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FAFSA deadline swiftly approaching |
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Wednesday, 05 March 2008 |
by LINDSAY CRAVEN
Lifestyles Reporter
Students are about to be reminded of the high costs of a college education as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) priority deadline arrives March 15.
Appalachian State University students may be in their fourth year of making financial aid preparations, or could be filing them for the first time.
Regardless of one’s experience with the forms, there are common mistakes any student can fall victim
to when trying to fund their college education.
 The FAFSA priority deadline is March 15. Photo by Adam Dixon
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“The most common mistake that we find is that the FAFSA is missing signatures,” assistant director of
the Office of Student Financial Aid Lori A. Townsend said. “It’s important to remember that the student
always has to sign the FAFSA form and if the student is considered a dependent student, one of the
parents whose information is provided on the FAFSA also must sign it.”
When filling the forms out online, students must either sign the FAFSA forms with a Department of
Education mandated pin number, or print out the signature page and mail it in. A pin can be obtained at
www.pin.ed.gov.
“[The pin number] is a four-digit number that the Department of Education will send to the student and
their parent,” Townsend said. “So when you sign with a pin number it is an electronic signature and it
just goes straight through online.”
Students should also be aware that filling out the FAFSA automatically makes them eligible for any
grants they are qualified for.
The Office of Student Financial Aid will receive the grant information and inform the student via their
AppalNET account or by mail, Townsend said.
No other applications must be filled out for grant money.
Townsend suggests scholarships to any students who are paying for college on their own.
“At Appalachian, our admissions office handles scholarships for incoming freshmen and transfer
students, but after that, the scholarships are awarded through each academic department. We
encourage students to go to the department that they are majoring in and inquire about scholarships
there,” Townsend said.
Students can also find links to reputable and free scholarship search Web sites at
financialaid.appstate.edu under “Types of Aid.”
“The main thing about applying for scholarships is that a student should never, ever pay to apply for a
scholarship,” Townsend said. “If a site is asking for money for a scholarship, it is most likely a scam.”
If students are still looking for ways to pay for college after searching for scholarships and filling out
the FAFSA, they can look into federal Stafford loans.
These loans have a deferred payment until six months after a student has graduated, dropped below
half time or left school.
There are two different kinds of Stafford loans: subsidized and unsubsidized.
“…The subsidized Stafford loan…is the need-based loan where the federal government is paying the
interest on the loan for the student while they’re in school and during that six-month grace period,”
Townsend said. “That’s a wonderful loan. The unsubsidized Stafford loan…is non need-based because
the interest is accruing while the student is in school and until the loan is completely paid off.”
Students who accept Stafford loans should also consider paying the loans off as early as possible.
“An important thing to remember about the Stafford loans is that there is no pre-payment penalty so
students can pay a portion or that entire loan off early without penalty,” Townsend said. “If you have a
subsidized Stafford loan and you get money for birthdays or Christmas or graduation and you’re able to
pay that off then in effect you’ve gotten an interest free loan if you can pay it off before the end of that
six month grace period.”
Though the priority deadline for the FAFSA is March 15, students are still able to turn in their FAFSA
forms at any time after the deadline.
“It’s a priority deadline because we want to make sure that we have a good amount of time to get the
student through verification if they’re selected, offer the award and give the student time to respond
back to that so that we can have the money on their account when they get here in August,” Townsend
said.
Allison L. Cummens, senior political science major, made sure to get her FAFSA forms finished early,
completing them in February.
“I got it done early because I heard that if you get it in by February 15, you had more of a chance of
getting grant money from the state, but I’m not sure if that is accurate,” Cummens said. “I definitely
would have gotten it done early either way though because I usually fill out the FAFSA the same time I
do my taxes.”
Townsend notes this time of year is especially busy for phone calls and office visits in the Office of
Student Financial Aid, and the best way for students to keep up with their financial aid progress is to
frequently check their AppalNET account.
“If we’re not available or if there are a lot of students waiting, many times students can get the answers
to their questions on AppalNET,” Townsend said. “They can see if there are any additional documents
that we need from them, if we’ve received their FAFSA, if they’ve been offered financial aid - they can
accept or decline there as well.”
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