FAFSA guide for high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors: Critical To-Dos and Helpful strategies
All too often generations of students stumble through the college planning process. With college costs on the perpetual rise, it is critical to start the planning process early.
Whether you are a beginner to the college planning journey or refining an existing strategy, here’s a visual guide of some critical to-dos for students and impactful strategies for parents depending on your unique situation.
The FAFSA is a financial unlock for college students
The FAFSA is an application for federal student aid such as federal grants, work-study funds, and loans. It’s the largest source of aid to help you pay for college or career school. To qualify, the FAFSA considers the impact of income and assets from January 1 of your sophomore year of high school until December 31 of your junior year of college (assuming a student goes straight from high school to college). For a high school senior filling out the FAFSA in 2023 and graduating in the spring of 2024, you are looking at your prior-prior year’s tax return in 2021.
The FAFSA application window opens as early as October 1st and closes by June 30th of the year you receive aid (depending on the institution’s deadline). However, in 2023, FAFSA will not be available until sometime in December due to the FAFSA Simplification Act, reshaping the entire system. Details about this significant reform can be found in this article.
Follow our yearly timeline to make things a little less stressful
For high school students planning ahead for college, we’ve summarized the major considerations and to-do items. Download the PDF here to print and hang on your fridge.
We can help with education planning
College involves time, money, and emotions. By dedicating effort, you will spare yourself unnecessary stress later. Amidst all the school visits, tests, test planning, be deliberate and have a plan. If you have any questions or would like to speak with one of our advisors, please reach out to me here.
