Maintained for Historical Purposes

This resource is being maintained for historical purposes only and is not currently applicable.

Section H "Release and Signatures"

AwardYear: 1996-1997
Edition: PostSecondary
Part: 3 - - Filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid
SectionNumber:
SectionTitle: Section H "Release and Signatures"

PageNumbers: 85-86


PURPOSE: This section permits a student to list up to six schools
that he or she is interested in attending. The Department will send the
student's information to all the schools listed in Section H. Students
should not write in the name of a school if they don't want it to
receive their application information. Students should list each
school's Title IV code.

Questions 92-103 ask a student to list up to six schools to which he
or she wants the FAFSA data and results sent. They also ask a
student to select a housing code that best describes the type of
housing he or she expects to live in for each of the schools listed.

For a student who applies to more than six schools, there are several
ways to make sure all the schools receive his or her data.

1 When the student submits the FAFSA, he or she can request up
to eight additional copies of the SAR by attaching a letter to
that effect to the form. (Any other information the student puts
in this letter will not be processed.) The student can also
photocopy the SAR or request duplicates. The student can then
send copies of the SAR to schools. (Note that a photocopy of the
SAR does not serve as a final documentation of eligibility.)
Schools not listed on the SAR will receive the data only when
the student gives them a copy of the SAR; they will not receive
the data directly from the CPS.

2. The student may list six schools on the application, wait for the
SAR, and then correct the SAR by replacing some or all of the
original six schools with other schools. The student may also
send a letter to the FAFSA processor requesting changes in
schools; in this case, all six schools from the original application
will be replaced with the schools the student lists in the letter.
Note: Other corrections made at the same time this is done will
not be sent to the first set of schools that are replaced with new
schools.

3. If a school that is not listed on the SAR participates in EDE, that
school may use the student's PIN number (printed on the SAR)
to get the student's data electronically. That school would then
replace one of the six schools listed in the original application.

The student should not send a letter listing more than six schools to
the FAFSA processor after the SAR has been received and should
not send additional FAFSAs listing different schools.

The CPS will send data to only six schools at a time for one student.
For example, if the student originally listed six schools on the
application and then replaced all six with new schools by changing
the SAR, only the second six schools would get data from this
correction. Furthermore, if the student then corrected the new SAR
and changed all six schools again, only the third set of schools would
get the corrected data. The first and second sets of schools would not
receive the corrected data.

Keep in mind that for a college to receive a student's data, the student
must list the college's name and Title IV institution code or address.
The FAFSA will be processed faster if the student writes in the Title
IV code and the name of the college. These codes are not in the
FAFSA instructions; they are provided in the "Title IV Institution
Code List." The Department sends this Title IV code list to high
schools, colleges, and public libraries each fall around the same time
the FAFSAs are distributed.

Although parental information must be provided for a dependent
student, a high school counselor or a postsecondary school's financial
aid administrator may sign the application in place of the parent(s) if:

- the parent(s) is not currently in the United States and cannot be
contacted by normal means,

- the current address of the parent(s) is not known, or

- the parent(s) has been determined physically or mentally
incapable of providing a signature.

The signature of a counselor or financial aid administrator serves as a
mechanism to get the application through the processing system. The
counselor or financial aid administrator must provide his or her title
in parentheses next to his or her signature and briefly state the reason
(only one reason is needed) why he or she is signing for the
parent(s). Also, if both parents are unable to sign the application, the
counselor or financial aid administrator need only sign once in place
of both parents. The counselor or financial aid administrator assures
a minimum level of credibility in the data submitted. However, the
counselor or financial aid administrator does not assume any
responsibility or liability in this process. If the financial aid office
finds any inaccuracies in the information reported, the student would
be directed to send the SAR through the normal correction process.