The 5 steps to fill out your FAFSA application

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If you're looking to pay for college, completing and submiting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid ( FAFSA) is a first step. FAFSA gives you access to a great source of college financial aid. Many states and institutes of higher education use the data in this application to determine whether the student has the right to receive other financial .

“FAFSA is financial aid for students who have legal documents, a legal immigration status and it is completely free," explains Juan García, Director of the Center for Equality in learning at ACT, who illustrates the importance of filling out this application. "It is government assistance that you don't have to pay back, a scholarship that can be up to almost $6,000. Imagine a young person who wants to go to a community college for two years. With this scholarship, they can study completely free."

The only requirement to apply for this aid is that the student must have a Social Security number. If the student has one and their parents do not, that’s not a problem.

"When filling out the form, when it asks you for your parents Social Security number, you should only write down 0 (zero). This is your right and the Department of Education does not share this information with immigration," says García.

Undocumented students or DACA recipients cannot receive this federal aid, but they can receive aid from a state or a university. Therefore, it is recommended that students fill out the FAFSA application regardless of their case, because it is used by the majority of the states and colleges to determine each student's situation.

"Although undocumented students don’t receive federal aid, they are encouraged to fill out FAFSA, because elite universities have special money set aside for young people in their situation. But they need to tell them, without fear, that they do not have documents," says Monica Nelsas, from the department of Parent Information and Bilingual/ESOL Education in Broward County, Florida.

Nelsas recommends that undocumented students fill out the FAFSA, print it and submit it either eletronically or sending it in the mail. Although the student will receive a message indicating that the federal government will not offer financial help, they will calculate the Expected Family Contribution, which can be applied to a financial aid award.

If the student is from a foreign country under certain exceptions they can be eligible to apply for FAFSA. For example, a refugee who was granted an asylum and has a T Visa (victims of human trafficking) or if they are an authorized foreigner or mistreated immigrant, among others.

These are the main steps to fill out the FAFSA:

1st: Create an FSA ID

To fill out the FAFSA form online you must create an FSA ID, which allows s to enter personal electronic information on their web site. This is the recommended way to apply because it allows you to make corrections.

You can also print and fill out the application. However, you should call 1-800-433-3243 or 334-523-2691 to the correct form and then send it to the address they give you via postal mail.

The FSA ID is used to sign documents in digital form. It is equal and has the same legal value as a handwritten signature. Because of this you should not share this ID with anyone because you could be at risk of identity theft. If the student's parents have to sign the forms, they should create their own FSA IDs.

2nd: Fill Out the Application

Once you have created your FSA ID, you must select the appropriate application for each student. The 2017-2018 forms have been available since October 1 ^st, 2016, and will be available until June 30 ^th, 2018. You must fill out the application if the student plans to begin their studies on June 30 ^th, 2018. This group of students must include their 2015 tax return forms.

The 2018-2019 FAFSA forms are available from October 1 ^st, 2017, until June 30 ^th, 2019, and are for students who intend to pursue higher education between July 1 ^st, 2018 and June 30 ^th, 2019. This group of students will need the 2016 tax returns.

Select the school year for which you are applying for financial aid. The school year you select should correspond to the FAFSA you will complete. So, if you are applying for financial aid for the 2018-2019 school year, select 2018-2019.

The first thing you need to fill in the form is the student demographic information. Later it will prompt you to list all the schools you are considering attending, even if you have not applied yet or have not been accepted yet. This does not affect your application in any way. If you fill out the form electronically, you can modify the list or delete colleges later if necessary.

In the FAFSA application, the order in which the schools are listed does not matter, but some state aid programs may require that the institutions be listed in a specific order according to the student's preference.

If a student completed a FAFSA application last year and would like to make a change or adjustment, they should press "Back to the FAFSA" on the home page, and select "Renew FAFSA.” The questions that have nothing to do with financial data will be completed automatically, but the rest of the information that has changed with respect to last year must be updated.

3rd: Complete Financial Information

The answers the student gives to a series of financial questions will allow them to know if the student is considered a dependent or independent student. This determines whether he or she should report only their own financial information or that of their parents.

If you are a dependent student, the first thing you do is fill out your parents' demographic information.

Then it will prompt you to fill out the financial data section. If the parents are married, or if they aren't but they live together, you must send tax information for both. But if the student lives more with one parent than the other, they only need to send the information of that parent because they are the ones who receive the greatest economic . And, if that parent is married to another person then mention that in the application as well.

To transfer the tax information to the FAFSA form with the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT):

If the student is considered dependent, but his or her parents do not the student or refuse to provide their financial information, the student can be considered independent. In this case, when the form asks the student if they can provide parental information, they must respond NO.

4th: Pay Attention to the Deadlines

The application shows a list of dates and deadlines, which can be federal, state or set by the schools. If you have any questions, you can also check here: https://fafsa.gov/deadlines.htm

These deadlines are very important for a student to complete their FAFSA application on time and send it in to qualify for a scholarship opportunity.

5th: Sign and Send

The last step is g and sending the application. Whether it is online or physical, if the application is not signed, it is incomplete. If the student is dependent, the parents must also sign the document using their own FSA ID.

After submiting the FAFSA, the student will receive a Student Aid report that summarizes the information provided. To receive it by e-mail provide an email address. Otherwise, you will receive it by mail.

After that, the information is shared with the schools listed by the student. The financial aid office of each school or state will use the data to determine the assistance they can provide the student.

For an estimate of how much aid would you could receive visit: FAFSA4caster.

Translated by Ashley M. Lapadula.