If you are in the graduating class of 2017, this is for you and your family! You're probably already aware of that lovely acronym: FAFSA (Free Appl
If you are in the graduating class of 2017, this is for you and your family!
You’re probably already aware of that lovely acronym: FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Every student who will be receiving any sort of aid (including an athletic scholarship!) must fill out the FAFSA.
In the past, seniors in high school were not able to submit their official FAFSA until January of their senior year — well past the time when many students had already given verbal commitments to schools or received early acceptance. There were preliminary FAFSA forms that could be completed, but families couldn’t submit the official FAFSA until January.
Well, those days are done!
Starting with the class of 2017 (and anyone already in college who will be submitting the FAFSA for the 2017-2018 school year), the FAFSA can be submitted on OCTOBER 1st, 2016. You will use your 2015 tax returns to complete the FAFSA.
You’ve probably already recognized a few major benefits:
- If you’ve gotten early acceptance to a school, the school will be able to calculate your exact aid package for you a lot earlier.
- Come January 2017, you won’t have to RUSH RUSH RUSH to finish your 2016 federal tax return so that you can quickly get your FAFSA submitted.
Unlike loans, many grants and scholarships that colleges offer to students are first-come-first served, so getting the FAFSA submitted as early as possible is very important.
The downfall to this FAFSA change is that your recruiting timeline just got compressed even more. You may have already been planning on filling out the FAFSA and perhaps have even completed a preliminary FAFSA. You were going to have to finish the FAFSA anyway, but now it’s coming a lot sooner.
The financial aid rockstars at All Star Financial Aid are having a FREE webinar on Monday Mar 28th at 6pm Pacific Time. You can sign up HERE. If you want more information about the FAFSA, financial aid, and how this specifically affects athletic recruits, SIGN UP and attend the free webinar. There will be a LOT of valuable information, with no obligation to sign up for any additional services.
