By Marlene Seeklander Institutions will want to take note of a recent update to one of the FAFSA questions. The Department of Education announced an update made to the FAFSA to comply with President Trump’s Executive Order, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government. The update to Question 11 […]
FAFSA Question 11 updated Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander While many students and parents are completing the 2025-26 FAFSA, the Department of Education is already looking ahead to next year’s FAFSA. Now is your opportunity to submit comments to the Department of Education about the proposed draft 2026-27 FAFSA form and FAFSA Submission Summary. In an Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education
Draft 2026-27 FAFSA application materials available for comment Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Students often have lots of questions about “what happens next” with the financial aid process. The general answer to all the questions is students who have submitted a FAFSA have now taken their first step to determine eligibility for financial aid. There are many specific things that happen now that a FAFSA has
What happens after you submit the FAFSA? Read More »
By Catherine Mueller It is understandable – that overwhelmed feeling you get when thinking about how to pay for college. While much of that feeling is due to the amount of money involved, you can mitigate it somewhat with a college financial plan. The college financial plan consists of understanding the cost of attending college and
Four components of a good college financial plan Read More »
By Catherine Mueller Students eligible to receive the maximum Federal Pell Grant for 2025-26 will receive the same amount as was awarded in the current academic year. The maximum Pell Grant award for 2025–26 (July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026) will be $7,395. Pell Grant award amounts can vary based on a student’s eligibility and
Pell Grant award amounts unchanged for the 2025-26 academic year Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Anyone can get confused about which tax year to use for the FAFSA. The key to knowing which year to use is to subtract two from the beginning of the academic year. It’s often referred to as “prior-prior” year tax information. For example, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the
The key to knowing which tax year to use on the FAFSA Read More »
By Catherine Mueller It’s not that you don’t want to write the essay. You do! If you are like so many other people, the real reason you find essay writing difficult is you want it to be perfect. While there’s nothing wrong with wanting to write the perfect essay, it becomes an issue when it’s holding
The real reason admission and scholarship essays are so hard to write Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander It’s okay if you’re not entirely sure where you plan to go to college when completing the FAFSA. You can go ahead and complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) even if you haven’t made a firm decision on where you plan to go to college. The FAFSA is designed so
The complete guide to adding or deleting colleges on your FAFSA Read More »
By Catherine Mueller If you don’t meet the deadline, you won’t qualify. Simple as that – deadlines are one of the most important requirements of scholarships. Certainly, there are other requirements you will have to meet but the deadline is critical. Scholarships are the best kind of aid. There may be certain requirements (should as maintaining
Four tips to avoid missing important scholarship deadlines Read More »
By Catherine Mueller Not claimed as a dependent on your parent’s taxes? You may still be a dependent when it comes to applying for federal financial aid. Confusion over why a student is considered dependent on a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) when they are not claimed as a dependent on the parent’s tax
What does dependent mean for the FAFSA? Read More »
