| AwardYear: 1997-1998 Edition: PostSecondary Part: 2 - - The application process for financial aid SectionNumber: SectionTitle: Submitting an initial application PageNumbers: 26 Submitting an initial application Students must complete the FAFSA accurately. If a student submits a paper FAFSA, the document must be legible and mailed to the address specified in the FAFSA in time for the processor to receive it by the deadline. The same deadlines apply if a student is filing the FAFSA electronically. (See page 50 for a complete list of deadlines.) Please caution students that there are no exceptions to the deadlines. It is important to note that states and schools often set earlier deadlines in awarding aid from some programs, including the campus-based programs (Federal Perkins Loans, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, and Federal Work- Study). Students must also keep in mind that eligibility does not continue year to year and that a FAFSA needs to be filed each year. If you could give students only one piece of advice as they complete a FAFSA, it should be to read the instructions. This advice cannot be overemphasized; most errors are caused by students making assumptions about what information is being requested. Careless errors on the application, such as an incorrect Social Security Number, also cause delays in processing. Such delays may cause otherwise eligible students to miss the deadline to qualify for aid. It is important for students to save all records and other materials used in completing the FAFSA (including photocopies of their completed FAFSAs) because they may need them later if either the Department or their schools select them for a process called verification (see page 35). Verification is the process by which students must document what was reported on the FAFSA. Many schools conduct their own form of verification. Most verification requires the submission of a copy of signed Federal tax returns from the student and the parents (if applicable). Please note that there are situations in which application data may need to be modified. For example, if a dependent student has unusual circumstances that warrant it, you may use professional judgement to override the student's dependency status, as discussed on page 40. |