When is the FAFSA deadline?

Question

I remember reading somewhere the deadline was March 1.

But the FAFSA website says July 2.

When is the deadline? And when is the unwritten deadline to actually get money?

aaudetat · Answer

Do it as soon as possible. The school can't make decisions on your financial aid until they get it. Each school might have its own deadline, but you should submit it now (yes, even before you get the admit).

eazyb81 · Answer

How would you submit it before you get an admit? Don't you have to name which school it is for?

aaudetat · Answer

You can send it to more than one school. Send it everywhere you've applied. 

From the Johnson Financial Aid Office:  File the FAFSA as soon after January 1, 2007 as possible, even if you haven't determined which MBA program you will attend. You will receive notification of your federal student loan eligibility after you have been admitted to our program, and completed the FAFSA online. There is no connection between applying for financial aid and the Admissions Committee's decision!

eazyb81 · Answer

Why do you have to apply so early? Once you know which school you are going to attend, do you have to go back and update the FAFSA records? I'm sorry, I really have no idea how this process works.

aaudetat · Answer

Copied and pasted from another discussion:

Thought I would throw in on the education financing piece first. Disclaimer: while I am a financial counselor (when it's not tax season) I am more familiar with other personal finance issues than I am with higher ed. But here's what I know.

1. Fill out your FAFSA asap. You need to get that in - even if you don't know which school you're going to go to (or even that will accept you), you can fill it out. In other words, this ain't the year to procrastinate on filing your taxes. Go here for more: https://www.fafsa.ed.gov/.

2. Once you've submitted your FAFSA, you will receive your Student Aid Report (SAR). The SAR outlines basically what you have to contribute. Schools look at this to determine if you qualify for merit-based aid and also to know what kind of assets you have.

3. Using the SAR, the school will put together a financial aid letter for you. It will show the cost of tuition, other fees, and a cost-of-living budget. They'll subtract any scholarships, fellowships, or grants (grants being pretty darn unlikely for us!), and also include whatever federal loans you qualify for. Whatever's left is called the EFC, or Expected Family Contribution. Unless your parents are still funding your life, that's your part.

You want to do this soon because some pots of money can get distributed before you start to be considered. My guess is that this is less likely at b-school than in undergrad, but why not be the early worm? The FAFSA really isn't hard to do; you might as well get it done.

There shouldn't be any reason to update the FAFSA, assuming nothing changes in your tax situation. Think of the FAFSA like the GMAT - I bet most of you sent your GMAT scores when you took the test, long before you applied, and even longer before you got accepted. Heck, several schools have my GMAT and they won't ever see an app from me.

kidderek · Answer

ughhh . . . FAFSA . . .

I thought I was done with that.

Hindustan · Answer

Does it work for International applicants living in USA also? (i.e. non-US citizens)?

lhotseface · Answer

Only for citizens or permanent residents.

Mark4124 · Answer

Stupid PIN <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" />

GMATT73 · Answer

FAFSA

Spent six years paying off those friggen loans. Not again! Why can't Sallie Mae be like "well, since they represent only about 1% (the better 1%) we should cut em' a discount on the rate and relax the terms?"

justin520 · Answer

Couple of questions...
1. In order to beat the March 1 deadline, I sent the fafsa to a couple of schools that I haven't applied to yet, but plan on applying to if rejected by my top choices. Is this ok?

2. If you are accepted by a school, does the school put together the financial aid package before or after you pay the deposit? In other words, do you have to pay the deposit in order to get the financial aid letter from the school?

Thanks

westsider · Answer

Lets make this simple! 
1)You can (and should) send the FAFSA to every school where you are considering applying. It is FREE.
2)You should do this ASAP. (As in This week. You can adjust later if your taxes change when you do them in April!)

I don't know about noncitizen applicants.

Hope this helps!

justin520 · Answer

Right, but what about my second question? It probably doesn't fit the "When is the FAFSA deadline" topic, but I'm just curious as to when they give out the financial aid award letter. Before or after the deposit?

westsider · Answer

Ooh, I'm curious when that will be as well. I got the "sorry, no Perkins loan" mail in about 24 hours. But I think the rest comes directly from each school. So, will depend on where you applied. (this is just my impression.. not really sure!)

kryzak · Answer

I'm pretty sure the financial aid letter comes at different times depending on the schools. Actually, I don't even know when Haas, Anderson, or Kellogg gives theirs out... I guess I'll ask the question at the Anderson Days in March.

djhouse81 · Answer

Just did my FAFSA this week. Going to fill out by CSS Profile this weekend. Columbia has us fill out something on this website called NeedAccess. It asks more in-depth questions regarding our financial situation, and even our expected financial situation once school starts. I think it is to help them make a better decision on need-based scholarships.

djhouse81 · Answer

And, now I just see that I became a Senior Manager. Nice!

Kryzak...I'm gunnin' for ya!

solaris1 · Answer

You need the CSS Profile for b-school, too? That's an even bigger pain than the FAFSA.

kryzak · Answer

congrats dj

When is the FAFSA deadline?

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