Before you begin, you will need all your and your parents' information (Names as they appear on Social Security card, Social Security numbers, birthdates, tax information, etc.).

Absolutely not. There should be someone in the high school that can help you, whether it's your guidance counselor or a representative from an external agency that comes in to help students with the FAFSA process.

Yes. There is no fee to file for FAFSA, so it is always worth a try. There are grants, scholarships, and various kinds of loans that a student can be eligible for. Also, colleges use the FAFSA to determine what kind of aid to offer a student.