Thursday, June 9, 2011

Make Corrections On A Fafsa

What is an FAFSA application? FAFSA stands for "Free Application for Federal Student Aid." It is a form that students fill out in order to receive free money from the government for college. In order to qualify for this type of aid, you must demonstrate financial need of some sort. You do not have to be "poor" to be eligible. There are basically two ways to make corrections on a FAFSA application--by telephone or electronically. You can opt for regular mail, too. Know that regular mail or "snail mail," may cause undue delay, however. Most people prefer to make corrections via the Internet, as processing generally takes just 2 weeks as opposed to 6 to 8 weeks as with other types of applications. To make corrections on a FAFSA application, try to keep the following tips in mind.


Instructions


1. Go back to your FAFSA account. If you want to make corrections on your FAFSA application, you will have to go either call FAFSA Student Aid Services or go back online to your account, and log in. Be sure to have your application reference information and personal identification number (PIN). Once you received your PIN, you will not be able to make corrections on a FAFSA without it. If you opt to go online, be sure to find the section that reads, "Continue Working on Saved FAFSA," and follow the prompts from there.


2. Resubmit your corrections. After you have gained access to your account and corrected all the relevant information, know that you will have to resubmit your new information. People often make the mistake of saving their new information without resending it. It is not unusual for a corrected FAFSA application to simply sit in queue, unprocessed for weeks at a time. You have the option to either save a draft or resubmit. Be sure to carefully review your corrected information before resending it to the FAFSA offices.








3. Contact your school or university. There may be some circumstances in which you personally will not be able update or make corrections on a FAFSA application. Financial aid offices at community colleges or universities often have to make changes for various reasons. Know this is not unusual. A school may make corrections to your FAFSA application to provide you with additional money, for example. Keep updated by periodically speaking with your school financial aid representative.








4. Wait for your Student Aid Report (SAR). People generally receive a SAR report once their corrections are processed. If you decided to make corrections on a FAFSA online, this usually only takes about 48 hours, or so. If you make corrections on a FAFSA by telephone or mail, know you may not receive your SAR report for weeks. Know that both you and your school will receive any updated or corrected information.

Tags: FAFSA application, make corrections, corrections FAFSA, make corrections, make corrections FAFSA