Time to start applying for financial aid

The process of college and career planning can easily be viewed as one big, and frequently convoluted, series of acronyms.

For those wading through these often murky waters, it seems like there is an endless sea of initials everywhere you turn, such as AP, ACT, SAT, and so on. But as ciphers go, there is perhaps no more impactful sequence of letters on one's opportunity to attend college than F-A-F-S-A.

The Free Application for Student Federal Aid, www.fafsa.ed.gov, represents the chief prerequisite or step that a family must complete each year for a student to be considered for financial aid. Without going through this process, a student cannot be considered for need-based assistance.

The onset of the New Year formally opens the FAFSA application process, so the gate is now officially open for prospective college students and continuing students and their families to begin the process.

The essence of the FAFSA is for the government to distill the financial information a family is asked to supply in order to calculate a student's estimated family contribution. Yes, another acronym.

The government considers a number of financial elements on one's application when determining EFC. Key components include adjusted gross income, family size and number of students in college, assets, and other untaxed income.

Once a student's EFC is established, the calculation is sent to the schools that have been listed on the FAFSA application. The delta between the cost of attendance at a particular school, minus the estimated family contribution calculation, equals financial need.

While the FAFSA process is, by definition, a federal form and, thus, the lynchpin for consideration of federal funds such as Pell Grants and loans, it is also critical that applicants recognize that each state and every college and university has its own deadlines.

Therefore, those applying for financial aid are strongly encouraged to complete the FAFSA as early as possible to avoid missing deadlines or to minimize the possibility of receiving a smaller award due to the amount resources left following a later application.

The FAFSA website includes a deadline icon that lists the deadlines for each state. For the State of Nevada, the FAFSA website states, "Check with your financial aid administrator (at each school). Additional form may be required." By contrast, the State of California lists March 2 for "initial awards."

Before one can begin to complete the FAFSA, he or she must first apply for a PIN number. When supplying the requested personal information, it is important to note that a student must already have a Social Security number, as this is required information.

Once a PIN number is received, families may begin the application itself, which, again, is free. This is worth underscoring, as there are fee-for-service websites that appear to be the authentic FAFSA website. Any site that promotes a fee for this service is not the actual FAFSA website.

Prior to beginning the application, it is advisable for applicants to download, print, and complete the FAFSA worksheet, www.fafsa.ed.gov/fotw1112/pdf/fafsaws12c.pdf. Completing this worksheet, which mirrors the online application, can save an applicant a great deal of time when doing the actual online application.

Part and parcel to the application is the submittal of one's Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) for the prior year, meaning 2011 for those hoping to start school this fall. Given that many applicants are unable to file their taxes early enough to agree with a preferred FAFASA filing, the government does provide an opportunity to submit a calculated AGI.

However, according to the "Application Questions" portion of the FAFSA website, "it is best to use a completed income tax return to fill out this application. However, if you do not have a completed tax return, you should calculate your adjusted gross income (AGI) and taxes paid using the applicable IRS instructions ... When your application is compared with the tax return actually filed, the financial information must agree."

After the FAFSA is received and processed, the government will send both the applicant and the schools listed on one's form what is known as a student aid report (SAR). This is the verification of the applicant's information.

An approved SAR must be returned before aid may be dispensed. If an error or other discrepancy is found on the SAR, applicants may follow the instructions listed on the report to make corrections.

The result of the entire process will be a response from the financial aid office of each institution listed on the FAFSA that shares the terms of the financial aid they are prepared to offer. This will generally come in the form of grants (student aid funds that do not need to be repaid), work study (part-time work that offsets tuition cost), and loans (aid that needs to be repaid.).

Depending upon the strength of student's admissions application, some schools may also include merit-based (performance-based aid that does not need to be repaid) in a financial aid package.

Of all the acronyms college-bound students and families need to remember, FAFSA should be at or near the top of the list. It is, however, not the only financial aid assessment a family may be asked to complete depending upon the school a student is interested in attending. That would be too easy. We'll take a look at other processes next time.

• Brian Underwood is the executive director of Sierra Lutheran High School. He can be reached at underwood@slhs.com.