One of the schools son is talking to wants him to get FAFSA submitted right away as part of the info they have asked for. Son says you have to put the school name when applying for FAFSA and is concerned that this means his FAFSA money would be earmarked specifically to that school and it may be difficult to change later. My other college kids thought there was flexibility but weren't sure of details. I came up empty on a quick search of the site. Any helpful info or advice?
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Go ahead and fill it out and send it. The form only gives the school your "estimated family contribution", and you can send the completed form to as many schools as you want. Your EFC will mean different things to different schools. The school will use that information to see if you qualify for federal loans, but they may also look at it to see if you qualify for other school scholarships/grants.
You can indicate a whole bunch of schools when you fill out the FAFSA. It's basically the financial aid version of the common app. Be glad you're not doing the CSS too! FAFSA is like getting a filling. CSS is a root canal.
One school we considered said they wanted it to see if he qualified for financial aid, i think they wanted it to verify our income and based their average offer from that. JMO.
Thanks guys, very helpful!
It is easy to add an additional school after the FAFSA is completed. If a new school is not on the original list of schools, you log in using the username and password that you created when filling out the FAFSA online. Go to the tab labeled "add an additional school," there is a search option that will help you locate the school code and directions for completing the section.
