FSFSA - a Parent's Guide to College Financial Aid

As teenagers enter their senior year of high school, many begin to work through the tedious paperwork to prepare for college. In addition to the overwhelming events of finishing high school, including graduation, finals, exit exams and extracuricullar activities, high school seniors are eagerly relying on their parents to work through the paperwork nightmare so often associated with college admission. For parents, the key is accuracy and timing. In an effort to improve the efficiency of the college admissions process, the following is an outline of the procedures for obtaining federal financial assistance for your future college student.

In an effort to timely prepare for financial assistance, as part of the college admissions process, determine the exact deadlines for financial aid processing through the school your child will attend. When discussing aid with the school, inquire as to what additional paperwork may be needed, in addition to the FSFSA application, to qualify for financial aid. Some states and schools vary with regard to the additional financial aid paperwork and deadline requirements.

Next, and before completing any FSFSA financial aid paperwork, the following documents should be gathered as they will be referenced during the process: social security numbers for the parents as well as the senior in high school, most recent calendar year tax returns, copies of the last three months of bank statements, driver's license numbers, documentation of any nontaxable income and copies of any investment property or investment account documents.