Filling out financial aid paperwork is never fun, but assemble these items first, and the FAFSA form could be done in an hour or two.
- Social security numbers for you and your child. (Or your alien registration number if you are not a United States citizen.)
- Drivers license numbers for you and your child, assuming you have licenses.
- Federal tax returns for last year for you and your child, including W2 data and forms 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ. If you have not yet filed a tax return for last year, you can use estimated figures and revise them later, but the FAFSA asks for data from lines 37, 6D, etc. and it is vastly preferable - and so much easier - if you use real numbers. Besides, why make yourself go through this process twice, once now and again in revisions?
- Investment and other income data that may not be on your W2s, including welfare benefits, workers compensation, child support, veterans benefits and Social Security income. (Note: You'll be submitting numbers from all these investment documents, not submitting the actual piece of paper.)
- Current bank statements for you and your child.
- Any current business or investment mortgage information - although not the family home mortgage - as well as business and farm records, stocks, bonds, money market funds and other investment records, including college savings accounts.
- Grants and scholarship aid, and...
- A list of the 10 colleges - and their federal school codes - who should receive FAFSA information for your family.
What else do you need to know? Click here for articles on
FAFSA basics,
common scholarship myths,
5 handy tips for filling out the paperwork, and
what comes next in the financial aid process.
