We’ve all been there, or will be there. FAFSA is something we can’t run away from, even if we tried (or if you have a huge $cholarship or rich parents). FAFSA means Free Application for Federal Student Aid and it’s is financial help college students receive to pay for tuition expenses. The process of filling out your FAFSA application can be overwhelming and stressful. But then comes the amount you will get, which can be devastating.
The process is not that hard, you go to their website (fafsa.gov) and you fill out the application. Of course, before doing so, you and your parents create an ID to sign the application (which you’ll keep using every year). After you fill out your FAFSA you’ll need to wait until its processed and that’s the worst part.
Many of us expect for FAFSA to pay a huge part of our tuition. But sadly, that doesn’t always happen. When filling out our application, we mostly use our parent’s tax forms and I believe that that is incredibly unfair. FAFSA doesn’t consider the fact that our parents have lots of expenses and that their salary can’t be all available to pay for college.
Don’t be surprised when you see the amount you will get. It is sad that those who love their university and love attending classes are affected by how FAFSA decides how much to give based on what your parents make. Because of that, make sure you are prepared to find a job or asking your parents to help you out. If that isn’t possible, apply to every scholarship you can find, make sure student loans are your last choice and if you are still in high school, start saving.
FAFSA application for 2018-19 are already open, you can fill yours here.