For those seeking financial aid, begin with the federal financial aid form known as FAFSA. Families can file the FAFSA online at fafsa.ed.gov, or via mail. Completing federal income tax forms makes filling out the FAFSA form a lot easier, and makes it less likely that you will have to provide more information later. Note: Funds are more readily available for those who apply early!

Following are some often overlooked tips for those seeking financial aid for their college education:

* Consult your guidance counselor. Guidance counselors receive a lot of information about financial aid programs, scholarships, and deadlines, as well as information from schools. Some guidance counselors send out newsletters to parents and students, while others keep it for those who ask.
* Check within your community. Many scholarships are available based on where you live, who you are and what you do. Be sure to inquire at work, your place of worship, the local Rotary Club, American Legion and businesses.
* Meet with your school financial aid officer. Some college and trade school financial aid officers have some discretion on financial aid packages and can adjust awards based on the information you provide and extenuating circumstances.
* Verify student loans. Parents and students often feel compelled to accept whatever student loan package is offered by their school. Students should research interest rates and payment schedules to get the best deal and to understand what they are getting into.
* Meet with university department heads. Students already in college should get to know the department head of their major since many departments have dedicated financial aid and scholarship opportunities for deserving students. Also, they may have job opportunities within the department.
* Monitor your funds. Financial aid programs assume that you will live within your means. Many students learn the hard way that paying for what you need means waiting for what you want.
* Conduct online research. Following are good resources for beginning your online research: Federalstudentaid.ed.gov (federal financial assistance), FinAid.org (scholarship searches and other forms of financial aid), Scholarships.com (free scholarship search), nasfaa.org (educates parents and students on borrowing student loans), and Sallie Mae (the largest issuer of student loans).

Obtaining financial aid for a college education is toughest on those who need the most help, but there are people and organizations out there who value education and can help kids succeed once they take that first step.

Hilary Basile is a writer for MyGuidesUSA.com. At http://www.myguidesusa.com, you will find valuable tips and resources for handling life’s major events. Whether you’re planning a wedding, buying your first home, anxiously awaiting the birth of a child, contending with a divorce, searching for a new job, or planning for your retirement, you’ll find answers to your questions at MyGuidesUSA.com.

Find scholarships, grants and financial aid tips and resources for prospective and current college students at http://colleges.myguidesusa.com

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Many families fail to even attempt application because they don’t know how to, or they incorrectly assume they are not qualified, or simply because they are intimidated by the complicated and confusing process and all its paperwork. With far more qualified applicants than desks in all of America’s colleges and universities, it is reasonable to expect a system intentionally designed to eliminate all but the most knowledgeable and persistent applicants.

According to a disturbing statistic from the US Dept. of Education, the majority of all financial aid applications are rejected for errors and inconsistencies! As financial aid is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, the loss of time in the resubmission process results in thousands of dollars of lost financial aid to eligible families who braved the college funding process blindly and alone.

This being the case, what’s a family to do with one or more college-bound students facing as much as $160 to $300 thousand dollars (and still rising), to send their kids to a 4-year college? Many make the mistake of relying solely on the advice of guidance counselors, college financial aid officers (FAO’s), and even their accountants. Sadly, these families are not getting all of the financial information they need and are in for a rude awakening!

Nationally, guidance departments are facing their worst crunch ever, and are overloaded with as many as 800 or more students for each counselor! Budget cuts have added to the problem causing schools to increase the responsibilities of guidance counselors in areas other than guidance, leaving them with even less time for their students – and there is no relief in sight!

Despite these obstacles and to their credit, guidance counselors still manage to effectively advise students in career planning and college selection. However, when it comes to college funding, they come up short in providing the necessary financial information that could save families thousands of dollars!

Counselors have little time and lack the expertise to show parents how to reduce their Expected Family Contribution (EFC), the minimum the federal government determines that each family will pay for any college, based on the information submitted on the FAFSA. Additionally, knowledge of specific legal financial aid strategies and their correct application would help families avoid or reduce an array of assessments that could cost them thousands of dollars for each year their students are in college!

For example, parents are unaware that students have no asset protection allowance. Consequently, students with assets in their own name are assessed by the federal government at 20% for each year they are in college! Thus, a student with $1,000 will be assessed $200 for each year the $1,000 remains in their name. After 4 years, they will have lost $800 in financial aid for having only $1,000 worth of assets! This is tragic as it can be legally avoided – if you know how.

Periodically, guidance departments present “in-house” Financial Aid Nights which focus on filling out financial aid forms and understanding the basics of the process. Nevertheless, year after year, the majority of families applying for financial aid continue to be rejected for filling out their forms incorrectly. Clearly, parents are not getting enough guidance on the college funding process.

Well-meaning guidance counselors invite FAO’s to speak at their high schools, trusting them to put the best interests of the students above the financial interests of their college. By evening’s end, parents are often left with a false sense of security that the college of their choice will award their student its best possible financial aid package. This is hardly ever the case!

Much like frugal employers whose goal is to hire the most talented applicants for the least amount of pay, FAO’s seek the most promising students for the least amount of financial aid. Relying on an FAO to cut your college costs is like expecting an IRS agent to help reduce income taxes! FAO’s can be helpful, but their loyalties are with their schools – not their applicants!

Accountants may offer some assistance, but far too few have experience with college funding. Although they are experts with income tax forms and tax strategies, college financial aid forms and college funding strategies are a horse of a different color. The good-intentioned application of accounting principles to college funding can actually hinder a family’s chances of getting all the financial aid they are entitled to!

There is an endless amount of misinformation on the subject of college funding, and a good deal of it is from so-called reliable sources. Oddly, while many families seek professional counseling for their income taxes, few seek the expert advice of college funding professionals despite the fact that the average cost of one year in college far exceeds the average tax bill!

