As a student-athlete or parent, you need to understand how FAFSA and college recruiting tie hand-in-hand.
FAFSA is a form completed by current and prospective college students in the United States to determine their eligibility for student financial aid.
For student-athletes the dream is always a full-ride scholarship even though NCAA data shows they are rare. So by combining a partial athletic scholarship along with academic financial aid, merit based scholarships, and FAFSA you might be able to attend college at no or low costs.
And that all begins with your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Some of this money is free money, some must be earned through work, and some must be repaid.
This article will help student-athletes and your parents learn more about FAFSA and how you can apply for free.
FAFSA for College Recruiting
Understanding what it is. How it works. And how you can apply for it today.
Getting a realistic expectation of college costs
The FAFSA determines your eligibility for federal grants, loans and work-study funds administered by the U.S. Department of Education, and they’re more borrower-friendly than private loans.
The information from your FAFSA is used to calculate your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). This is an index number that colleges use when determining how much financial aid you’d receive if you attend their school.
How college coaches use your FAFSA
Your EFC is especially important to college coaches who can offer partial scholarships. Typically, coaches take your EFC into consideration when collaborating with Admissions to build a competitive scholarship package.
For example, if your EFC is low—meaning you won’t be expected to contribute to your college funds—they may work to supplement your package with need-based scholarships.
But if they find you have a higher EFC, they may try to mix in merit-based scholarships you won’t be required to pay back.
Why every student should fill out the FAFSA
Even if you don’t think you’ll qualify for federal aid, you should still apply. Most colleges and many private scholarship sponsors require students to submit their FAFSA to be considered for financial aid.
It doesn’t matter if you plan to play at an Ivy League Institution or your local junior college, the FAFSA application will be the same.
Some colleges will even evaluate your FASFA to determine which other kinds of scholarships, like merit-based scholarships, you could qualify for. Not to mention there are programs designed for students who were rejected from federal financial aid.
Plus, a college coach may take your application more seriously once you’ve submitted a FAFSA.
Who should fill out the FAFSA?
All students heading to college should fill out the FAFSA.
Don’t assume your income is too high—FAFSA evaluates a variety of factors, including the parent/guardian age and number of children in college.
When should I fill out the FASFA?
The FAFSA opens October 1 for the following school year. Families are encouraged to complete the FAFSA as soon as possible because aid is awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Applications are considered on a rolling basis until June 30 before the fall semester.
College deadlines are usually earlier (often February or March). So, check the deadlines for schools on your list to ensure you complete your application on time.
7 Items to get before completing the FAFSA
Save yourself time by completing these steps before filling out your FAFSA application.
1. Your FSA ID*
Create an FSA ID username and password so you can log in to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) websites. I recommend creating your FSA ID before you’re ready to complete the FAFSA form to avoid delays in the process.
Each student, and one parent of each dependent student, will need an FSA ID to complete the FAFSA process on fafsa.gov.
To summarize:
- Anyone who plans to fill out the FAFSA form should create an FSA ID as soon as possible.
- If you are required to provide parent information on your FAFSA form, your parent should create an FSA ID too.
- Because your FSA ID is equivalent to your signature, parents and students each need to create their own FSA IDs using their own email address and phone number.
- Use your personal email, not a school one that expires, so you’ll have access past high school graduation.
- In some situations, you may need to wait up to three days to use your FSA ID after creating it. If you want to avoid FAFSA delays, create your FSA ID now.
2. Your Social Security number*
You can find the number on your Social Security card. If you don’t have access to it, and don’t know where it is, ask your parent or legal guardian or get a new or replacement Social Security card from the Social Security Administration.
If you are not a U.S. citizen, but meet Federal Student Aid’s basic eligibility requirements, you’ll also need your Alien Registration number.
3. Your driver’s license number
Have your driver’s license on stand by.
If you don’t have a driver’s license, then don’t worry about this step.
4. Your prior, prior year tax records*
FAFSA now requires you to report income information from an earlier tax year.
