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Filling Out Your FAFSA/TAP Online
All college bound seniors will need to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in order to be eligible for federal aid in the form of grants and/or loans. In addition, students who are applying to schools in New York State need to complete a Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) application in order to be eligible for NYS aid. The steps for filing financial aid applications are outlined below. Seniors and their parents are also encouraged to attend our Financial Aid Information Night held annually in December.
Step 1:
The student and one parent must register for pin numbers by going to www.pin.ed.gov. Within two to three days of submitting your pin requests, you will be emailed your pin numbers. Keep these numbers in a safe place. They will serve as your electronic signatures for all future financial aid forms online including future FAFSAs, loan applications, etc. Although the FAFSA cannot be submitted until after January 1st, students and parents can apply for their pin numbers at any time. In fact, by applying for your pin early, you will be ready to
submit the online FAFSA in January.
Step 2:
Go to www.fafsa.ed.gov. Be careful to type in the correct address (fafsa.com is not correct and will connect you to a company that charges you to fill out the FREE Application for Federal Student Aid!). Select “Before Beginning a FAFSA”. Print a Pre-application worksheet and fill it out so that you will have all of the information in front of you when filling out the online FAFSA.
Step 3:
Once the Pre-application is filled out go back to www.fafsa.ed.gov and select “Fill out the FAFSA”. Fill in all of the appropriate information. When all of the information requested is entered, both the student and a parent must sign the application using their assigned pin numbers. Before clicking the submit button, be sure to print a copy of your completed FAFSA.
Step 4:
After you sign and submit your FAFSA online you will come to a screen congratulating you on successful completion of the form. Print this page for your records. At this point, if you have applied to any New York State schools, you will also have the option of linking directly to the TAP application (for New York State Aid you will need to click on this link). TAP takes the information directly off your FAFSA so all you have to do is make any necessary corrections, fill in the additional information requested, sign using your pin number, and submit.
Step 5:
Within three to five days of submitting your FAFSA online, your SAR (Student Aid Report) will be sent to your email address. This needs to be reviewed for accuracy. If corrections need to be made, do so, and email it back. If everything is correct print the SAR and file it with your other financial aid papers.
And that is it! Filling out the FAFSA and TAP online is quick, easy and SAFE.
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