College funding professionals, a small group of admissions and financial aid experts, offer parents assistance through the college funding process and help families provide their students with the best possible education for the least possible cost. One would naturally assume they are in great demand and buried with invitations to lecture at America’s high schools. Sadly, this is often not the case!

It would surprise and outrage parents to learn that, on a national scale, many guidance departments still refuse the services offered by college funding experts and authors, often stating that bringing in “outsiders” is against school policy, even when such services are offered absolutely free! Thus, every year parents enter the college funding arena without the necessary ammunition to do battle with the system – and severely overpay for college!

Reecy Aresty has been a financial advisor since 1977, and is founder and president of College Assistance, Inc., located in Boca Raton, Florida. He is the author of “How To Pay For College Without Going Broke,” an invaluable, critically acclaimed, parent/student manual, (updated from its previous edition, “Getting Into College And Paying for It!”). Arguably the most revealing book ever written on college admissions and financial aid, it is also the only book of its kind available in Spanish. For the past 28 years, Reecy has helped thousands of families send their kids to the college of their choice for less than they ever dreamed possible. For more information on admissions & financial aid, and to checkout the best college book on the market today, please visit Paylessforcollege.com

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Likewise, the easier the process is for you, the more money they make because they no longer have to employ as many people or outsource as much work as they need to do especially during the very busy times of the year when financial aid applications come flooding in. Here are few tips to help you get your financial aid or grant information on the top of the list allowing you to get your funding as quickly as possible.

Tip #1 – do your homework. I am not talking about homework that you have for a classroom but to look at each and every website where you are applying for financial aid and understand exactly what it is they need before arriving at their site and filling out the forms. Taking the time to learn how to be proficient makes the people providing the money much more happy because it is saving them money in regard to postage and also cutting back on the amount of staff that they need to have at their office to answer phones. For people that are not comfortable working on the Internet, you can always call and ask for help.

Tip #2 – use the cyber helpdesk. One of the most clever inventions on many professional sites today is the cyber help desk. All of the websites live operators are actually not people but are programmed to answer questions based upon the questions posted by the person typing. If this does not work, many of them will default to an actual human or provide a toll free number that you can use to get everything completed online.

Tip #3 – set a deadline. You will need a checklist of the grants, financial aid, scholarships that you are applying for. You must also set a deadline by which to complete all of this information. Most of these funding options have deadlines, some of which begin receiving financial aid applications at the beginning of the year. The most important documents to fill out initially are on the FAFSA website which gets you into the system so that the federal government knows that you exist and any applications that you turn in can be processed from that point on much more quickly.

If you would like more information on how to fill out financial aid forms, please go to website http://www.financial-aid-directory.com/.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kelly_Thompsan

If you have all of a sudden found yourself in this situation then here are some life and hair saving tips:

* Apply to at least 6-8 colleges. Make an appointment with a Connecticut college consultants because this will give you some financial aid options.
* Apply to some colleges where you know you will get a good award.
* Request a refund of room deposits and admission fees from the college by May 1.
* Some colleges will waive the admission fee if requested to do so, especially in the case where the fee is a hardship.
* Some colleges waive the admission fee if the admission application is filed over the internet.
* Attend any Connecticut college admission counseling and help or speak with a Connecticut college admissions consultant
* Apply early to attract Connecticut college scholarships which are awarded not on the financial need of the student but on the college’s desire to meet their enrollment quota at an early date. Don’t apply early decision unless the student is on the borderline of being admitted and the desire to be admitted is greater than the need for financial aid. Early Decision often leads to poor offers of financial aid. Some colleges state that early decision will not be binding if the financial aid offer is not satisfactory. The family should inquire if this is the policy of the college. Here are some financial aid form tips that will keep you from making big mistakes when applying for financial aid.
* Application for financial aid may adversely affect the student’s chances for admissions. Therefore, don’t apply for financial aid until after the student is admitted. And learn as much as possible about Connecticut colleges admission processes.
* Be aware of the deadlines for filing the various application forms required by each college. Missing a college’s financial aid deadline can result in a reduced or zero offer of financial aid from the college.
* Know what application forms (FAFSA, PROFILE, etc.) are required by each college.
* Estimate tax return numbers to meet college financial aid deadlines or to file early to be in line for the first-come, first-serve sources of financial aid.
* Connecticut parents should apply for financial aid even though you may not qualify because he must file to be eligible for a Federal PLUS loan and to be able to file an appeal. Also, some colleges will not consider the student for future financial aid if he did not file the application forms in prior years.Know what the application form deadlines are for the student’s state of residency.
* Be advised that estimated tax numbers used on the financial aid application may trigger selection for verification.
* Inconsistency of data reported on the financial aid application form may trigger selection for verification (e.g., interest income reported, but no corresponding asset is listed).
* Connecticut real estate values that are greatly less than the Inflation Index Multiplier tables may trigger selection for verification.
* Typically, verification consists of sending in a copy of the parents and students tax returns, reporting the number of persons in the household, and reporting the number of persons in the household who are planning to enroll in college.
* If assets are verified, usually the financial aid officer will request information or values from the family’s accountant. They will not ask for a formal valuation of the family’s assets.

These are just a few of the insider tips and strategies for Connecticut parents of college bound students that you can access for FREE by clicking on the link below.

Connecticut parents find out how to send your child to the school of his or her dreams…without getting trapped in a financial nightmare of high rate, high payment, expensive debt! Click Here.

Find out the single biggest mistake 9 out of 10 parents make when applying for aid to Connecticut Colleges that literally cost them thousands of dollars! More importantly, how to avoid this fatal error! Click Here

How to double, or in some cases triple, your eligibility for FREE grant money for Connecticut Colleges even if you are dead broke or a millionaire making a good six figure income

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