NextStudent, the Phoenix-based premier education funding company, recommends that you submit your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), as close to Jan. 1 as possible because, although official deadlines for submitting the FAFSA vary from state to state, disbursement of federal aid is limited and awarded on a first-come first-serve basis. Students and parents should find time before the new year to collect all the information they need to complete the FAFSA so they can be prepared to submit as soon as possible and increase their chance of receiving need-based federal student loans.
The Application Process Made Easier
Students should visit
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/fafsaws78bw.pdf to get tools that will help them complete the FAFSA, including the pre-application work sheet. Although not part of the official application, this work sheet helps students and parents gather all the information they need to complete their application online (and offline, for that matter), including Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, W-2s and Federal Income Tax Returns.
If families have not filed their 2006 tax returns by Jan. 1, they can estimate their income as accurately as possible and then make corrections to their application at a later date by going to http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/FOTWWebApp/complete014.jsp.
Online Advantages
The U.S. Department of Education recommends that students fill out and submit their FAFSA online. Results are received faster than submitting by mail, and the Web version automatically checks the application for errors before submitting, which decreases the chance that it will be rejected due to missing or incomplete information.
When submitting the FAFSA online, the Department of Education requires that the application be signed electronically. Students must apply for a PIN (Personal Identification Number) that serves as the electronic signature. To receive a PIN, users can go to www.pin.ed.gov.
Federal Aid Confirmation
Several weeks after a student submits the FAFSA online, that student and the colleges indicated on his or her FAFSA will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) from the Department of Education. Colleges use that report to determine a student’s financial aid eligibility. It is important for the student to double check the SAR to make sure there are no errors. If there are errors, changes can be made online by going to the corrections link mentioned above.
After a student finds out the types of federal student loans for which he or she qualifies, it then is a good time to look into applying for Stafford Loans, PLUS Loans or Graduate PLUS Loans.
NextStudent’s Federal College Student Loan Programs
NextStudent is a federal lender that can help students and their parents secure student loans for college. Almost every student qualifies for an unsubsidized Stafford loan. It is easy to apply for NextStudent Stafford Student Loans because there are no credit checks, payments are delayed until after graduation, and the interest rate is a low 6.8 percent.
Other incentives offered by NextStudent include: 3 percent cash rebate on the remaining principal balance after 30 consecutive months of on-time payments when repaying using Auto-Debit, .375 percent interest rate reduction for using Auto-Debit for repayment, and a 2 percent upfront cash rebate.
It is important for students to submit a FAFSA because not all federal aid programs are need-based. When students submit early they put themselves in line to obtain the federal student loans to help pay for their higher education, and NextStudent is there to help with an array of federal student loan benefits and incentives.
NextStudent believes that getting an education is the best investment you can make, and it is dedicated to helping you pursue your education dreams by making college funding simple. Learn more about student loans at http://www.nextstudent.com/.
