How to get federal aid for college
September 14, 2012
College is incredibly expensive, with books and tuition costing thousands of dollars a semester, which for a single mother could be impossible to afford. Fortunately, federal aid exists to provide financial aid for mothers, offering grants based on the income and expenses of the individual seeking an education. Applying for these programs can be accomplished online with a simple step-by-step process, resulting in a decision and award for college payments.
FAFSA application
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) offers funding to men and women of all ages and backgrounds to assist with seeking a college education. This program has been in existence for decades but only recently became available in an entirely online format for application and review. This system allows users to quickly and easily submit all necessary information, and a decision should take up to a few weeks to receive.
Financial data
To qualify for FAFSA, an applicant must have her tax return for the most recent year available, hers and her dependents' Social Security numbers, a listing of school codes and information on housing and transportation. Students may be enrolled in a full-time or part-time capacity, but a final award will be affected by this status.
The process has become much easier in recent years, as those who have filed tax returns electronically need only enter ID information supplied to the IRS and any other taxable authority with which they have filed, and the FAFSA website will automatically retrieve these forms. The site will ask the user to review the available information, enter any missing data and provide corrections for inaccuracies. Any alteration of the retrieved information may require submission of written documents or further review before an award is granted, but the filing should be as accurate as possible.
Handling the awardThe purpose of presenting a school ID code during the application is to help get funding to the correct college. Any college scholarship granted by the process will automatically be sent to the accounting or administrative body at the indicated school and be credited to that student's account. Overages that are in excess of the student's total bill can either be credited to a school bookstore or remitted to that person in the form of a check. A student can also request the funds be credited to the next semester.
