Applying For Student Loans - Changes In The Fafsa Form

By Author: ndxmart
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One of the most important aspects of student lending is changing. The 2011-2102 FAFSA form is going to be different from last year's FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The FAFSA pops up every year on January 1st for use by any undergraduate or graduate student who wishes to apply for student loans. The FAFSA is the big document that decides whether you, the student, are in need of financial aid or if you're not. So what's going on this year?

The FAFSA website has undergone a total overhaul. This overhaul is meant to make the FAFSA simpler for students and their families to understand and to fill out.

Right at the start, there's a noticeable change in the form. In years past, the person filling out the FAFSA had to decide whether they wanted to begin filling out the form, continue filling it out, or make changes to a FAFSA that was completed. Now, once logged in, the person filling out the FAFSA is taken either to the beginning, because they haven't started the form, or they're taken to wherever they were in the process when they stopped. Making changes ...
... to an already existing FAFSA is much easier as well.

There's some great news for any parent who has been filling out FAFSA applications for multiple children for years - or even for those who are filling out a FAFSA form for the first time. Depending on your answers, there are now large parts of the FAFSA that you'll be able to skip!

Paper copies of the FAFSA used to be routinely delivered to schools and libraries. There will be a lot less paper flying around, now that the FAFSA is, more often than not, filled out on a computer.

Some other things you should know about the FAFSA: The Zero EFC threshold for the FAFSA is now $31,000 as opposed to last year's number of $30,000.

Always use the FAFSA Web Worksheet when filling out the FAFSA. Although paper copies of the FAFSA will not be as readily available as before, Web Worksheets will be sent to high schools and libraries. It's also available on the Internet.

Finally, there's a practice site for the FAFSA open now. It's a good way for students and their parents to practice filling out the FAFSA so that filling out the real FAFSA is not the stressful experience it was in the past.

For more information about student loans, please visit: http://tuitionchart.com/