FASFA FAQ from Financial Aid

FASFA FAQ from Financial Aid

On Sunday, February 21, 2016, PC Financial Aid Office staff will be available at Thomason Library, 2 – 5 p.m. for students and parents who need assistance with the FAFSA. Make sure to bring your laptop. Below are FAQ that are important for understanding and filing your FAFSA.

1. What is FAFSA?

FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

2. What is the best way to file your FAFSA?

The FAFSA comes from the government, so it’s on a .gov site: fafsa.gov. The FAFSA is FREE, so if a website asks you to pay to complete the FAFSA, you’re not connected with the official FAFSA site. One thing you don’t need for the FAFSA is money!

3. Why is it important to complete your FAFSA?

You must complete the FAFSA to apply for financial aid from the federal government to help you pay for education expenses at an eligible college. Grants, loans and work-study are types of federal student aid. For students who are South Carolina residents, the FAFSA is your application for the SC Tuition Grant and must be filed by June 30, 2016 to qualify for these funds.

4. What are the new changes for FAFSA?

Before May 10, 2015, individuals used a 4 digit PIN to sign the FAFSA. Now students, parents, and borrowers are required to use an FSA ID, made up of a username and password, to access certain U.S. Department of Education websites. Your FSA ID is used to confirm your identity when accessing your financial aid information and electronically signing your federal student aid documents.

If you are a parent of a dependent student, you will need your own FSA ID if you want to sign your child’s FAFSA electronically. If you have more than one child attending college, you can use the same FSA ID to sign all applications. Please note: Each FSA ID user must have a unique e-mail address.

Your FSA ID is used to sign legally binding documents electronically. It has the same legal status as a written signature. Don’t give your FSA ID to anyone—not even to someone helping you fill out the FAFSA. Sharing your FSA ID could put you at risk of identity theft!

The FSA ID process consists of three main steps:

    1. Go to fsaid.ed.gov. Enter your log-in information. Provide your e-mail address, a unique username, and password, and verify that you are at least 13 years old.
    2. Enter your personal information. Provide your Social Security number, name, and date of birth. Include your mailing address, e-mail address, telephone number, and language preference. For security purposes, provide answers to five challenge questions.
    3. Submit your FSA ID information. Agree to the terms and conditions. Verify your e-mail address. (This is optional, but helpful. By verifying your e-mail address, you can use your e-mail address as your username when logging into certain ED websites. This verification also allows you to retrieve your username or reset your password without answering challenge questions.)

5. What do parents and students need to do to complete the FAFSA?

The FAFSA asks for information about you (your name, date of birth, address, etc.) and about your financial situation (student and parents). Depending on your circumstances (for instance, when you filed taxes or what tax form you used), you might need the following information or documents as you complete the FAFSA:

  • You (the student) will need your own FSA ID and your parents will need their own FSA ID.
  • Your Social Security number (it’s important that you enter it correctly on the FAFSA!)
  • Your parents’ Social Security numbers if you are a dependent student
  • Your driver’s license number if you have one
  • Your Alien Registration number if you are not a U.S. citizen
  • Federal tax information or tax returns including IRS W-2 information, for you (and your spouse, if you are married), and for your parents if you are a dependent student:
    • IRS 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ/or
    • Foreign tax return and/or
    • Tax return for Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or Palau
  • Records of your untaxed income, such as child support received, interest income, and veterans noneducation benefits, for you, and for your parents if you are a dependent student
  • Information on cash; savings and checking account balances; investments, including stocks and bonds and real estate but not including the home in which you live; and business and farm assets for you, and for your parents if you are a dependent student

6. How will these changes affect those who filed the FAFSA before May 10, 2015?

If you haven’t logged in to a Federal Student Aid site (such as fafsa.gov or StudentLoans.gov) since May 10, 2015, you will need to create an FSA ID before you can log on in the future.

If you already have a PIN, you can link your information to your new FSA ID by entering your PIN while registering for your FSA ID. (This will save you time when registering for your FSA ID.) If you’ve forgotten your PIN, don’t worry; you can either enter the answer to your PIN “challenge question” during the FSA ID registration process to link your PIN, or you can just create your FSA ID from scratch.

7. Do you need to submit the FAFSA every year?

Yes, if you want to be considered for federal, state and institutional need-based aid you must fill out your FAFSA every year you attend college.

8. What other information would you like for parents and students to know about FAFSA?

  • If you need help filling out the FAFSA, use these free tools:
    Read the “Help and Hints” located on the right side of any FAFSA entry page. (The hints change depending on what question you’re on.)
  • Click “Need Help?” at the bottom of any FAFSA entry page (in other words, any page where you’re entering information into the application).
  • Chat (in English or Spanish) with live technical support staff by clicking the “Help” icon with the big question mark at the top of any FAFSA entry page, and then selecting “Contact Us,” “Federal Student Aid Information Center,” and “Chat With Us.”
  • Contact the Financial Aid Office at Presbyterian College. Come see us, call us at 864.833.8290 or email us at finaid@presby.edu.