Applying for a student loan with the US Department of Education is free. The application, called FAFSA, stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid and can be found at fafsa.gov . The FAFSA can be a complicated form to fill out, and there was an online service called Student Financial Aid Services, Inc., which helped students fill out the complicated form for a fee. This service is no longer available, but there are other solutions out there.
FAFSA services available
There are services available to help you complete your FAFSA, however the government FAFSA website advises students that they do not need to pay to apply for a government student loan . There are scams out there, but there are also legitimate services that can make your life a lot easier. Some ways to get assistance include:
Exploring the resources available directly on the fafsa.ed.gov website
By visiting your college's student financial assistance office or calling your university directly
Asking your guidance counselor or college prep teacher for help
Hiring a Certified Professional College Aid Planner from the National Institute of Certified College Planners or an organization like CollegeAidPlanning.com
How FAFSA help students
When scholarship scams were more prevalent, it was believed that "any help you pay for can be received free of charge from your school or from Federal Student Aid." being more complex than most income tax forms, for which they would likely hire a tax advisor.
Neither high schools, colleges nor the federal student aid help desk have enough trained specialists available to help all college students with their financial aid needs. Neither service is free, as the federal help desk and high school counselors are paid with your tax dollars. College financial aid administrator salaries are covered by tuition of students and the fees charged. The college's financial aid offices help their students answer questions about their aid application, but they don't have enough trained people or hours during the day to prepare the grant.request for federal aid to each student .
The complexity of filling out the form
Many people find the federal student aid form too complex or too time-consuming to run on their own.
College-going students sometimes cannot turn to a college financial aid administrator for help because they are not yet a faculty member. While high school counselors in public and private schools provide college preparatory guidance, the vast majority do not have financial aid training or the time to help every college-going student prepare for their application.
The federal student helpline will answer individual questions but will not advise on an individual's specific circumstances. Recently, the federal government offered individual telephone service to several states on a limited basis. The FAFSA helpline is not open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, like on weekends and evenings, when parents tend to prepare their children's FAFSA.
Student Financial Aid Services Guidance
Student Financial Aid Services is available for at least seventeen hours a day during peak aid filing times. There is no limit to how often a customer calls or how many people in a family speak. Fees are relatively modest, ranging from $80 to $100 for one year, and a 100% money back guarantee is offered 60 days after purchase. Counselors are rigorously trained and detect errors that even the Department of Education's computer doesn't catch—mistakes that can deprive students of help. Their job is to accurately prepare an application and advise clients to get as much help as possible, and they currently have a 99% customer recommendation rating.
No legitimate FAFSA preparer charges you to submit the form. Fees are for advice and experience. The student financial aid system is complicated, as there are nine federal programs, 605 state programs, and nearly 8,000 college programs, each with its own deadlines and rules. All of this information is tracked, including policy decisions, rule changes and more.
Disclosures
US law authorizes paid FAFSA preparation and the only condition is that a paid FAFSA preparer publishes in all of their marketing and on their website that their commercial business is not the Department of Education.
The www.fafsa.com website is a domain name that the company's founder, a college admissions administrator, acquired before the Department of Education had a FAFSA website. For transparency, the following should be noted:
The home page clearly and visibly displays a notice that “We are not affiliated with the Department of Education”.
The home page also clearly states that FAFSA can be filled in free of charge, can be filled in on paper or electronic form and that professional assistance is not mandatory. It also claims that the free service is available at www.fafsa.ed.gov.
In the center of the home page, it is prominently stated that the site is the oldest and largest student aid counseling service and there is a fee for the service.
Visitors are informed about the free FAFSA option at seventeen other prominent places on the site and, in total, forty-seven links are provided to www.fafsa.ed.gov.
On each page of the website, a disclaimer is included stating that the website is not the Department of Education or FAFSA on the web. A link is provided to www.fafsa.ed.gov.
The website provides a simple and clear side-by-side comparison of services that differ from the Department of Education and explicitly notes that the website is a paid service, and also notes that people can prepare the form and file it for free on the other website.
Each caller is informed that there is a free FAFSA option and that the FAFSA can be completed without professional help.
In the “About Us” section of the website, it is clearly stated, “Student Financial Aid Services, Inc. is a fee-based advisory and preparation company” and the role is described.
Information about the free FAFSA option is included in all marketing communications and sales materials.
