Contact Information

URL: http://finaid.unlv.edu Phone: 702-895-3424 Fax: 702-895-1353

Office Hours: Monday-Wednesday and Friday: 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Thursday: 9 a.m.–5 p.m.

A copy of this presentation can be found on the Financial Aid & Scholarships web page under the link “Forms, Resources & Publications”.

Student Services Center: Building A, Room 232

FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid

It is the application for:◦Grants◦ Loans (for both students & parents)◦Work Study

It may also be used in determining eligibility for some scholarships.

A FAFSA needs to be completed for each academic year for which you would like to be considered for financial aid.

The FAFSA

Social Security card – parent & student Driver's license (if any) – parent & student 2009 W-2 Form(s) and/or other records of money earned 2009 Federal Income Tax Return(s) – parent & student Current bank statement(s) Current business and investment mortgage information,

business and farm records, stock, bond, and other investment records - do NOT include mortgage for your primary residence

If applicable, documentation that you are a U.S. permanent resident or other eligible noncitizen

Materials that will be helpful in filling out the FAFSA

Estimate your financial information using previous tax return, W-2’s, or 1099’s to meet priority filing dates. Just be sure to correct the amounts on the form later by going to the corrections page on the FAFSA website.

Read instructions very carefully. Rushing through will likely cause delays later. Be sure to ask questions if you are unclear about the question.

Carefully review your Student Aid Report. If you file your FAFSA electronically, you will generally receive an e-mail within about a week.

Helpful Tips

your family’s 2010 financial situation is significantly different than in 2009 (due to loss of employment, homelessness, unusually high medical expenses, etc.).

if you cannot answer yes to any of the dependency questions, and cannot get information from your parent(s).

Contact the financial aid office at the college you plan to attend if:

What if I have Special Circumstances?

2010-2011 FAFSA on the Web will be available beginning January 1, 2010.

Priority Deadline to have the 2010-2011 FAFSA completed and submitted is February 1, 2010 for many schools, including UNLV & UNR.

Wrong Social Security number and/or Driver’s License number –triple check to be sure you are providing correct numbers.

Name reported is different than name on social security card. Not signing FAFSA – both student & parent must – sign – use your

PIN to sign – get a PIN at www.pin.ed.gov Using commas or decimal points in numeric fields – always round to

the nearest dollar. Entering the wrong federal income tax paid amount – obtain your

federal income paid amount from your income tax return forms, not your W-2 form(s).

Listing Taxes paid as equal to or higher than Adjusted Gross Income.

Reporting the same amount for Income Earned and Adjusted Gross Income.

Common FAFSA errors

Listing parent marital status incorrectly–the custodial parent's marital status is needed; if they've remarried, you'll need the stepparent's information too.

Listing parent marital status as single, divorced, separated or widowed but reporting income for two parents.

Leaving the question about drug-related offenses blank–If you're unsure about something, find out before you submit your FAFSA instead of leaving it blank. A conviction doesn't necessarily disqualify you from getting aid.

Forgetting to list the college–obtain the Federal School Code(s) for the college(s) you are applying and list it/them

Entering the wrong address–your permanent address is not your campus or summer address.

Incorrect date of birth for student and/or parent(s).

Common FAFSA errors (cont’d)

◦Easy URL – www.fafsa.gov (NOT www.fafsa.com)

◦The application steps are shown across the top of the page.◦Help text is available on every page in a Help and Hints box

on the right-hand side of the page.◦Status messages will display above the Help and Hints box

on the right side of the page.◦Student or Parent indicators are shown on pages that are

specifically student or parent. Student only and Parent/Student combined pages are BLUE in color. Parent only pages are PURPLE in color.

Some Highlights of the 2010-2011 FAFSA on the Web (FOTW)

Following is a preview of the 2010-2011 FAFSA on the Web (FOTW) site.

The website is subject to change prior to

system implementation on January 1, 2010

This is the Login page for FOTW.

The Introduction Page contains links that will display the appropriate text when the link is selected.

• When you select a link on the Introduction Page, the text will expand.

• The “NEED HELP?” button will open the same topic on all pages within FOTW.

The “NEED HELP?” text directs you to use the “Help and Hints” box located on the right-hand side of every page.

• The Student Demographics Information page is the first page of the application that collects the student’s basic information.

The status message on this page indicates early Title IV eligibility for the student based on their valid Social Security Number, citizenship status, and drug convictions.

The navigation of the application is shown across the top of each page. o If you have

completed a step the step is dark blue with a red underline.

o If you are currently on that step it is white.

Informational messages are shown in a blue box.

If you perform an action that is successful, the system will provide you with a GREEN box and a success message.

• Student’s are asked if they would like to provide information about their college enrollment plans.

• If you indicate you would like to provide this information, the enrollment status, types of aid, and TEACH grant questions will be asked.

The first three dependency status questions are pre-filled based on answers the student provided earlier in the application.

• Error messages are shown in a RED box at the top of the page and list multiple errors at one time.

• The error graphic is also shown next to each question that will need to be answered or corrected.

• Dependency Determination Questions will display one at a time based on previous answers.

• Once a question is answered as Yes, the remaining questions will not display.

•The Special Circumstance page is shown to a dependent student.

•Pages that contain only parental questions are now PURPLE.

•Basic demographic information for the parents is collected on the Parent Demographic Information page.

• If your parent is single, divorced, or widowed, the you will only see questions for the one parent.

• Parent financial information is collected on two Parent Financial Information pages.

• The questions display dynamically based on how you answer each question (questions deemed irrelevant based on your previous answers are not displayed).

• The Additional Financial Information and Untaxed Income questions are all shown in a check box format.

•Check all that apply. There is a similar screen for students.

When you select a check box, the full FAFSA question will appear with a text box to provide a dollar amount.

The Academic Competitiveness Grant Eligibility page collects all of the information necessary to receive this grant.

•The signature process, for the student and parent, is contained within one page.

•There is no side bar indicating Student or Parent since this is a combined page.

• If the you would like to review your information before signing the FAFSA, you will need to click on the “View or Print your FAFSA information” link at the top of the page.

If you select the “View or Print your FAFSA information” link at the top of the Sign & Submit page, your information will display in this format.

The confirmation number will contain the student’s randomly generated identification number.

Federal Student Aid and the Internal Revenue Service collaborated to develop a solution that simplifies FAFSA completion.

The IRS Data Retrieval tool will allow FAFSA on the Web applicants to request and retrieve their income and tax data from the IRS.

Once the data is retrieved from the IRS, it can be transferred to FOTW.

IRS Data Retrieval Tool

2009-10 - January 24, 2010

2010-11 - Summer 2010

When will the IRS Data Retrieval Tool be available?

From the FAFSA on the Web an option will be given to link to the IRS site

If you select to link to the IRS, you will be connected to their website

Provide your demographic information on the IRS site If the IRS finds a match based on the demographic

information, Federal Income Tax Info will be provided If Transfer Now is selected, the IRS session will end and

the you will be returned to FAFSA on the Web (FOTW) Student and parent will have to go to the IRS website

separately

How Will IRS Data Retrieval Work?

If you have questions regarding FAFSA on the Web, contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243). When prompted to speak a menu option, say "Web site assistance."

You can also e-mail them at: FederalStudentAidCustomerService@ed.gov

QUESTIONS?