Free Press guide to getting college financial aid: "The FAFSA is the single most important financial aid form for college-bound high school seniors. It determines whether they're eligible for federal grants or loans, but is also used by most colleges to determine whether local grants, scholarships or loans will be given, including those not based on need.
The actual form itself is only four pages long, but many of the questions ask for financial information that takes parents hours to compile. And deadlines are extremely short: The forms can't be completed until you can figure out what you got paid last year (using your last pay stub or W2s), but it must be filed in time to be processed and sent to individual states by March 1.

That means parents filing the paper forms have to get them in now, since they can take four weeks to process. Even the Web-based form (at www.fafsa.ed.gov) takes up to 10 days, although filing online gives you a speed advantage.


Getting the form in early is important for other reasons besides making the deadline. Financial aid is handed out by colleges on a first-come, first-served basis for the most part, which means if your child applies late, there will be fewer dollars available to draw on.

"