FAFSA now open for students

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid opened for students to start filing on October 1.

The FAFSA is a government aid for college students to apply to receive loans that can help get them through higher education. Jared Sponseller, director of Student Financial Services, explained why it’s important for students to be aware of the FAFSA. “Students should file their FAFSA because the FAFSA is used to determine eligibility for a wide variety of financial aid awards. The results of filing the FAFSA determine eligibility for need-based grant aid from MVNU, certain endowment scholarships from MVNU, along with federal and state grants, federal work study and federal student loan eligibility.”

The FAFSA only stays open for a small window of time. “I recommend that all students file as soon as possible,” said Sponseller. “For most students, filing the FAFSA is a joint effort between the students and their parents, so I encourage students to get the application filed when they are home for breaks.”

Students should expect to see their financial aid award packages for the 2020-2021 academic year sometime after spring break. Sponseller reccomends that “the [FAFSA] paperwork be filed by March 1 at the latest.”