Meeting The State FAFSA Deadline
For those of you still working on the FAFSA, keep in mind that February 15th is the state deadline for filing here in Connecticut. Not to be confused with the federal deadline which is June 30th of 2013 (yes, that’s 2013 – the federal timeline for filing spans 18 months beginning in January of the student’s senior year in high school ), the state deadline is much earlier. If you want to be considered for any state grants, your FAFSA must be filed by the 15th. State grants are typically formulaic based on the student’s academic record. So, if you’re a good student, you don’t want to miss this deadline!
If you are putting off your FAFSA filing because you haven’t done your taxes yet – don’t. Plug in some estimations and then, when your taxes are done, you can go back in and make adjustments later. If you are putting off the FAFSA because you just don’t want to tackle it – arm yourself with resources, resources and more resources.
If you are a current junior, check with your school counselor about when your school might be hosting a financial aid night. Also, look for programs like the College Goal Sunday Program which was held at twelve different locations around the state today. The program’s goal is to help students and their families learn about financial planning for college while obtaining on-site assistance in filling out the FAFSA. It’s a free program and funded by the Lumina Foundation for Education and co-sponsored by the Connecticut Association of Professional Financial Aid Administrators (CAPFAA) and the Connecticut Association for Educational Opportunity Programs (CAEOP).
If all these attempts to get answers to your questions fail, you can always call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4FED-AID (1.800.433.3243). You don’t want to miss out on any type of assistance just because you missed a deadline.
Good luck with the FAFSA and if you have any questions you would like to ask or stories you would like to share, please use the comment section below.
You can also email me directly at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com.
Eric Dobler is the president and founder of Dobler College Consulting. Follow him on Twitter.