Less than three weeks away, March 10 is the last day for students to file their Free Application for Federal Student Aid for the 2015-16 ?academic year.
FAFSA is an income-based application students file each year in order to assess the amount of money their family is expected to contribute toward higher education.
This application also determines the amount of grants, scholarships and loans a student will be eligible to ?receive.
Every year the FAFSA deadline is the same: ?March 10.
“This is not a deadline for students to be procrastinating,” McMillon said.
Students who miss the deadline for FAFSA will miss an entire year’s worth of financial aid at any Indiana institution for post-secondary education.
La Casa Latino Cultural Center hosted a FAFSA filing help session from ?6-8 p.m. Tuesday.
Diana Velazquez, graduate assistant of La Casa, and Gabriel Escobedo, graduate student, sat down with students individually to guide them through the FAFSA filing process.
As Velazquez made phone calls and answered questions for one family, Escobedo made his way around the room to help simplify the ?process for other students.
Prior to attending IU, Escobedo spent four years aiding first-generation students in filing for financial aid.
“One of the most difficult situations is when students are essentially out on their own,” Escobedo said. “But FAFSA still requires their ?parents’ information.”
He said this situation is not impossible, but the process “just gets tricky” when parents are not available to help.
“These sessions are especially important for first-generation students, where they or their families may not exactly be familiar with the process,” Velazquez said.
Escobedo and Velazquez worked side-by-side with students throughout the session until each student was comfortable going forward with filling out their FAFSA.
Kassidy Klingensmith, sophomore and 21st Century Scholar, came to La Casa with questions about the FAFSA. She is no longer a dependent on her parents’ taxes.
“My mom told me she wasn’t claiming me,” Klingensmith said. “So this year, it was all me.”
She said she was thankful for La Casa’s advice on the FAFSA process, because this year was a different process.
A common misconception students have about filing is that they must wait until after filing their taxes to file for FAFSA, McMillon said.
Estimating income and taxes based on tax numbers from the previous year is acceptable when filling out FAFSA.
Students will have the option to update tax information on the application later.
Many need-based types of financial aid are awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis, according to the FAFSA ?website.
McMillon said students who are also eligible to receive the IU-Bloomington 21st Century Scholars covenant are especially advised to file FAFSA as soon as possible.
Students awarded with the 21st Century Scholarship who fail to complete FAFSA on time will lose their ?scholarship money for an entire academic year, she said.
If they miss this year’s deadline, they will be allowed to file again the next year.
The IU-Bloomington covenant is a grant awarded to students at IU to account for expenses that exceed tuition.
The award is meant to assist with housing costs, ?McMillon said.
If students miss the deadline, this scholarship will be lost indefinitely.
McMillon encourages students to not be afraid to ask for help with filing FAFSA, as she said procrastination is not an acceptable method for ?dealing with filing.
“I had a student approach me the other day and tell me she was afraid to fill it out,” McMillon said. “So I told her to pick a time that we can meet and fill it out together.”
Whether students seek help through McMillon, La Casa or elsewhere, Velazquez said the help is available on campus for those who need it.
“It’s financial aid,” Velazquez said. “And it’s ?necessary for students to file.”
Velazquez and Escobedo will be available during a help session from 6-8 p.m. today at La Casa. The session is open to all students, even those not ?affiliated with La Casa.
