FAFSA From the Past

When I was getting ready to move from Sioux City to the Cedar Rapids area to become an Eastern Iowa ICAN Advisor, I was going through some papers my mom had given me that I had long-forgotten about. Among those papers, I found my old Financial Aid Awards from Central College and some copies of the Financial Aid Application my dad had done for me. Let me emphasize OLD in that last sentence. I went to Central in the early 80’s – before Internet, let alone the online FAFSA form. At the time, I didn’t think anything of this, but now that I’m an adult and I work for ICAN, doing Financial Aid Applications (now called the FAFSA) daily, it amazes me that my dad even KNEW there WAS a financial aid application. My mom and dad, like many of their generation, didn’t go to college. There was no ICAN, so there were no Financial Aid presentations – online or in person. There was no Internet, no advertisements on TV and radio about filing the FAFSA. How DID he even know there WAS a financial aid application? I don’t know the answer, and he is gone now so I can’t ask him. But I have to say that I am so very grateful that somehow he did know about this and took the initiative to fill it out, as I saw on my Award Letters that I received scholarships and the Iowa Tuition Grant, along with Federal Work Study – none of which I would have received if he hadn’t done that Financial Aid Application.

Another interesting note from these papers I found was that I distinctly remember him talking about the fact that he thought it wasn’t very fair that he had worked very hard to pay off our house, and because of that, he had to claim full value of it in the asset portion of the application. If he’d had the mortgage, he could have subtracted that debt off of the value of the house. Again, at the time that didn’t mean much to me, but now that I do FAFSAs for a living, and the FAFSA does NOT ask about the family home as an asset, I always wondered if he was correct on that or if I even remembered that correctly. As I looked through the copies of the Financial Aid Applications he’d done, I did see the place where he did have to enter the full value of our home – no debt to take off of that value. So again – he was correct. Knowing how meticulous my dad always was, it should never have surprised me that he knew what he was talking about.

So, as you prepare to do your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), if you think it is difficult to know what to prepare or what to expect, think about those folks who did them back in the days before constant information via Internet, media, and e-communications. Think about doing them before there was ICAN or any other organization to assist you. I still marvel that my dad knew that there was a way to apply for financial aid to help me pay for college, and I’m also extremely grateful that he somehow did. It was really interesting for me to go through those papers – seeing the Financial Aid Awards and the copies of the application – but it also gave me a sense of the history of this process, which has become a part of my every day life in this job.

Remember to submit your FAFSA by the (earliest) priority date(s) of the college(s) in which you have an interest. Keep in mind scholarship deadlines for the college(s), also, and submit by that date if the scholarship deadline is earlier than the FAFSA priority date. If you’d like help with your FAFSA or have any questions, remember to contact us at ICAN (877-272-4692) or visit our website, icansucceed.org, for more information or to schedule your own appointment.

 Mary Joan  - ICAN - Hiawatha Center