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 […]
Three reasons a FAFSA filer won’t need to report assets Read More »
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
Calculating assets for the 2025-26 FAFSA Read More »
By Catherine Mueller Saving for college can be tough. With costs of just about every living expense continuing to rise, setting aside money for a child’s education may have been challenging. Even if a family has managed to save some money, it may not be enough to cover all of a student’s college expenses. Parents who
Five facts everyone should know about parent student loans Read More »
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
Update on 2025-26 FAFSA Paper Form processing and 2024-25 FAFSA Paper Form Read More »
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
Final 2025-26 forms available at StudentAid.gov Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander When it comes to learning about financial aid, you can never have enough training tools available for staff. The Department of Education announced the release of mock-ups of the final version of the 2025-26 English and Spanish FAFSA Submission Summary. Schools and other interested organizations can use these as a training resource for
2025-26 FAFSA Submission Summary mock-ups available Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander The 2025-26 FAFSA is now officially available, 10 days before the Department of Education’s December 1 goal. The Department of Education made the announcement on November 21 that the online FAFSA form is available to all students and families at fafsa.gov. The Department is processing and sending FAFSA records to schools. The paper
2025-26 FAFSA is now available to all students Read More »
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
New flyer to help students complete the FAFSA Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander As you prepare for the 2025-26 award year, you may want to implement the new College Financing Plan template. The Department of Education recently announced the release of the 2025-26 College Financing Plan (CFP), formerly known as the Financial Aid Shopping Sheet, a tool that colleges can use to notify students about their
ED releases 2025-26 College Financing Plan Read More »
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
The 2025-26 FAFSA is now available to all students Read More »
