Free FAFSA Help

For my friends with college-aged students (or feel free to share on your page for your friends):

Federal Student Aid is posting updates pointing to the "soft launch" of the new 24-25 FAFSA, and the page is absolutely flooded with people having difficulty accessing the platform and being worried about missed deadlines.

Please stop stressing about this today. Let me tell you why:
1) ED announced in previous Electronic Announcements (EA) that they will not be generating and sending FAFSA data records (known as ISIRs) until the end of January. That means if you complete the application today or tomorrow, the date schools will first have access to the data will be the same. Try logging in, and if it isn't working, get up from your computer, go do something else, and try again tomorrow instead of tearing your hair out.

2) If scholarship providers are issuing a deadline of before the end of January, you need to contact them to get clarification - either the deadline is incorrect or outdated or they are not basing eligibility on the FAFSA and you should submit their applications with or without a completed FAFSA.

3) Once the kinks are worked out, the FAFSA should be faster than ever to complete due to replacement of the Data Retrieval Tool with the direct data connection to the IRS, but you can be prepared by going ahead and having FSA IDs created for all people in your family that will be considered "contributors." That means BOTH parents (meaning bio parent AND stepparent if the parent is remarried) for dependent students and the student's spouse if independent. Note that this is different than years past where only one parent needed an FSA ID, even if married or remarried).

Basically... breathe and know that you're not missing out on anything federal today. Your Financial Aid Office would probably tell you to do the same.

A message from the Department of Education regarding an outage of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool within the FAFSA:

"The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) will be unavailable on Sunday, July 25, 2021, and Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, from 2-4 p.m. Eastern time as the IRS completes critical system upgrades. During these outage periods, users may access the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)..." However, if you'd like to avoid manually entering tax information in the FAFSA, you may wish to wait to complete the application after the outages are over.

A message from the Department of Education for those of you who have not yet begun the FAFSA:

"The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) will be unavailable on Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020, from 3-6 p.m. Eastern time as the IRS completes critical system upgrades. During this outage period, users may access fafsa.gov, the myStudentAid mobile app... Applicants may wish to complete the application after the outage is over."

Today's the day! The 2021-22 FAFSA is now open! Take some time this evening to complete the application as a family. What questions do you have?

One week left before the 2021-22 FAFSA opens! 🤑 What questions do you have?

The 2021-22 FAFSA, which serves as the federal financial aid application for Fall 2021, Spring 2022, and Summer 2022 at most schools, becomes available in less than 2 weeks! Will you be ready? Here's what you will need to be prepared:

1) Your and your parent's 2019 Federal Tax Return (form 1040 and Schedules 1, 2, and/or 3 if you filed them)

2) Your and your parent's 2019 Federal W-2 form(s) received from employers - and yes, you will have received this form even if you worked but did not file your own taxes!

3) Identification forms/cards such as Driver's License, Social Security card, etc.

4) Your and at least one of your parent's FSA ID login. If you don't have one yet, create it ASAP at www.fsaid.ed.gov, as this process can take up to 3 days! Check out our videos for help with creating an FSA ID.

www.fsaid.ed.gov

Free FAFSA Help updated their website address.

About the FAFSA Master:
I am currently employed in a Financial Aid Office at a Title IV-eligible, accredited college, with 7 years of experience and have received many credentials awarded through the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA). I am active in my state, regional, and national associations.

As much as I would love to share who I am and where I work, this service is designed to be separate from and unrelated to my employment at the college, so you can simply call me "the FAFSA Master!"

About this Page:
Get absolutely 100% free help completing the FAFSA from a currently employed Financial Aid professional. There is no charge for any service and you will never be pressured to attend any particular college. This service was started to prevent families from feeling the need to spend money to get help from a for-profit consultant - these "entrepreneurs" can do nothing more for you than a Financial Aid professional can for free, unless they are helping you get more aid by being dishonest. Send this page a message with questions or requests for assistance.

What I WILL do:
- help complete the entire FAFSA as needed.
- answer questions about federal regulations, federal aid programs, and federal student loan management.
- provide guidance on what to do or how to obtain correct documentation if selected for verification or if the FAFSA is rejected.
- advise whether a professional judgment may be worthwhile.

What I WON'T do:
- help an applicant to lie or exploit potential FAFSA loopholes to increase aid.
- ask you for Personally Identifiable Information (PII) like your FSA ID or password, student ID number, Social Security Number, or anything else. It may be necessary to ask you for financial numbers from your tax documents to help you know how to answer specific questions.
- physically complete the FAFSA for an applicant
- advise an applicant on a specific college or university policy.
- contact a school on an applicant's behalf.
- advise what school to attend or how to apply for school-specific funds, such as internal scholarships.
- tell an applicant whether a school is doing something correctly or not.