Bourgade Catholic High School-Advising

Counselors on staff to assist students:

Ms. Carol Caruso, M.A.

Mrs. Vicki Kilgarriff, M.A.

FAFSA INFORMATION

December is the time to start gathering information to complete your FAFSA for your college-bound student. A Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is necessary if you apply for federal and state financial aid. Many universities, especially public ones, also require a FAFSA. You must submit a FAFSA every year that you want aid. The FAFSA is available in paper or e-format. The paper version can be obtained from your high school, the financial aid office at any college or university, probably the public library, or by calling 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243). A PIN number is required for both the student and the parent to apply on-line. A PIN can be obtained now at www.pin.ed.gov

The web-based version is preferable because it is faster and more accurate (due to built-in edit checks). Step-by-step instructions and a list of important deadlines are available at www.fafsa.ed.gov. If you have technical questions about using FAFSA on the web, you can use their online chat service to directly connect to a FAFSA customer service representative. You will get your Student Aid Report (SAR) more quickly if you fill out the web-based FAFSA.

The FAFSA requires year-end income information. Therefore it is mandatory that your parents or custodian(s) complete their income tax return as early as possible; this information will be used on the FAFSA. If necessary, you can estimate income by using the last pay stub(s) of December. Try to be as accurate as possible so the outcome will be accurate.

Get started early. Gather your documents. Be accurate. This is important. And your college funding in the future depends on it!