If D sells her appreciated stock in 2007, the gain is subject to 2007 income tax (and, possibly, kiddie tax) and is reportable on her first
FAFSA. If she uses the proceeds to purchase, for example, a computer before she signs the
FAFSA in 2008, the proceeds are not included as an asset on the
FAFSA.
An American Council on Education study found that approximately 1.7 million low- and moderate-income students failed to complete
FAFSA in 2000, even though they would have qualified for significant aid packages.
An intentional misstatement on the
FAFSA is a Federal crime.
If a website asks you to pay to fill it out, you're not dealing with the official
FAFSA site,
fafsa.gov.
Example 1: Carla Davis, a high school senior, fills out the
FAFSA. Her EFC, based on family income and assets, is placed at $27,000 for the next academic year.
It's recommended that you submit your
FAFSA as soon as possible because aid is given out on a first-come, first-served basis.
By the time the
FAFSA is due, however, most students have already applied to colleges, and are often admitted before they learn how much financial aid, if any, they'll be getting.
Allowing families to use "prior-prior year" (PPY) income and asset data when submitting the
FAFSA is another attempt at tackling issues of access and affordability.
The importance of filling out
FAFSA especially among first-generation college students--is clear.
The new changes add more "skip logic" to the online
FAFSA, according to Kantrowitz.
You may use the
FAFSA on the Web Worksheet to help you organize your data before entering it online.
Before a student can receive any kind of financial aid, he or she must fill out the
FAFSA form, which stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
