With
plethora of big-business entities jockeying for money of students on path to becoming well-to-do responsible consumers with a house, car, and 1.5 children, it's often missed that US Government is first place to start when planning student finances.Scholarships, traineeships, fellowships, loans: Uncle Sam is nothing if not prolific in diversity of programs available. For most students, acroynm FAFSA is their first encounter with cold hard seriousness of bureaucratic forms, most commonly dealt with before dreaded and stereotypically cryptic IRS forms such as 1040.
The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is a free form and free service provided by Department of Education. If you do not fill it in you will not be eligible for federal (government-backed) student loans. However, you will still be eligible for private, or alternative student loans.
Almost every school sets its own deadline for when different forms of financial aid are due. Some may be as early as second week of January and some have no deadlines at all. It is strongly recommended to check with your own school's financial aid office to find out exactly when your deadlines may fall. In order to meet a "Transaction Receipt Date" deadline for your college, it is recommended to submit to us at least 2 weeks prior to published deadline to insure submission.
There are a myriad of large, well-oiled companies that will gladly take your money and 'process' your FAFSA application on your behalf. The fees for this service typically range from $50 to $100. You could also go with a private accountant, however 'personal touch' will of course usually cost you more.
Wait! Do you really want to start your experience with Government forms as one of resignation that no, you are really not bright or organized enough to be able to fill it in yourself? Learning to 'do it yourself' with Government can be not only a satisfying but potentially educational experience that will teach you skills that many self-made millionares taught themselves: relying on an accountant or anonymous firm does nothing except save you some time, and in fact with big-ticket money decisions who is to say that your 'assistants' are not putting their interests before yours?
