Episode 4 - Filling out the FAFSA & CSS/Financial Aid Profile

Welcome back to episode 4 where we talk about how to fill out the FAFSA and CSS/Profile forms. These are the forms that you MUST fill out in order to get any type of financial aid.

The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is required by every single school that offers any type of federal funding. A lot of people think it is not big deal, but believe it or not, many of them are submitted with errors or inconsistencies on them and you want to avoid them. It you miss something or cause it to get bumped, then you will loose valuable aid, some times in the amount of thousands of dollars. The link for the form is below.

The CSS/Financial Aid Profile form is more paperwork that you most likley have to fill out if your school requires it. The link for the form is below. The first thing you have to do is get on their website and sign up (which is free) If the school that you are wanting to attend is listed, then you need to register for the form. Make sure you have your credit card ready because it does cost money. You will be charged $23 which covers the cost of the form at $5 and registration for the first school at $18. Any additional school you will be charged $18 per school.

The form is standard but the College Board allows each private school to add to the core questions any of the 200 additional "optional" questions that each institution requires. These additional questions will appear in Section Q of the Profile form.

Make sure that the answers are consistent between the FAFSA and the CSS/Financial Aid Profile form.You do not want any discrepincies because this would cause more questions and red flags to be raised.

Because the process is such an important one, you want to take the time to understand the process and how it works, or work with someone that does.

To request a free report entitled "The 14 Magic Questions You Must Ask Before Working With Any Financial Aid Advisor" send me an email to reports@brandonhansen.com.

If you have any questions about the show, email me at podcast@brandonhansen.com.

We also talked about a couple other interesting articles, with the links found below.
Links:
1. FAFSA Form
2. CSS/Financial Aid Profile
3. College Board
4. Princeton Review Book
5. 9News Scholarship

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