FAFSA Information
You have just indicated that you are interested in filling your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) over the web. We, at MSU, would like for you to know the following information before you complete the FAFSA.
- Federal financial aid regulations determine whether a student is considered Dependent or Independent. Based upon your dependency status (Dependent or Independent) you will be required to fill out the FAFSA using your financial information and your parents' financial information if you are considered Dependent or your financial information only (and spouse's if married) if you are considered Independent. Be sure to fill out the answers accurately to prevent errors or omissions that will cause your application to be rejected or delayed.
- If you are prompted to enter parental information you must provide your natural parent(s) or adoptive parent(s) information. Grandparents' and/or legal guardians' information can not be used. If your parents are divorced or separated, make sure you follow the instructions provided by the U.S. Department of Education with the FAFSA web application concerning the correct parental information (and stepparent if that parent has remarried) that should be reported.
- One factor used in determining a student's dependency status is the student's marital status. Married students are considered Independent. Once the FAFSA has been filed for a school year, federal regulations do not allow a student to refile or update the FAFSA and change the dependency status due to a change in marital status. Therefore, if you plan to get married before or during the coming school year, you should decide whether you wish to file your FAFSA before or after you get married. Your decision can have a significant impact on your eligibility for federal student aid.
- In some situations, students who have children may also be considered Independent. When filing the FAFSA, you will be asked if you have children who receive more than half of their support from you. Please be careful! Often, students who have a child but who do not have sufficient resources to support the child and/or students who have a child and the student and student's child live with the student's parents (child's grandparents) and therefore the student does not provide more than half of the support for the child (the student's parents provide the support) file the FAFSA incorrectly as an Independent. When this happens, corrections must be made to the FAFSA data and delays in receiving financial aid may occur.
- Filing the FAFSA on the web is free of charge. The official web site for filing the FAFSA on the web is: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov. If you are prompted to pay a fee for filing over the web, you are not at the U.S. Department of Education's official web site. Be careful!
- In order to complete the FAFSA on the web properly, you must either print and sign (student and parent if Dependent) a signature page, or you must use a government issued PIN number (this is not the MSU PIN number you may have been issued by MSU). Failure to mail your signed FAFSA Signature Page or failure to supply the appropriate PIN Number(s) will result in your FAFSA results being rejected by the federal processor. This will cause delays in processing your student aid award. Follow the instructions carefully. If you have not been issued a PIN number by the U.S.Department of Education, but you would like to use a PIN to file your FAFSA over the web, you may apply for a PIN at www.pin.ed.gov .
- If you file a paper FAFSA, the government will process your application and send the results to you and MSU in about 4 to 6 weeks. If you file your FAFSA over the web, the government will process your application and send the results in about 2 weeks.
- You will be providing household and financial information on the FAFSA. It is a good idea to have completed, applicable IRS Tax forms (not just W-2 forms) available as you file your FAFSA.
- You must enter your school's code number on your FAFSA. Mississippi State University's school code is 002423.
- Make sure you apply for the correct aid year.
- The 2008-2009 financial aid school year begins with the Fall 2008 semester and ends with Summer School 2009.
- The 2007-2008 financial aid school year begins with the Fall 2007 semester and ends with Summer School 2008.
File your FAFSA over the web now at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov
