The 2021-2022 FAFSA will be available this Thursday, Oct. 1. Do you need to fill it out right away? Maybe. Here’s what you do need to do now: Get an FSA ID. You and your student each need one. There is typically a delay between submitting the FSA ID request and the ID being created, so you should do this…
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Need-based Aid
There’s a ton of talk about the FAFSA right now, which on the one hand makes sense because it will be available next week. (Yes, all evidence to the contrary, time does continue marching forward with the result that Oct. 1 arrives next week.) But all the hoopla around the FAFSA tends to obscure the fact that the FAFSA itself…
Are you looking for the 2022-23 FAFSA’s EFC Formula Guide? Go here if so. The FAFSA won’t be available until Oct. 1 but in the meantime you can download the EFC Formula Guide for the current year and calculate your Expected Family Contribution. This year’s FAFSA EFC formula includes nominal inflation-related adjustments to the Income Protection Allowance, Adjusted Net Worth…
I write a lot about the FAFSA, but there’s a second financial aid form that’s also important: the CSS Profile. While all schools use the FAFSA to allocate federal funds such as Direct Student Loans, a subset of schools– primarily private schools– use the CSS Profile in their financial aid calculations. There are a few key differences between the two…
Want to know how other people pay for college? Sallie Mae’s recently-released annual report will tell you. This year’s survey was done in March and April of this year and reflects the 2019-2020 school year. A few key points: College costs went up. On average families paid just over $30,000 for the 2019-2020 academic year, compared with just over $26,000…