Financial Aid Advice: Important Documents

One of the most frequent requests I get from students, is if I can help them make sure they have all the necessary documents in so they can receive their financial aid on time. What follows is a list of the documents you need to complete your financial aid file.

Please keep in mind that every student account is different, and it's always best to work closely with your financial aid representative or financial aid advisor to make sure you've completed all these documents and can receive your aid.

If you're a student looking to receive federal financial aid, your journey should start with completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application. After you submit a FAFSA to the U.S. Department of Education, the department uses the information to calculate your financial aid eligibility and sends the information to the financial aid office of the college you selected on your application.

Once you're admitted to the school you've applied to—in your case, Ivy Bridge College—a financial aid counselor will review the information from the FAFSA and create a financial aid “package” for you, consisting of available resources from federal to state funds. The college will send you a financial aid award letter detailing the cost of attendance to the school and the resources available to you that will help cover those costs. You can then decide to attend the college and accept their award of financial aid, and register for and begin classes.

At this point in the process, even though aid is accepted and classes are scheduled, it is still important to complete four other documents and potentially a fifth.

All students must sign and return a copy of the (#1) Title IV Authorization Agreement Form and the (#2) Revolving Credit Agreement. These forms allow you to cover your book and other miscellaneous costs with your financial aid. Be sure to read them thoroughly so you understand them well.

Every student that accepts student loans also needs to go on the Direct Lending website to complete the (#3) Entrance Counseling and (#4) Master Promissory Note documents. Entrance Counseling provides you with useful tips and tools that will help you develop a budget to manage your educational expenses. The Master Promissory Note is a statement you need to sign promising the federal government that you'll repay your student loans.

Starting with the 2012–2013 award year, the U.S. Department of Education is transitioning to a targeted FAFSA verification process. Previously, colleges were required to verify 30% of their FAFSA applications in order to make sure that the information students and parents reported on their FAFSA was accurate. Verification prevents ineligible students from receiving aid by reporting false information and ensures that eligible students receive all of the aid for which they are qualified.

A (#5) Verification Worksheet must also be completed by every student applying for aid. Unless you used the IRS Tax Data Retrieval Tool, while filing your taxes this year, you will need to request a Tax Return Transcript directly from the IRS. The IRS Data Retrieval Tool automatically transfers your federal income tax return data to the FAFSA without adjustment, so your data will not be subject to verification. We STRONGLY encourage students to use this tool, because it's much easier than requesting a Tax Return Transcript. If you have more questions about verification, check out Alexix Carew's blog post about the verification change and how to prepare yourself.

I hope this answers some basic questions on how to be proactive in completing your financial aid file. If you have any questions or need assistance in completing your documents, please call your financial aid representative or financial aid advisor. He or she will be happy to answer any questions you have about your personal account. If you don’t know your representative call the main line at 866-944-4228, and we’ll make sure to put you in touch with the right person.

Jason is a current student in the Associate of Business Administration in Computer and Information Technology degree program as well as a financial aid adviser for Ivy Bridge College.