What year should i file fafsa for

It's better to wait and make sure you have the tax guidance you need to fill out the form properly. To begin filling out the application, students and parents should go to fafsa. Families will need to first enter biographical information about the student, including their full name, permanent mailing address, birth date, social security number, driver's license number, email address, citizenship, alien registration number if applicable and marital status.

Students will also have to indicate whether they're registered for the Selective Service if male and whether they've ever received a drug conviction but the answers to these questions will no longer impact your eligibility to receive financial aid. Students will also enter information about the high school they attend and the college degree they are seeking. The next section relates to the student's tax filing status and will include questions about the income tax return that was filed for , tax filing status, Schedule 1 filing and adjusted gross income for the student and their spouse if applicable.

There will also be questions related to child support, education tax credits, any scholarships obtained and other programs or federal distributions you might have received. The third section includes questions to determine whether the student's parents need to share their income and tax info in order to qualify for federal aid. Generally, students who are dependents will need to report information about their parents' income and tax returns on the FAFSA application.

Once it's determined whether the parent's information is needed, parents will input their own biographical information and answer questions related to their adjusted gross income, wages, taxable income and assets. The next section is meant only for students who are not dependents and asks for information on their household. And for the final two sections, students fill in the names of the colleges they wish to receive financial aid for.

A student is a ward of the court if it has assumed legal custody of the student. In some states the court may impose its authority over a juvenile who remains in the legal custody of his or her parents; such a student is not a ward of the court.

Also, incarceration of a student does not qualify the student as a ward of the court. Emancipation and legal guardianship 53 and Students are independent if they are, or were upon reaching the age of majority, emancipated minors released from control of their parent or guardian or in legal guardianship, both as adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction in their state of legal residence at the time of the adjudication.

The emancipation must be determined by a court, not by an attorney, though the basis for it can vary by state. Students placed in legal guardianship to their parents—e. Unaccompanied homeless youth 55— A student is independent if at any time on or after July 1, irrespective of whether he or she is currently homeless or at risk thereof , the student is determined to be an unaccompanied youth who is homeless or is self-supporting and at risk of being homeless.

This determination can be made by: a school district homeless liaison, the director or designee of an emergency shelter or transitional housing program funded by the U.

Department of Housing and Urban Development, or the director or designee of a runaway or homeless youth basic center or transitional living program. An FAA may also determine this; see Chapter 5. Questions 79—92 collect tax and financial data for the parents, and because these questions are answered in the same way as for the student, they were discussed earlier. Do not use an individual taxpayer identification number as an SSN.

Household size This determines the standard living allowance that offsets family income in the EFC calculation. The student and parents , even if the student is not living with them.

Exclude a parent who has died or is not living in the household because of separation or divorce, but include a parent who is on active duty in the U. Armed Forces apart from the family. Siblings need not live in the home. It also includes siblings who would be considered dependent based on the FAFSA dependency questions i. Example : Lydia is a dependent student, and her parents are married.

Her sister Susan is not attending college but is working and supporting herself. However, if Susan were to apply for student aid, she would be considered a dependent student, so she is included. Therefore, the household size that Lydia reports for her parents is five. Foster children in household size: Typically foster children do not count in the household size as their costs are covered by foster care payments.

Remember that an adoptive parent counts as a parent, but a legal guardian does not. If the surviving parent dies after the FAFSA has been filed, the student must update his or her dependency status and report income and assets as an independent student.

There are no exceptions. A prenuptial agreement does not exempt the stepparent from providing information required of a parent on the FAFSA application. If the student lived equally with each parent or did not live with either one, then he or she should provide the information for the parent from whom he or she received more financial support or the one from whom he or she received more support the last calendar year for which it was given.

Note that it is not typical that a student will live with or receive support from both parents exactly equally. Usually you can determine that the student lived with one of the parents more than half the year or that he or she received more than half support from one of the parents.

Her parents divorced recently, and she has not lived with them since she was Also, neither parent provided support in the past year. The last time she received support from her parents was when she lived with them and they were still married.

If one or both of them have married someone else and all live in the same household and presumably the student lived with both parents an equal amount of time , the parent and stepparent, if applicable, who provided more support in the previous year would include their information on the FAFSA. A couple need not be legally separated to be considered separated—they may deem themselves informally separated when one of the partners has left the household for an indefinite period and the marriage is severed.

