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Summary: Use PDF Versions of 2008-2009 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on Federal Student Aid Gateway Web Site

Publication Date: February 11, 2008

Author: William Leith, Acting General Manager, Application, Operations and Delivery Services, Federal Student Aid

Summary: Use PDF Versions of 2008-2009 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on Federal Student Aid Gateway Web Site

Posted on 02-11-2008

As we described in an electronic announcement posted on September 13, 2007, a key element of our paper FAFSA distribution plan for 2008-2009 included the creation of a PDF version of the FAFSA that students can download from the Web and submit for processing. Students can access the PDF in both English and Spanish, complete the form on the computer and print it, or print the form and complete it by hand, and mail it to the address provided for processing. The PDF version of the FAFSA is an official FAFSA for all application purposes.

We would like to alert all schools, students, and other organizations using the PDF versions of the 2008-2009 FAFSA that you should use the forms available on the Federal Student Aid Gateway Web site at http://fsa.ed.gov/fafsa/fafsa_options.html and not the versions posted to the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site. Federal Student Aid has received a number of FAFSAs that were printed from the versions posted on the IFAP Web site. Although the IFAP versions will be processed, our system is optimized to process the PDF FAFSA available on the Federal Student Aid Gateway Web site.

We have replaced the versions of the paper FAFSA available on IFAP with PDF files that contain a distinguishing feature to clarify their purpose as samples of the paper application. On IFAP, the PDF files for both the English and Spanish applications contain a watermark that says "Sample" and "Do Not Complete."

Thank you again for your continued support in moving to alternate methods of completing the FAFSA. If you have any questions or comments about the information provided in this letter, please e-mail us at FAFSA.Comments@ed.gov.