Uncork the FAFSA - College Planning

By: Becky Eason

Why complete the FAFSA?

As of October 1st, it’s officially FAFSA season for the 2020-2021 academic year. FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid and should be completed by all high school seniors who plan to attend a secondary education school as well as current college students who will be going to school again next year. This form is completed based on the prior year tax return, so if you, or your parents, have completed your 2018 tax return you are able to complete this application. As much as I’m sure you don’t like completing this form it’s very important that you do so, especially for the following reasons.

The primary reason that FAFSA needs to be filled out is that it’s required for financial aid. FAFSA needs to be completed by students who are attending public schools and many times for private schools as well. Did you know that every dollar you borrow in student loans will cost you approximately double by the time you pay back your loan? If you are eligible for any amount of financial aid anything that you receive will help you out tremendously when your student loans enter repayment status. If you receive $100 in financial aid that is actually like receiving $200 if you think about the amount in repayment terms. 

Even if you know or believe that you won’t be eligible for financial aid, it's important that you still complete the FAFSA. The reason for that is that in order to be eligible for federal student loans you need to have a completed FAFSA. Unfortunately, this is not a very well known fact and thus results in many students missing out on the advantages of federal student loans You may not be eligible for any financial aid but if you are able to get federal student loans it’s worth your time and effort to complete the FAFSA. So, why would you want a federal student loan over a private student loan? An advantage of all federal student loans is their built in death and disability clause. If the person who holds the student loan passes away before the loan is repaid it’s forgiven and the estate is not responsible for paying anything back. If the loan holder becomes permanently disabled they can apply for a disability discharge and if the discharge is granted then their federal student loans will be completely forgiven. Another reason for wanting a federal student loan is the ability to have an income based repayment option, especially for students who plan to enter a career that is eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). In no cases are private loans eligible for PSLF. Also, a federal student loan can be either subsidized or unsubsidized. A subsidized loan is need based, so not all who complete the FAFSA will be eligible for this loan but the unsubsidized loan has no need clauses attached to it. The great thing about the subsidized loan is that while the student is enrolled at least half time in college the government is paying the interest on the loan, whereas with the unsubsidized loan interest starts accruing as soon as the loan is taken out (as would a private student loan).  

Trust me, I know how dreaded it was to fill out the FAFSA but it is worth all of your time and effort. Please don’t delay in getting this completed, as schools have limited financial aid to offer and they do run out of money. Financial aid is offered on a first come first serve basis.