If their state allows this, and if they are still living together and are legally separated, then that is their status on the FAFSA form unless they are the parents of a dependent student, in which case their status is unmarried and living together and both would report their information. If a couple lives together and has not been formally married but meets the criteria in their state for a common-law marriage, they should be reported as married on the FAFSA form.

Check with the appropriate state agency concerning the definition of a common-law marriage. Number in college The applicant always counts in the number in college, but parents do not. Others included in the household size are also included in the number in college if they are or will be enrolled at least half time during the award year in any eligible degree or certificate program at a school eligible for any of the FSA programs.

The definition of half-time enrollment for this question must meet the federal requirements even if the school defines half time differently. See Volume 1: Student Eligibility for enrollment status requirements. Students at U. Since they will not receive more than one-half of their support from any person, they also do not count in the household size of any independent students and some dependent students.

Receipt of means-tested federal benefits by anyone in the household 74— This as an alternative for the tax return requirement of the simplified needs and automatic zero EFC tests. Tax forms filed by parents, filing status, income, and assets 79—82, 84— Refer to the earlier discussion for these questions.

Dislocated worker This status, as defined in the Workforce In- novation and Opportunity Act or WIOA, is an alternative to the tax return and means-tested federal benefits criteria for determining if a person qualifies for the simplified needs test or automatic zero EFC. Under the WIOA, a dislo- cated worker is someone who falls into at least one of these categories:. A person who meets all of the following requirements:.

He or she was terminated or laid off from employment or received a notice of termination or layoff. He or she is unlikely to return to a previous industry or occupation.

A person who was terminated or laid off from employment or received a notice of termination or layoff as a result of any permanent closure of, or any substantial layoff at, a plant, facility, or enterprise. A person who is employed at a facility at which the employer made a general announcement that it will close within days. A person who is employed at a facility at which the employer made a general announcement that it will close.

A self-employed person including farmers, ranchers, or fishermen who is unemployed because of natural disasters or because of general economic conditions in his or her community. A spouse of an active duty member of the Armed Forces who has experienced a loss of employment because of relocating due to permanent change in duty station.

A spouse of an active duty member of the Armed Forces who is unemployed or underemployed and is experiencing difficulty in obtaining or upgrading employment. Displaced homemakers who meet all of the following criteria:.

They have been providing unpaid services to family members in the home. They have been dependent on the income of another family member but are no longer supported by that income. They are unemployed or underemployed and having trouble getting or upgrading employment. An underemployed person is one working part time but who wants to work full time or is working below the demonstrated level of his or her education or job skills. Not everyone who receives unemployment benefits will meet the definition of dislocated worker.

For example, in general those who quit their jobs are not considered dislocated workers, even if they are receiving unemployment benefits. You are not required to verify the answer to this question.

If you choose to verify it, documentation can include, as appropriate to the category, a letter or a layoff or termination notice from the employer, unemployment insurance UI system verification, tax returns, a business license, or newspaper articles. Absent all other evidence, self-certification will suffice, such as a statement signed by the person affirming that he or she meets the definition of dislocated worker. Information from the workforce investment system. The local workforce investment system and state UI agency may support financial aid administrators by.

A person can request documentation from the career center or other appropriate office that he or she is receiving dislocated worker services through the workforce investment system.

That office can give the documentation to the student, or at his or her request it may but is not obligated to give the documentation directly to the college. If you must determine if someone is a dislocated worker, you have sole responsibility and must make the determination regardless of whether the person has proof of dislocated worker status—or is receiving dislocated worker services—from the workforce investment system.

Purpose: Questions 93— collect information about independent students. The following persons are included in the household size of an independent student:. The student and his or her spouse, unless the spouse has died or is not living in the household due to separation or divorce. Other persons who live with and receive more than half their support from the student and will receive more than half support for the entire award year.

Example: Eddy is an independent student. He was married, but now he and his wife have separated. The student is always included in the number in college.

Also included are those in the household size who are or will be enrolled at least half time during the award year in a degree or certificate program at a Title IV-eligible school and who can reasonably be expected to receive aid from the family for their education.

Example: Under the previous example, Eddy would report two in the household and two in college, while Chavo would report one in his household and one in college. Receipt of means-tested federal benefits by anyone in the household 95— This is an alternative for the tax return requirement of the simplified needs and automatic zero EFC tests.

