What’s new in the financial aid process for 2008-2009?

PIN Number
Your PIN number can now be obtained in real-time from the PIN Web site (http://www.pin.ed.gov) or from FAFSA on the Web (http://www.fafsa.ed.gov).

Students and parents have the option to create their own PINs, request that Federal Student Aid generate a PIN for them that will display on the screen in real-time, request that the PIN be e-mailed in real-time, or have the PIN sent through postal mail. For all options except a PIN sent through postal mail, the PIN is issued in real-time so that the student or parent can immediately use it to electronically sign the application.

The federal financial aid processor will not be skipping any steps from last year – they’re just performing them in a different order. They will still be contacting the Social Security Administration and verifying your social security number. The difference is that they will allow you to sign your FAFSA in the meantime using your PIN. So you don’t have to wait!

So, after you have signed the FAFSA with your PIN (as soon as it is issued), the federal processor begins to check with the Social Security Administration. This does not delay the processing of your FAFSA! If the social security results come back OK, then the PIN that you were issued automatically becomes permanent. At this point, the PIN can be used to access Student Aid Report (SAR) information on the Web, make corrections using Corrections on the Web, access National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) information, etc. While the results are still pending, the PIN can only be used to sign the FAFSA.  

If they don’t receive the green light from the Social Security Administration, then the federal financial aid processor will disable your PIN and send you paperwork that you can complete in order to resolve the issue and allow FAFSA processing to continue.

Renewal FAFSA
Isn’t the Renewal FAFSA great? So convenient! As popular as it is, wouldn’t it be surprising if you were to visit FAFSA on the Web this year and not see the Renewal FAFSA listed as an option? Well, prepare to be surprised! You will not see the words “renewal fafsa” on the website, but it will ask you if you would like for them to “pre-fill” your application with data from the previous year. If you take them up on this offer, then you should find this option to be just as convenient as the renewal fafsa.

Do you speak Spanish?
The federal financial aid processor will now send application processing communications in Spanish. Applicants who complete a Spanish FAFSA or submit corrections in Spanish (on paper or online) will receive the appropriate Spanish version of the SAR, SAR Acknowledgment, eSAR, or E-mail Notification of SAR Processing.

Students and parents who use the Spanish PIN Web site will receive a Spanish PIN Mailer. Students who used the Spanish version of FAFSA4caster will be sent a Spanish FAFSA4caster Renewal Reminder. Applicants who submitted a subsequent application in Spanish will receive a Spanish subsequent application letter.

The SAR has a whole new look!
The Department of Education has redesigned the SAR to improve its readability and increase its usability.

The redesigned SAR enables students to more readily determine 1) the status of their FAFSA (complete or incomplete); 2) their eligibility (or ineligibility) for a Federal Pell Grant; and 3) their next steps in the application process. The body of the SAR has been changed from three sections to two.

The three sections of last year’s format were: 1) You the student 2) The U.S. Department of Education and 3) The school

This year, the two sections are: 1) Student Aid Report Status and 2) Federal Student Aid Eligibility

The department has also enhanced the 2008-2009 SAR by adding checkboxes next to important items or issues that need to be addressed.

Trying to Decide?
If you are looking at a number of different schools then you might wish to take note of this FAFSA update. FAFSA on the Web has been enhanced to allow you to provide up to ten Federal School Codes. This means that you can have your FAFSA information sent to as many as ten different schools, and then use the responses that you receive as valuable input in your decision process.

Forget to Sign on the Dotted Line?
In previous years, the federal processor would reject your FAFSA application if you submitted it without the required signature(s). This means that CIU would not receive any information until the signature issue is resolved. Meanwhile, various deadlines might be coming (and going). This year, the federal processor will be sending some information to CIU regarding your need analysis, even before the signature issue is resolved. The signature issue will still need to be resolved before federal aid can be awarded, but in this “information age”, even a small amount of information sent to the school in a timely fashion is a good thing!

Academic Competitiveness Grant
Since this program is no longer brand new, your student aid report will now include any relevant information from previous years. This will help us to know more about how much eligibility you have remaining.