FREE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID

Parents of Class of 2020 are invited to our Financial Aid Night, September 30th at 6:30 p.m. in the North Cafeteria. Lisa Smith from the Arkansas Dept. of Higher Education will be here to review funding sources from the state and federal government. I strongly encourage you to attend with your senior.

www.fafsa.ed.gov

Students, this is the web site to apply for Pell Grants and other federal aid programs. You must complete the application by June 1st to qualify for the Arkansas Academic Challenge. The website will tell you what documents you need to complete this, but most importantly, you need you and your parents' 2018 federal income tax forms.

Our School Code: 040145

Make sure you do not go to www.fafsa.com. This web site will charge you for doing the FREE application.

Here is the list of documents you will need to complete the FAFSA, from the FAFSA web page:

Gathering the Documents Needed to Apply

The FAFSA questions ask for information about you (your name, date of birth, address, etc.) and about your financial situation. Depending on your circumstances (for instance, whether you’re a U.S. citizen or what tax form you used), you might need the following information or documents as you fill out the application:

• Your Social Security number (it’s important that you enter it correctly on the FAFSA form!)

• Your parents’ Social Security numbers if you are a dependent student

• Your driver’s license number if you have one

• Your Alien Registration number if you are not a U.S. citizen

• Federal tax information or tax returns including IRS W-2 information for the year 2018, for you (and your spouse, if you are married), and for your parents if you are a dependent student:

  • IRS 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ

  • Foreign tax return

  • Tax return for Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or Palau

• Records of your untaxed income, such as child support received, interest income, and veterans noneducation benefits, for you, and for your parents if you are a dependent student

• Information on cash; savings and checking account balances; investments, including stocks and bonds and real estate (but not including the home in which you live); and business and farm assets for you, and for your parents if you are a dependent student

Keep these records! You may need them again. Do not mail your records to us.

Need a tax transcript? Go to this link:

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript

Here's the federal government's website to help you learn more about the FAFSA.

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa

Using the NetPrice Calculator

The federal government requires every school to have an NPC on its website. Here's a link to the College Board NPC. You will need your family's tax and financial information on hand to input in order to get a more accurate idea of your Expected Family Contribution in paying for college.

http://studentnpc.collegeboard.org/

Here's also a link to the College Board Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Calculator:

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/paying-your-share/expected-family-contribution-calculator

Student Loans and Debt

This is a hot topic, and deservedly so. Too many students take out student loans and then end up not able to pay them off. Below is a link to a very informative article from Consumer Reports. Before you agree to a loan of any kind, read this, please. http://www.consumerreports.org/student-loan-debt-crisis/