See the explanation of Question 83 earlier. Purpose : These items collect information about which colleges the student wants to receive his or her FAFSA information. There is a federal school code search in the online FAFSA form, and the entire list of school codes is available in Excel on the Knowledge Center website under the "Publications" section. For each school the student indicates whether he or she expects to live on or off campus or with his or her parents.

This information is not used to calculate the EFC, but it is useful to schools for determining the cost of attendance. If he or she wants their information to be available to more schools, he or she can change the schools listed online or use their SAR. Chapter 4 explains how students can add or change schools. The ISIR will only display the federal school code and corresponding housing code of the receiving school.

Date and signature s — In addition to certifying that the data on the FAFSA form is correct, the student is also signing a statement of educational purpose, which is required to receive FSA funds. Among other things, the student agrees to spend FSA funds only on educational expenses and affirms that he or she is not in default on a federal loan or does not owe a grant overpayment.

If the student is dependent, one parent whose information is reported on the FAFSA form must also sign. While parent information must be provided for a dependent student, a high school counselor or a college aid administrator may sign the application in place of a parent if. The signer must provide his or her title in parentheses next to his or her signature and briefly state the reason only one is needed why he or she is signing for the parents; if this is not done, the FAFSA form will not be processed.

The signer assures a minimum level of credibility in the data submitted; however, he or she does not assume any responsibility or liability in this process. Only persons who are paid a fee to help the student complete the application are considered FAFSA preparers. Those who advise students without charging a fee, such as high school counselors and FAAs, are not preparers.

Preparers have other obligations. In their advertising and initial contact with a consumer, including via the Internet or phone, they must clearly inform him or her that the FAFSA form is free and can be completed electronically or on paper without professional help.

A preparer who knowingly falsifies information on the application is subject to the same penalties as an applicant. Except for a copied FAFSA form, other imaged versions of the original signed document are valid and may be retained. You may electronically store the original document, but you may not accept faxed or copied signatures from the student for the FAFSA form.

You have more latitude regarding verification documents and changes to the application; see Chapter 4. When all the necessary signatures are provided electronically, the application will be processed within 72 hours. Students and parents also use the ID to sign the application in the FAFSA feature of the myStudentAid mobile app, but the other options below are not available in the app.

Alternately, students can print the signature page, sign it, and mail it to the processor. See the announcement of March 18, , for a list of what are valid and invalid signatures.

The processor will accept the first signature document it receives—either the signed signature page or the signed SAR.

Schools and states receive ISIRs for rejected records. The school can then submit an electronic correction showing that the signatures have been provided.

If the student indicated he or she would send in a signature page, the processor will wait up to 14 calendar days to receive the signed page. IRS Documentation Transcript or other form submitted for verification. DRT or tax return transcript which does not need to be signed. If parent data are changed, one parent must sign with FSA ID on the web, sign the corrections statement on the SAR, or print and sign the signature page. School must have signed documentation from student and parent.

Step One: General Student Information. Information submitted on it can qualify students for other nonfederal grants--from state governments, private entities, and colleges themselves--that are available to students from higher-income households as well.

Even some merit-based scholarships offered by colleges and universities require applicants to file the FAFSA. Department of Education's federal student aid website. Even if that's an optimistic estimate, the form costs nothing to fill out, and it could be well worth the time spent if it saves your family money. The Department of Education has implemented some changes that have made it easier to fill out the form.

But the deadline for state or college financial aid can be earlier , so it's a good idea to apply as soon as possible to maximize the potential aid you could receive. When you narrow your list of colleges, ask the financial aid offices at your top schools for the deadlines and opening dates that apply to your unique financial and academic situation.

Schools you apply to may need additional applications beyond the FAFSA for specific scholarships and grants. After you submit the FAFSA, you may need to make changes, such as adding or deleting a school from your list. Some states award more aid to students who opt for state schools first, he says. Each school has its own form available from the financial aid office. Reyna Gobel, M. Her CliffsNotes books on repaying student loans and paying for college were picked as book of the month by Michelle Singletary in The Washington Post three times.

She co-created the 30 Day Immune System Challenge at 30ichallenge. Select Region. United States. United Kingdom. Reyna Gobel, Alicia Hahn. Contributor, Editor. Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations. Find the Best Private Student Loans of