11 Common FAFSA mistakes

We recommend families always complete the FAFSA because you need it to receive any need-based aid, and even if you don’t qualify for financial aid based on your income, some colleges award merit aid (sometimes a few thousand dollars) just for completing it.
With some recent changes to the FAFSA, the US Dept of Education recently shared a helpful blog post: 11 common FAFSA mistakes to avoid – Take a minute to scan this helpful list. Key takeaways: DON’T assume you won’t qualify for aid because you have a valuable house or big retirement savings (neither are included in the FAFSA calculation), and you don’t have to have a completed 2015 tax return (FAFSA allows you to estimate as long as you update after your tax return is complete).