College Cash 101

Sock Puppet Web Video Can Help You Apply for College Financial Aid

January 4, 2011 RSS Feed Print

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The web has a growing number of free resources that can help students and parents fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, which is the form that qualifies college students for grants, scholarships, and low-priced student loans.

[Read the three ways applying for financial aid is getting easier in 2011.]

Unfortunately, like everything else on the web, there's plenty of misleading and boring FAFSA videos, too. A YouTube search for FAFSA videos, for example, turns up several "webinars" that are really sales come-ons for high-priced private consultants.

I've searched the web for free FAFSA videos that appear to be accurate, helpful, and somewhat fun to watch. Here's a list (in alphabetical order):

For beginners:

Fastweb has posted a fun five-minute introduction to the FAFSA.

Fresno Pacific University's video about a sock puppet asking for financial aid is um, socko, though the information is very specific to that university. (Students not attending FPU should not use the FAFSA address listed in the video. They can access the FAFSA at www.fafsa.ed.gov.)

The Williamsburg Charter High School in Brooklyn, N.Y. made a catchy rap video about the FAFSA.

For those who want more FAFSA details:

EducationQuest, a Nebraska-based nonprofit, has posted several financial aid podcasts and videos. A good introduction for students is the "The FAFSA Made Easy" 10-minute video.

Mark Kantrowitz, founder of Finaid.org and Fastweb.com, shares some of his encyclopedic financial aid knowledge.

James Madison University's Brad Barnett, a senior associate director of financial aid, has taped answers to some frequently asked questions, such as what to do if your parent refuses to fill out a FAFSA and what to do if your parents get rejected for a PLUS loan.

The Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation has posted how-to videos about the FAFSA in Spanish and English.

The Education section of usnews.com has posted some quick and fun "Beat the FAFSA" videos explaining ways to avoid mistakes that might reduce your grants or scholarships, such as how applying to and listing several schools on a FAFSA might increase your aid; which divorced parents should be listed on a FAFSA; and how you can use the FAFSA's quirky rules about savings to possibly increase your eligibility for aid.

The Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority has some simple videos about starting, and finishing, a FAFSA.

If you have suggestions for additions to this list, E-mail collegecash@usnews.com.

Searching for a college? Get our complete rankings of Best Colleges.

Updated on 1/04/11: An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect home state for EducationQuest. It is based in Nebraska.

Tags:: financial aid,; paying for college,; paying for graduate school

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it is very good article posted by this site i really like it.......................
--------------Sumanth.

sumanth of MT 5:24AM June 30, 2011

My experience with FAFSA.COM
In short - don't do it.
I decided to give it a try as I have 2 kids in school this year and want to maximize my aid as much as possible. After one week my application still was not filed so I canceled the process and lost $10 and very happy I did that.
Few things I did not know until I tried to use the site:
1. First thing they do they charge your card, nobody talks to you before that.
2. They call the person you are dealing with a “FAFSA Adviser”, but… they will not advise you on anything, they just filling form for government web site. I thought they will advise me to move money on my accounts around or something like that, but they don’t do anything like that.
3. You have to give them EXACTLY same answers you would need on the free site. But of course – they can not make up you numbers. And that makes process much more stressful as there is person who is waiting for your answers and rushing you.
On government site you can save your form at any time and continue later.
4. When you file it yourself it will be submitted as soon as you hit “Submit” button, but if you using FAFSA.com it takes more than a week to be submitted to the government site.
5. They asking you to give the feedback as soon as you finished with your “adviser” when you under relief from finishing the process. Of course you feel good and giving good review.
So for your own money it makes process more complicated and MUCH longer.
Actually government improved filing process A LOT this year. Very easy to file.
Remember in FAFSA first “F” stands for Free.

Underwood of VA 3:08PM January 19, 2011

Thanks for mentioning Fresno Pacific University's video. The FAFSA is something a lot of people put off because it's time consuming. We thought a fun reminder might help students get the student aid they deserve!

Nick Gundry of CA 12:28PM January 06, 2011