How to Complete the FAFSA

FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Essentially, it’s the U.S. Department of Education’s way of figuring out which students are eligible for financial aid.

How does the FAFSA work?

Here’s the way the FAFSA works. You provide financial information which determines your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Your EFC represents how much money the government believes your family should be able to put toward your college expenses. As soon as you submit the FAFSA, you will receive an EFC number on the confirmation page.

If your EFC is fairly low, the government will know that you can use some extra financial help. They may award you a Pell Grant (which is money toward college that you don’t have to repay); and if you meet certain academic criteria, you may also be considered for other grants, such as the ACG (Academic Competitiveness Grant) or a SMART (Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent) grant.

You may also have the option to take out special student loans (such as the Stafford loan), which have lower interest rates than bank loans.

How do I begin?

The first step is to go to bju.vfao.com. It provides step-by-step instructions on what to do. Click "I would like to complete the FAFSA" and complete the application online and submit it—there is no processing fee or any other cost to you. The Department of Education will send you a Student Aid Report (SAR).

The next step is to fill out the BJU Online Interview (bju.vfao.com). It only takes about 15-20 minutes. Then BJU can award you the federal aid for which you are eligible.

Of course, you will still have to do some research on your own to find other private and state scholarships, but the FAFSA is the right place to get started.

Even if you’re not interested in money from the federal government or if you think your EFC will be too high to allow you to qualify for a Pell Grant, consider filling out the FAFSA anyway. To receive any financial aid from South Carolina or BJU, you will need to fill out the FAFSA.

Stuff to know before you start:

1. Give yourself plenty of time. It’s much better to fill it out early and avoid unnecessary stress (such as the panic that ensues when your Internet doesn’t work the night before a deadline). You can start as early as January.
   
   But before you put off the FAFSA until April after you’ve filed your taxes, keep in mind that BJU would like you to fill it out by March 31.
2. Decide how you’re going to send your FAFSA. Filling out the application online is fast and efficient, and it is the method that the Department of Education strongly recommends. You can find the online application at bju.vfao.com.
   
   You also will need to apply for a PIN (personal identification number); this can be done while filling out your FAFSA.
   
   Keep in mind that if you are a dependent student (and most students are), a parent or guardian will also need to apply for a separate PIN.
3. Know what information is necessary. The FAFSA requires you to provide a lot of information. Make filling out the FAFSA easier by first gathering as much of the required information as you can. Most students are considered dependent students, and you will need a lot of the following information for both yourself and your parents:
   • Social Security Number
   • Driver’s license
   • Income tax forms (including W-2 and 1040) for the previous year (so if you’re filling out the FAFSA for the 2009-2010 school year, you will need tax information from Tax Year 2008)
   • Current total amount in liquid assets (checking, savings, cash, etc.)
   • Net worth of investments and real estate
   • The amount received from other income (Social Security benefits, welfare, pensions, foreign income, etc.)
   • Other forms of financial aid you’re already receiving
   • The month and year your parents were married/divorced/widowed
   • BJU’s school code: 003421

In Summary

Now that you have everything together, filling out the FAFSA won’t be that hard.

Be sure to complete your FAFSA by going to bju.vfao.com—not some other site claiming to be a FAFSA site. There’s no point in wasting your time in other places, and you definitely don’t want to be scammed into paying something. The FAFSA is free.

Here’s a tip: download and print out a worksheet version of FAFSA from www.fafsa.ed.gov. The worksheet will give you the flexibility to fill in information in the order in which you locate it. Once you’ve got the paper form filled out, completing the online version will be a breeze.

After you’ve signed and submitted your FAFSA online, you will automatically receive an EFC on the confirmation page.

A percentage of applicants are selected for verification. So you may need to produce some documents to verify the information you provided on the FAFSA.