fafsa updates and changes

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FAFSA Updates and Changes

• Prospective Changes for 2006-07

– Paper FAFSA

– SAR

– Student Web Applications

– PIN and the PIN Website

• Other Noteworthy News

• Important Dates

The Paper FAFSA

• 2006-07 FAFSA

277 CVU Blue (students)

263 CVU Purple (parents)

• No new or deleted questions

• Design and layout remains unchanged

The Paper FAFSA (cont.)

• Will include return receipt postcard & insert

• Questions 17, 20, 56, & 69 (dates), same format as 2004-05 FAFSA, “month” and “year” above response boxes

• Ordering Paper FAFSAs

– Announcement this Fall posted to IFAP

www.ifap.ed.gov

– To order FAFSAs & other student financial aid publications

www.edpubs.org/ml



• Page 1

– Updated all state deadlines

– AK moved from “Contact your FAA” listing to “State Aid Deadlines”

– MN deadline changed from “14 days after term starts” to “30 days after term starts”


• Page 2

– Questions 14–15

– Changed from “Alien Registration Card” to “Permanent Resident Card”

• Pages 4 & 5

– Questions 33 b. and 71 b.: “TeleFile” tax filing options removed

• IRS no longer offering as a filing method

– Questions 36 and 74: “total amount” for taxes paid question to eliminate confusion



• Pages 4, 5, & 8

– Questions 38-39 and 76-77: Added instructions for reporting combat pay

• Combat pay instructions also added to Worksheet B on


• Combat Pay

– Always report full amount of combat pay as Income Earned from Work (questions 38-39 for student; questions 76-77 for parent)

• Combat pay is partially taxed & partially untaxed income– Include taxable portion of

combat pay in AGI– Include ALL combat pay in

Income Earned from Work– Report non-taxable portion

of combat pay in Worksheet B

– Report EIC in Worksheet A, if eligible


• Combat Pay – Non Tax Filers

– Total amount of combat pay reported as Income Earned from Work ONLY (Questions 38-39, 76-77)

• Income Earned from Work + Untaxed Income on Worksheets A & B, used in need analysis to calculate EFC



• Page 4

– Question 53: Separated into two-part question for clarity

• Page 5 and 6

– Questions 65-66 & 84-85: Instructions added to ensure applicants answer “Household Size” & “Number in College” questions


• Page 7

– Notes for Questions 55 – 83: Foster parents are not considered parents for completing the FAFSA

FAFSA on the Web (FOTW)

• www.fafsa.ed.gov

• Apply & reapply

– English & Spanish options

• Access PIN Web site

• Check status of completed FAFSA

FOTW (cont.)

• View Student Aid Report (SAR) information

• Make corrections

• Pre-application worksheet

– Available November 2005

www.fafsa.ed.gov

• Section 1 - Home Page

– Link to State Deadlines added back

– School code search link added back

– New printable checklist of items needed to complete application

FOTW (cont.)

• The Application

– The option to apply for a PIN for use as an electronic signature is offered at the beginning of the application process

– A link to the PIN web site is provided for this purpose

FOTW (cont.)

• When an applicant receives a reject warning, they cannot click “okay.”

– They MUST -

• Correct the data, OR

• If data is correct, re-enter data in pop-up box

FOTW (cont.)

• Instructions for “Process my application now without signatures” improved to

– Help applicant understand what needs to be done next to complete signature process

– Ensure applicants successfully transmit application data

FOTW (cont.)

• Parents with multiple children in college can continue to transfer information to additional applications

• Link on confirmation page to “Begin a new application with parent data already filled in?” will display only for

– Dependent students

– Independent students who provided parent data on the application

FOTW (cont.)

FOTW (cont.)

Pre-Application Worksheet

• ED Seal added for more “official” look

• Paper FAFSA question “numbers” added

• Reformatted for ease of use

PIN Registration

• On Department of Education (ED) documents, PINs serve as a password to– Access private information

– Sign documents electronically

• PIN request Web site– Request or re-request a PIN

– Customize a PIN

– Change PIN mailing address

PIN Registration (cont.)

• www.pin.ed.gov

– Name, SSN, date of birth, mailing address

– E-mail address (optional)

– PIN applicants & holders will be required to select & answer Challenge Question


• PIN mailed by

– Regular mail within 7 to 10 days

– E-mail within 3 days or less

– Beware of spam blocker software

Improved Home Page www.pin.ed.gov

– Fly-over text describes menu items

– Re-named “Change My Address” to “Update My Personal Information”

– Main menu options re-ordered main menu options most frequently used are at the top & in logical order

Flyover help text

Formerly “Change my

address”

Re

-orde

red


• Clarification that there are two options for receiving PIN

– E-mail

– Postal mail

• Changed text regarding terms of receiving a PIN from “Agree” to “I agree not to share my PIN”


• “I Forgot/Don’t Know My PIN” option added to all PIN authentication pages

• Turnaround time improved for receiving PIN e-mails

– Currently sent every 12 hours

– Will change to every 4 hours



• Will permanently disable PINs after 18 months of inactivity (students and parents)

– Users will have to reapply for a PIN

– Affects both students and FAAs

• Printed on blue paper

• Overall format has not changed

• Paper and Web Student Aid Report (SAR) will follow order of questions on paper FAFSA

• Text on page 2 about importance of not sharing PINs with anyone

The Student Aid Report (Paper)

Who Gets What?Application

FiledDid you provide an

e-mail address?Student Aid Report (SAR) receipt

methodPIN access code receipt

method

Paper FAFSA

NO Paper SAR U.S. Mail

YESE-mail with link to Student Access

on the Web

E-mail with link to PIN

on the Web

FAFSA on the

Web

NO Paper SAR Acknowledgement U.S. Mail


on the Web

E-mail with link to PIN

on the Web

Paper SAR

correction

NO Paper SAR


on the Web

Corrections on

the Web

NO Paper SAR Acknowledgement


on the Web

Other Noteworthy NewsWeb Demonstration Site

• FAFSA on the Web demonstration site will be available later this year

– To access site, go to http://fafsademo.test.ed.gov

– User Name: eddemo

– Password: fafsatest

• Click on FOTW at bottom of screen

• Available until next December

Other Noteworthy News (cont.)

• Number of days an application is held in signature hold file was reduced from 14 to 7

• School code changes may be made by calling FSAIC, using Corrections on the Web, or on paper SAR

– Letter requests will be returned to students with clear instructions about how to make changes

Important Dates

• January 1, 2006

– System available

• FOTW

• Renewal FOTW

• Corrections on the Web

• January 2, 2006

– Application processing system starts up

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