FAFSA

The FAFSA must be completed each year. Complete the FAFSA between January 1 and May 1 (this date is for the initial submission of the FAFSA) to be considered for federal and state aid (the March 15 deadline was to be considered for all aid - federal, state, and institutional aid). Submitting the FAFSA by May 1 will meet the deadline for the PA State Grant.  If you submit the FAFSA after May 1, you will still qualify for federal aid (including student loans), but will not qualify for the PA State Grant since your application will be considered late.  It is our recommendation to complete the FAFSA no later than May 1.  This deadline is for the initial submission of the FAFSA, not subsequent paperwork.  You can submit the FAFSA with estimates of your tax information if you have not yet completed them, then update the FAFSA with the correct information once the taxes are completed. 

General rule of thumb is every time you file your taxes, you file your FAFSA. If a student completed the FAFSA in the preceding year, a Renewal FAFSA may be completed. The Renewal FAFSA will allow the student to update current information without completing the entire FAFSA over (things like his/her name, SSN, address, and date of birth will be pre-populated).

The FAFSA is no longer available in paper form from HS Guidance Offices or College Financial Aid Offices.  It must be completed online. If you prefer the paper form, you may call 1-800-4FED-AID (1-800-433-3243) and request a paper form be mailed to you or you may download the 2009-2010 FAFSA from the Federal Student Aid’s website (not currently available).

If you are filling out the FAFSA on the Web, we recommend you use the FAFSA on the Web Worksheet or you can pick one up in the Office of Financial Aid. This form is used to help complete the FAFSA online. Do NOT mail to the processor.

Even if the student has not been accepted by the schools he/she has applied to and/or has not made a final decision of where to attend, we recommend you fill out the FAFSA anyway and include all schools (up to 10 on the FAFSA on the Web) the student is considering. In order to list the schools, you may need their Federal School Code. If you are unsure of this code, please refer to the Federal School Code Search webpage.

• For financial aid for the 2009-2010 academic year, the deadline for federal and state aid is

  May 1, 2009

• The March 15 deadline was to be also considered for institutional aid (Federal Perkins Loan, FSEOG - which is aid given to our most needy students).

• Our FAFSA Federal School Code is 003325

Personal Identification Number (PIN)

To complete the FAFSA online, the student and one parent (if the student is dependent) need a PIN (personal identification number) to electronically sign the FAFSA.This can be obtained by applying online at http://www.pin.ed.gov/. The PIN remains valid as long as a new FAFSA is completed within 18 months of the last one. If you have an active PIN but do not remember it, you need to go to http://www.pin.ed.gov/ and select “Request a Duplicate PIN.

Once you receive your Student Aid Report (SAR) - paper or via email, review all information to be sure it is accurate. If corrections need to be made, you can do them through the paper SAR by mailing it in with the corrections on it or make corrections online using your PIN. 

* The email comes from the U.S. Department of Education, so depending on how
strong your email filter is, you may have to check your Bulk/Junk mail folder for the email.

** Please note - the times above are approximate times and may be longer for some individuals