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Bank Balancing Tool

Three reasons a FAFSA filer won’t need to report assets

By Catherine Mueller The FAFSA form collects asset information from students and parents to determine a family’s ability to pay for college. However, not everyone is required to provide asset information. If a student or parents meet the following criteria, then they will be exempt from providing asset information: A student or parent who is required […]

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Calculating assets for the 2025-26 FAFSA

By Catherine Mueller While several steps have been taken to simplify the FAFSA, students and parents often still have questions about calculating the value of assets. However, families should not let these questions deter them from completing the FAFSA, which may be a necessary step in receiving important financial aid. Not all families are required to

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Update on 2025-26 FAFSA Paper Form processing and 2024-25 FAFSA Paper Form

By Marlene Seeklander The Department of Education continues to roll out the 2025-26 FAFSA processing. The Department announced that as of November 24, they have started processing 2025-26 paper applications. Schools can make corrections to paper forms via the FAFSA Partner Portal and student corrections to paper forms will be available in early 2025. Updates to

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Wooden tile spelling out FAFSA

Final 2025-26 forms available at StudentAid.gov

By Marlene Seeklander Several final 2025-26 forms are available as a resource to assist schools and students. The Department of Education announced the release of the final 2025-26 FAFSA Form, 2025-26 FAFSA Form for Confined or Incarcerated Individuals, and the 2025-26 FAFSA Submission Summary. 2025-26 FAFSA Form – Individuals needing to access either an English and Spanish PDF

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New flyer to help students complete the FAFSA

By Catherine Mueller Although completing the FAFSA is much easier for students and parents, it does help to prepare for some of the questions on the form. One of those questions is determining which parent or parents to invite to the FAFSA. Recently the U.S. Department of Education made its Parent Wizard available on StudentAid.gov to

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The 2025-26 FAFSA is now available to all students

By Catherine Mueller The 2025-26 FAFSA is now available to anyone wanting to complete form – even though the beta-testing period is still underway. Last week, the Department of Education announced that “building on successful testing results” this fall it would expand the online beta testing period to all users before officially releasing the form by

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Helping students and parents get ready for the 2025-26 FAFSA

By Catherine Mueller The scheduled release of the 2025-26 FAFSA is just a little more than two weeks away, but that’s time enough to do some things to get ready. A couple of things that both students and parents can do is set up their StudentAid.gov accounts and gather up any documents that may be needed

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Registration deadline nearing for December ACT test date

By Catherine Mueller Students interested in taking the December ACT test should register soon. The regular registration deadline was Friday, November 8 for the December 14 ACT test. Students can register for the December test up until November 22 but will have to pay a late fee with their registration. The next ACT test date is

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Magnifying glass with FAFSA being magnified

Five things you can do while you wait for the 2025-26 FAFSA

By Catherine Mueller If you haven’t heard already, the 2025-26 FAFSA will be released by December 1. Normally, the FAFSA is released on October 1 for the following academic year. This year, however, to avoid some of the problems and delays experienced with the 2024-25 FAFSA, the Department is putting the 2025-26 FAFSA through beta testing.

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2025-26 FAFSA Resources to support outreach efforts

By Marlene Seeklander Planning for the upcoming 2025-26 FAFSA cycle may be a little easier with some new resources from the Department of Education. The Department announced this week that new and updated resources are available to schools, software vendors, supporting agencies, and students and families to help them prepare for the 2025-26 FAFSA cycle. The

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