- You’ll be reporting tax information from two years prior
- Since you’ll have filed your taxes by the time the FAFSA form launches, you’ll be able to import your tax information using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT).
- Not everyone is eligible to use the IRS DRT; and the IRS DRT does not input all the financial information required on the FAFSA form. Therefore, you should have your tax return and IRS W-2 statements available for reference.
- You cannot use the most recent years tax information. We understand that for some families, income doesn’t accurately reflect your current financial situation. If you have experienced a reduction in income since the previous tax year, you should complete the FAFSA form with the info it asks for, and then contact each of the schools to which you’re applying to explain and document the change in income. They have the ability to assess your situation and make adjustments to your FAFSA form if warranted.
5. Records of your untaxed income*
The FAFSA questions about untaxed income may or may not apply to you; they include things like child support received, interest income, and veterans non-education benefits. Find specific details for parents and students.
6. Records of your assets (money)*
This section includes savings and checking account balances, as well as the value of investments such as stocks and bonds and real estate (but not the home in which your family lives). You should report the current amounts as of the date you sign the FAFSA form, rather than reporting prior, prior years data.
Note: Misreporting the value of investments is a common FAFSA mistake. Please carefully review what is and is not considered a student investment and parent investment to make sure you don’t over- or under-report. You may be surprised by what can (and cannot) be excluded.
7. List of the school(s) you are interested in attending
- Even if there is only a slight chance you’ll apply to a college, list the school on your FAFSA form. You can always remove schools later if you decide not to apply, but if you wait to add a school, you could miss out on first-come, first-served financial aid.
- The schools you list on your FAFSA form will automatically receive your FAFSA results electronically. They will use your FAFSA information to determine the types and amounts of financial aid you may receive.
- If you add a school to your FAFSA form and later decide not to apply for admission to that school, that’s OK! The school likely won’t offer you aid until you’ve been accepted anyway.
- You can list up to 10 schools at a time on your FAFSA form.
TIP: To be considered for state aid, several states require you to list schools in a particular order (for instance, you might need to list a state school first). Find out whether your state has a requirement for the order in which you list schools on your FAFSA form.
* If you’re a dependent student, you will need this information for your parents as well.
8 steps to successfully completing your FAFSA
Filling out the FAFSA can be a frustrating task. We’ve compiled all the information you need to make it easier.
Before you begin, make sure you completed the 7 steps above.
Step 1: Create an account/FSA ID
You should have already completed this if you followed the steps above.
Visit fafsa.ed.gov to create an account. Parents with dependent students are required to create their own, separate FSA ID.
Keep in mind: getting an ID can take up to 3 days.
Insider tip: You can now file the FAFSA from your phone. You can download the myStudentAid app (iOS and Android) and use it to fill out the form and view all of your loan information.
Step 2: Fill out the student demographic section
This just includes basic information. Shouldn’t give you any problems.
Step 3: List the schools you’re interested in
You can list up to 10 schools. If you don’t end up applying or getting accepted to a school, the college will just disregard your FAFSA form. Every applicant must list at least one school when filling out the FAFSA.
You can add or remove from this later on, but pick some schools you’re getting recruited at to see how much aid you would receive.
Step 4: Complete the dependency status questions
These questions are set up to determine whose financial information you will use. Dependent students will use their parents’ financial information.
Step 5: Fill out the parent demographic section
Now it’s the parents’ turn to fill out their basic information.
Step 6: Provide your financial information
Insider tip: First, see if your income information can be pulled through the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. It will automatically pull in pertinent income information into your financial aid form, significantly cutting down the time it takes to complete your application.
There are a ton of privacy and safety measures included, so this tool is fine to use and will save lots of time.
Step 7: Review your form carefully
Double check and make sure you filled out the form accurately. Mistakes can lead to a delay in the process.
Step 8: Sign and Submit the Form
Sign, then submit the form. Surprisingly, not signing where you’re supposed to is a common FAFSA mistake you’ll see highlighted below.
