FAFSA Season continues and we have done many FAFSAs over the
last month. One of the questions we get
a lot is- OK we have it filed but now what?
First, I want to mention that the colleges/universities that
you put down on the FAFSA form will be able to download the results within a
week or two after you submitted the form. Some schools will start downloading the 2020-21 FAFSA forms right away
but many will wait until November or even a little later. Depending on the schools you listed, you may
not hear back RIGHT away if you filed your FAFSA in early October.
Whenever those colleges/universities do download your FAFSA
results they may have to ask for some further documentation from you in a
process called “Verification”. If you
are selected for verification that doesn’t mean you did anything wrong. It is a “check and balance” that Federal
Student Aid has about 30% of FAFSA applicants complete. You may be asked for a tax transcript, copy of student/parent tax info, verification
worksheets, and possibly other documents. Whatever you are asked for by the colleges/universities just return that
in a timely manner. If you
don’t, it could cost you some financial aid.
If you need to make any corrections to your FAFSA or add
schools that you hadn’t listed on the initial application, you can add those
after the initial application is processed in a week or two. You can go back into fafsa.gov with your FSA
ID and add schools or even make corrections if need be.
Eventually you are going to receive a
Financial Aid Package from each school that lists the grants, scholarships, and loans for which you qualify. These can come from
schools at different times of the year. Remain in contact with the colleges you applied to and ask when you
should expect your Financial Aid Package from them. If you haven’t received it when you think it
should be coming, there might be some
documentation at that school you are missing.
Stay on top of the whole Financial Aid process and don’t
hesitate to contact us if you have any questions at ICAN- 877-272-4692 or www.icansucceed.org
Erick - ICAN Ankeny and Des Moines Centers.
