File a Free Application for Financial Student Aid

Filing the FAFSA should not be put off. While the deadline for student loans isn't terribly strict, most schools have a February 15th deadline to qualify for grants and other types of non-loan aid such as work-study, which may significantly decrease the amount of debt you owe when you're finished with school. I suggest getting an application for the next year as soon as they become available. This is usually right around the end of the year.

You can file a FAFSA online or in paper format. If you want to fill out the paper form, simply go to any financial aid office for any local school. You will need the school code for your colleges of choice. The sooner you file the FAFSA, the better. This is not something you want to procrastinate about. File the FAFSA right after you get your tax documents, usually around the end of January. Don't wait until you file your taxes. If you don't know what your income was or your deductions for the previous year, you can estimate in order to qualify for most aid. The point it to get it in ASAP. Your financial information on your form needs to match what you file with your tax return and sometimes your school's financial aid office will require a signed copy of your tax return as well as other documents if anything is questionable, so be sure to make a copy after you sign it. One thing you don't want to do on the form is provide inaccurate information. This could prevent you from getting any aid at all in the present and in the future.

Soon after you send it in, the Department of Education will send out your student aid report (SAR) with all the information you provided as well as the information the school takes into consideration. If they ask for additional information, don't wait to send it to them. Doing so could prevent you from getting aid of any type. How much you'll be able to take out will depend on your information, the school and the budget they assume for the academic year. The amount usually covers most expenses including living expenses in the form of loans and grants if you qualify. Some scholarships offered by some schools are also based on the information provided on the FAFSA.

While these aren't the only issues involved in taking out a student loan, this is the beginning. Other articles on this site offer more specific information depending on whether you are a graduate student or an undergraduate.

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