The Student Must File A Free Application For Federal Student Aid (Fafsa) For Their Parent: Fill & Download for Free

I don’t think you have all your terms right, so let me see if I can clarify.FAFSA means Free Application for Federal Student Aid. FAFSA is a form you fill out, so you can’t “receive it” you can only fill it out and send it. Your aid will be calculated from the numbers on it.EFC means Expected Family Contribution (this number is based on your income assets and family size, mostly)SAR means Student Aid Report (printout after you file FAFSA electronically)There are two basic kinds of federal aid you may receive by filing a FAFSA:Pell Grant - an entitlement for very low income students. In order to get a full or partial Pell Grant your EFC must be less than $5,920. When you filed your FAFSA, you should have got a printout called the SAR. The SAR has your EFC on it.Loans - an option for all students, you are entitled to the Federal Direct Loan. The amount depends on your year in school. $9,500 for freshmen considered independent of parents (military qualifies you).Good to keep in mind:GI Tuition Benefit - an entitlement. Tuition and housing benefits are not reported anywhere on FAFSA and will not effect your income or assets for your EFC calculation.http://time.com/money/4476585/fafsa-gi-bill-veterans-financial-aid/So the question is what is your EFC? It is entirely possible you are not Pell Grant eligible because of income.

Fill out and file a FAFSA: Free Application for Student Aid. When you fill it out you need to list the colleges you are applying to or attending so the college can receive the funds on your behalf.Your qualification for Pell Grant is based on your family income and assets. When you file a FAFSA, it will generate a Student Aid Report (SAR). The SAR will give you a number called EFC: Expected Family Contribution. This is what determines Pell Grant eligibility. The SAR will tell you what you are eligible for. Your college will also send you an aid letter to show what you will get.The FAFSA also qualifies you for a Student Loan. You must file a FAFSA each year to ask for aid.Pell Grant Maximum $5,920 per year for up to 6 yearsStudent Loan - all dependent students eligible these amounts regardless of incomeFreshman: $5,500Sophomore: $6,500Junior $7,500Senior + $7.500 to total cap of $32,000Before you can start filling out the FAFSA, you have to get a FSA ID which is a username and PIN. Keep these somewhere you don’t lose it. Also one parent has to do the same. Then the parent fills out the parent portion and the student fills out the student portion.It is kind of silly to ask on Quora because all this information is on the Federal Student Aid Pages. Start here.FAFSA - Free Application for Federal Student Aid

Owing federal income taxes will not prevent you from qualifying for federal student financial aid.Failing to file a required federal income tax return, on the other hand, will prevent you from receiving federal student aid. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) requires income and tax information from the prior prior year. Most applicants should have already filed a tax return for this year by the time they file the FAFSA. (The main exception is members of the U.S. Armed Forces who are on active duty in a combat area.)If you indicate on the FAFSA that you are not going to file a federal income tax return, but your income is above the IRS filing thresholds, that is considered conflicting information that must be resolved before financial aid can be disbursed. Usually, the only way to resolve the conflicting information is to file the federal income tax return.The college financial aid administrator will then require that you either use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool when completing the FAFSA or provide an IRS Tax Return Transcript by using the IRS Get Transcript tool or by filing IRS Form 4506-T.If your income is below the IRS filing thresholds, the college financial aid administrator will want you to obtain a Verification of Non-Filing Letter from the IRS. This can usually be obtained through the IRS Get Transcript tool or by filing IRS Form 4506-T. This letter will confirm that your income, as reported to the IRS on W-2s and 1099s, is below the IRS filing thresholds. The financial aid administrator will also want to understand how you were able to survive on such low income.This issue arises in several situations:The applicant or the applicant’s parents (if the applicant is a dependent student) are tax protesters.The applicant’s parents are undocumented and are afraid to file a federal income tax return. The IRS cannot share tax information with other federal agencies. Filing a federal income tax return will not cause an undocumented individual to be deported. Undocumented individuals can obtain a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) to file a federal income tax return if they don’t have a legitimate Social Security Number.The applicant or the applicant’s parents have not filed tax returns for years, perhaps because of financial issues. There are accountants who specialize in helping people fix such problems. Often, the situation isn’t as bad as people fear. Sometimes, they are due an income tax refund, instead of owing a tax debt.