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The Columbia College Student Experience: Avoid costly FAFSA errors!


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March 12, 2009


Avoid costly FAFSA errors!

Have you ever made a mistake while completing your FAFSA? More importantly, what would you do to avoid making one?

According to the National Association for Student Financial Aid Administrators, there are 12 common mistakes students make when completing the FAFSA:

  1. Leaving blank fields instead of entering a ‘0’ or ‘not applicable’
  2. Using commas or decimal points in numeric fields, rather than rounding to the nearest whole dollar
  3. Listing incorrect Social Security Number or Driver's license number
  4. Entering the wrong federal income tax paid amount
  5. Listing Adjusted Gross Income as equal to total income
  6. Listing marital status incorrectly
  7. Listing parent marital status incorrectly
  8. Leaving the question about drug-related offenses blank
  9. Forgetting to list the college
  10. Forgetting to sign and date
  11. Entering the wrong address
  12. Sending in a copy of your income tax returns, without being asked to do so


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Comments (2)

Barbara Roumeliotis says:

Craig,

Priority processing deadlines are established to ensure students complete the FAFSA before any state, federal, and institutional deadlines pass. If such deadlines are missed it can affect financial aid eligibility and reduce aid options.
Students need to have a financial plan set to resolve the account balance.

When a FAFSA is filed within the priority processing deadline, the student has to ensure they follow up with the Student Financial Services office, because they may need to complete additional steps in order to receive the financial aid that the student may be eligible for. If federal financial aid does not cover the total cost of tuition/fees then there may be additional options a student can utilize to assist in resolving the remaining portion of the balance.

Please visit the Student Financial Services office to go over your student account and your options in resolving your balance. Go to www.colum.edu/sfs Customer Service Options at http://www.colum.edu/Student_Financial_Services/Customer_Service_Options.php

-Priority processing deadline to submit 2009/2010 Fafsa for Fall 2009/Spring 2010/Summer 2010 was March 15, 2009.
*The 2009/2010 FAFSA can still be filed. The office of Student Financial Services recommends that it is complete prior to the beginning of the Fall 2009 semester in order to ensure you have enough options to assist in resolving any account balance.

Barbara Roumeliotis
Student Financial Services
600 S. Michigan Avenue, Room 303
Chicago, IL 60605
Phone: 866-705-0200
Fax: 312-369-8436
www.colum.edu/sfs
Hours of Operation: Monday-Friday between 9:00am.-5:00pm.

Posted by Barbara Roumeliotis | March 18, 2009 3:25 PM
Craig says:

If I don't get my FAFSA in on time, how much will it hurt my chances to get a full reward?

Posted by Craig | March 13, 2009 12:10 PM
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