Maintained for Historical Purposes

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

Section A "You (the student)"

AwardYear: 1997-1998
Edition: PostSecondary
Part: 3 - - Filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid
SectionNumber:
SectionTitle: Section A "You (the student)"

PageNumbers: 58-59


Section A "You (the student)"

Purpose: The FAFSA collects identifying information that is used
to track a student (name, telephone number, address, Social Security
Number, and so on) and other information that affects a student's
basic eligibility for federal student aid. For instance, Section A
includes a question about citizenship status because a student must
be a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen to receive federal student aid.
Similarly, a student who has a bachelor's degree is ineligible to
receive a Federal Pell Grant or an FSEOG.

Questions 4-7 ask for a student's permanent mailing address. The
student must give a permanent home mailing address
(not a school or office address).

Question 8 asks for a student's Social Security Number
(SSN)
. A student must have an SSN to apply for federal financial
aid. If the student submits a FAFSA without an SSN, the FAFSA will
be returned to the student unprocessed. To get an SSN, or to
determine what it is if a student's Social Security card has been lost,
the student must contact the local Social Security office. The one
exception to the SSN requirement is for students from the Republic
of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the
Republic of Palau. To avoid a reject as a result of the SSN match,
these FAFSAs should be sent to the following address--not to the
address on the FAFSAs or on the FAFSA envelopes:

Federal Student Aid Programs
P.O. Box 4003
Mt. Vernon, IL 62864-8603

Questions 11 and 12 ask for the student's state of legal residence. The
student's state of legal residence identifies the state agency to which
information will be sent unless the student has refused to authorize
such a release in Section H of the form. The state may then use this
information to determine eligibility for state student aid programs.
The student's state of legal residence is also used in the EFC
calculation to determine the appropriate allowance for state and other
taxes paid by that state's residents. For a dependent student, the state
of legal residence is usually the state in which his or her parents live.

Questions 17 and 18 ask about a student's marital status
because the treatment of a student's income and assets in the EFC
calculation is directly affected by the student's marital status. Marital
status cannot be projected--the student must report his or her marital
status as of the date the application is completed. Question 19 asks
whether a student will have a first bachelor's degree before
July 1, 1997
, because eligibility for Federal Pell Grants
and Federal SEOGs is restricted to students who have not yet
received bachelor's degrees. If the student answers "yes" to this
question, a message saying a bachelor's degree has been received
will be printed at the top of page one of the SAR or on the electronic
filing results. Students who answer "yes" to question 19 are not
eligible for Federal Pell Grants. If a student incorrectly reports yes to
question 19, he or she must submit a correction in order to be
eligible for a Federal Pell Grant.