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Ask the College Counselor: Must I apply for FAFSA? |
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Q: If you are not applying for financial aid, are you required to complete the FAFSA form? We won’t qualify for financial aid. I’d rather not submit this form if it’s not a requirement.
A: First let me say that many families who think they don’t qualify for financial aid actually might! But, to answer your question, you are not required to apply for financial aid when applying for college admission. Students who do apply for financial aid must complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Some colleges also require submission of the CSS Profile form as well. And certain colleges also require you to fill out their own additional form.
Many people are concerned with how applying for financial aid will affect their chances for admission. In most cases, it won’t. A good number of colleges and universities have a policy of “need blind” admission. That means a student’s financial status is not taken into account when he or she applies for admission; the decision to admit or not admit is based solely upon the student’s academic qualifications.
If the student is admitted and has applied for aid, he or she is considered for a financial aid package at that time. With the current financial situation, many schools’ resources are stretched thin, and applicants and their families should be aware that this package might not be as extensive as they would like it to be.
Other colleges and universities have what they call a “need aware” or “need sensitive” policy. In this case the student’s ability to pay might have an impact on the admission decision.
If applicants and their families are not certain if they will qualify for financial aid, it’s better to go ahead and submit the FAFSA and any other required forms. Just be aware that the first F in FAFSA stands for “free.” It does not cost anything to apply for financial aid. If any company or organization writes to you offering or “guaranteeing” a scholarship if you pay a fee, toss the mailing or delete the e-mail.
Also, please be careful when submitting the FAFSA — you have to do it online, and there are some copycat websites that look like the official FAFSA site but are “.coms”! Make sure you go to www.fafsa.ed.gov — as this is the genuine government-sponsored site.
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Who can I complain to in government (or whomever runs FAFSA)? I do not see the point of filling out a FAFSA form and get an estimated family contribution that means absolutely nothing. I have yet to pay what it says in the efa on the FAFSA form. It has been minimum $15,000 per child when my efa says $3-4k/yr per child. When I call the schools they say it’s just that, an estimate, it’s up to them to decide what’s given out and what one owes them. The rules also change in the middle of a term. For example, this semester, I received and updated financial quote statement that increased the tuition by $5,000. Where am I suppose to get this money from? Banks are not lending and the ones that are the student must start paying now, not 6 months after they graduate. This is all very frustrating, as you could imagine. Any insight on this matter is greatly appreciated.
Nivia Dones
Comment by Nivia Dones — October 7, 2009 @ 10:46 am