ORLANDO, Fla. – February marks National Financial Aid Awareness Month, a time when students and families across the country turn their attention to one of the most important – and sometimes intimidating – steps in paying for college: completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as the FAFSA. With recent updates aimed at making the process simpler and faster, there’s no better time to review how it works and what to prepare before diving in.
CBS News Business Analyst Jill Schlesinger shared straightforward advice for tackling the FAFSA process, from gathering essential documents to meeting critical deadlines. Jill also offers practical financial guidance for both parents and students on how to balance college costs with long-term financial stability.
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Here’s the full transcript of our conversation with Jill:
WKMG-TV: February is National Financial Aid Awareness Month. If you’re preparing to complete the dreaded FAFSA form, CBS News Business Analyst Jill Schlesinger is here to help guide you through the process.
Jill, before starting the application, what do we need to know?
Jill Schlesinger: Head on over to studentaid.gov. There you will create a unique ID. And then you’re gonna just gather up a bunch of information. Tax, financial, W-2s, anything that is like untaxed, like a child support receipt, you’ll need to account for that.
For current students, you’ll have records of any earnings from federal work-study programs, grants, scholarships, fellowship aid. Once you’ve got all that information, you are ready to start.
WKMG-TV: And Jill, is there a particular deadline to submit everything by?
Jill Schlesinger: There is, but I’m going to put an asterisk on it. There is a federal deadline of June 30th, but states and colleges – they have got much earlier priority deadlines. So, I would hate for you to miss out on potential aid by waiting.
I think a lot of folks are procrastinating because they’ve heard about the horrible process, but the FAFSA form is so much improved than it used to be. It’s gone from more than 100 questions to as few as 18. And you can also now start to upload data directly from the IRS. So, all of this has streamlined the process.
WKMG-TV: Jill, for some parents, they’ve never seen a FAFSA form before. Either it wasn’t around when they went to school or they didn’t go to school. How should parents assess their ability to help?
Jill Schlesinger: All the parents that I talked to want to do so much for their kids, but I warn them, like, we don’t want you to forego your own retirement plans to get this kid through college. So, a couple of rules of thumb to think about. Borrowing for all of your kids, including co-signing loans: it should be less than your annual income.
For students, keep your total borrowing to under what you anticipate your first-year salary will be. I think with these two rules kind of floating in the background, you will help avoid getting saddled with massive debt for years to come. Get that degree, but don’t go into a massive debt hole to attain that degree.
WKMG-TV: Sounds good. Jill, thank you so much. You can see Jill regularly on CBS Mornings and the CBS Evening News. And for more analysis, head on over to JillOnMoney.com.