By: Robert Valentine
MoneyAlert.com

If you’re having trouble navigating the modern financial aid system, you’re not alone. Finding, applying and receiving different types of financial aid can be one of the biggest headaches associated with a college search. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

With only a little know-how and some financial planning, you can easily find your way through the maze known as financial aid. One of the most crucial pieces of advice that college planners have to offer is to ALWAYS apply for financial aid, even if you believe you won’t qualify.

So how do you apply for it? Simple. It’s a form called FAFSA, and it can be filled out quickly and easily online.

FAFSA stands for Free Application for Student Financial Aid. It is administered by the U.S. Department of Education and for years has given lower income students a chance to go to college. But it’s not just for lower income families. Anyone and everyone can apply; and depending on how soon you apply and the money is available, families with many different levels of income can receive some type of aid. It is recommended that every family fills out a FAFSA form as well as the financial aid forms required by the schools you have applied for. Each school will put together a financial aid award package based on the results of your FAFSA form.

When you apply for a FAFSA, you are given a PIN, which functions just like your personal ATM password. You use this PIN to log on to and off of your forms and sign them when you are finished.

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