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 […]
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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 Marlene Seeklander Schools have to wait a little longer before they can process batch corrections, but the functionality may be on the horizon. The Department of Education recently announced that over the next few weeks they will work with a group of institutions and their vendors to test batch corrections. After the beta testing is
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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
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By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals can kick off their 2025-26 planning and processing with some training offered by the Department of Education. The Federal Student Aid Training Center recently announced that they have updated the FAFSA simplification Trending Topic Series with the 2025-26 changes. Topics include: To sign up for the training: Training related questions
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By Marlene Seeklander Students and parents setting up an FSA ID find it easy to do so, but there are some important tips to avoid account problems in the future. Setting up an FSA ID (also known as creating a StudentAid.gov account) is the first step to complete the FAFSA. To assist students and parents with
Create your StudentAid.gov account updated flyer available Read More »
By Catherine Mueller Creating a StudentAid.gov account isn’t difficult but sometimes a few tips will make the process easier. Setting up an account at StudentAid.gov, is also known as creating an FSA ID, which is the username and password for the account. Students and generally at least one parent will need to create one in order to
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By Marlene Seeklander Students and families needing FAFSA assistance now have more opportunities available to contact the FAFSA Call Center. The FAFSA Call Center is offering expanded hours, including evenings and weekends, which started November 22 and extend through March 2, 2025. In addition, English and Spanish speaking agents are available, as well as interpretation services in
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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. To help students and parents understand and be prepared to answer the asset questions, here are some things to know: To determine the value of an investment, the student or
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By Marlene Seeklander Students and parents wanting to know about the FAFSA or who need to create a StudentAid.gov account will want to watch the latest videos from Mapping Your Future. The “2025-26 FAFSA and Financial Aid” presentation and “Creating a StudentAid.gov Account” (setting up an FSA ID) videos are now available on the Mapping Your
