How to apply for the financial aid

   HOW TO APPLY FOR THE FINANCIAL AID

The economic aid you are eligible for is based on your economic circumstances, your performance as a student and your further skills. Almost everybody is entitled to some type of help. You just need to find out which one applies to you. If a loan is applicable, you must choose the one that best fits your future economic conditions as you foresee them.

1. The first and main step to apply for financial aid is to complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). This form is the only one needed to apply for state, federal and college specific financial aid. If you don’t fill in and submit the FAFSA you do not have access to any loan, grant, scholarship, work for students or other kind of financial aid. You can pick this form up in your high college, college, institutions and online www.fafsa.ed.gov.

FAFSA is available in English

2. You will need a Security Social Number. If you don’t have one, you can request to the Local Office Social Security Administration or on line in the website, available in English

3. If you apply for FAFSA online, you will need a PIN (Personal Identification Number) to use as a electronic signature for the FAFSA. You can request the PIN number at www.pin.ed.gov. and you have to give your name, Security Social Number, birth date and address. After checking and verifying the information by Social Security Administration, a PIN will be generated. You will receive your PIN by US Postal Service (after 7-10 days) or e-mail (after 3 days)

You can use your PIN to:

1. Complete FAFSA online.

2. Electronically sign your FAFSA on the web.

3. Access and read the information and status of your FAFSA and your Student Aid Report (SAR).

4. Make online changes and corrections on your FAFSA .

5. Complete the FAFSA Renewal (every year you have to fill out and submit this form).

6. Access your Federal Student Aid information on the National Student loan debt Data System (NSLDS) website.

Student Aid report SAR

Student Aid Report (SAR) will summarize the information you completed on your FAFSA and will include the Estimated Family Contribution. Review the SAR to make sure it is right and carefully read the instructions on how to send the SAR to the Financial Aid Office of the colleges or colleges you have chosen. They will contact you back and let you know which economic aid options you can choose

Award Letter

Award Letter: The financial aid office of the universities or colleges where you have sent the SAR will send you a letter with the information about what type of financial aid you qualify for, and the amount of money you can receive by scholarships, grants, federal or private loans or working-study programs (if you have applied for a work-study program), including a possible combination of all types of financial aid. Award letters include the following information:

- Expected Family Contribution (EFC): the same for all the college you have applied for.

- Cost of Attendance: The cost of education will be different for each college.

- Financial Need: This information varies form college to college, because the cost of attendance is different.

The formula is EFC – Cost of Attendance = Financial Need.

- Financial Aid Package: types of aid you are eligible for.

Before you sign up the award letter accepting the financial terms and conditions of the aid they offer to you, you should review carefully the letter, and if you have applied for enrolment in different universities, wait until you have received the rest of the award letters in order to compare which is the best offer to you, the one that best fits to your needs. Sometimes it may come as a surprise that an expensive university will in fact give you a very good financial aid program, especially if you happen to be a brilliant student. Remember that you don't need to accept everything offered by the college, but if you decline anything, the college will not replace it with other types of aid. Maybe, under specific financial and private circumstances, you can negotiate work-study and loans, but grants and scholarships are not negotiable.

If your financial data or your parents' financial circumstances have changed after completing the FAFSA, you should communicate this to the financial aid department.

Don’t forget there are deadlines for applying to FAFSA. Ask for information and find out which are the documents you need in your particular university or college.