Common FAFSA Mistakes You Can Avoid
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the gateway to federal and state aid. While athletic scholarships can help ease college costs, full-rides are an exception and not the norm. FAFSA, is the place to start building a robust scholarship package.
In financial aid, timing is everything. In states such as Illinois, Missouri, and Kentucky, awards are made until funds are depleted.
Each state has a different application deadline. There’s no uniform college deadline, either. Not being aware of deadlines is just one of the FAFSA mistakes that can cost families.
Here are others:
Don’t be intimidated
The FAFSA application process can be daunting. Beyond compiling one’s financial information, some of the definitions regarding a family’s situation can be confusing. Most people who go through it find that it is not as hard as the perception that it is going to be.
Which leads us to perhaps the biggest FAFSA mistake of all.
Don’t Disqualify Yourself
FAFSA is the mechanism through which schools gain insight into a family’s financial circumstances. Don’t assume you’re not going to be eligible. Sometimes with Division 1 athletes who are on a full-ride scholarship, they may not feel like they need additional money.
But most students don’t have that luxury, so we encourage you to fill out the FAFSA even if you don’t think you’re eligible. If at some point you determine you might need a student loan, you need to have a FAFSA on file to do that.
Some schools require you to have a FAFSA on file to get a job on campus. So it’s more than just applying for grant aid, it’s really the common application for federal, state and institutional aid.
A lot of families who think they won’t qualify for aid, in reality, qualify for and oftentimes receive significant amounts of aid. In the case of expensive private schools, even if a family makes more than $300,000 a year, students might receive need-based aid if their family has more than one student in college.
Insider tip: Use the net price calculator feature on a college website. This will give you an estimate of how much it will cost to attend that institution and what financial assistance a student will qualify for.
Who is You?
The word “you” trips up many parents filling out the FAFSA. You almost always refers to the student. Parents think it refers to them because they are the ones reading it.
For example, for the question, ‘Are you married?’ a couple will answer yes. That’s a significant mistake.
The same thing can happen on questions about income. If a parent puts their income in the student section of the FAFSA, that, too, is a big problem.
You have to read the questions closely.
Don’t Self-Adjust Financial Information
FAFSA recently changed the way it asks for a family’s financial data. No longer does the form ask for prior year information; it now asks families to provide “prior, prior year” data, meaning that students entering college in the fall of 2021 will be asked to provide financial information from 2019.
Families shouldn’t self-adjust anything; the department of education will handle adjustments accordingly.
Parents should let a school’s financial aid office know if there is something impacting their family’s ability to pay for college that is not reflected on the FAFSA.
Insider tip: Do not report defined retirement plan assets on the FAFSA. This is a common reporting error. What a family deposits into their retirement plan is considered untaxed income and needs to be reported, but not what they have in their retirement plan. Another common error is reporting any equity in the home. Some families tend to think of their home as an asset, and so they may accidentally include that on the FAFSA.”
Don’t Forget to Sign
You’re kidding, right? No; neglecting to sign the FAFSA is an all-too-common mistake. The FAFSA will not be processed until those signatures are there. Care must be taken, he adds, for signees to use the correct FAFSA-designated pin numbers when signing electronically.
Mix-ups occur when a parent signs with their student’s number and vice-versa. Related to that for families filling out separate FAFSAs for more than one student is to not mix up the pin numbers and social security numbers.
It does hold up financial assistance awards. It slows the down the process and could jeopardize meeting aid deadlines.
Read Carefully
It’s easy to get lost in the weeds while filling out the FAFSA.
Take this question: It asks students if they will have their bachelor’s degree before the 2021-22 school year. It’s a common mistake with high school students, They confuse bachelor degree with high school diploma and answer yes.
Confusing? Yes. Frustrating? Can be. But none of this should dissuade you from filling out the FAFSA.
Everything is correctable, but it’s really helpful to get it right the first time. It makes the process go so much smoother.
Thanks for reading about FAFSA and college recruiting!
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