The school promotes Sallie Mae, which seems to be a way to spread out tuition payments over the year. Is it a good deal?

Sallie Mae does not seem to allow automatic transfers from a Coverdell educational IRA account. How do we get those funds transfered?

Is there a way for a third party (such as her grandparents) to contribute directly to her school for her tuition?

Either option would work. The Pre-filled FAFSA contains most of the information you supplied on last year’s application while all information must be supplied on the regular FAFSA. You may find that updating information on the pre-filled FAFSA is faster than starting from scratch.

More detailed information about reapplying can be found on the FAFSA website(http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/help/fftoc01e.htm).

-Melissa Wyatt, State Council of Higher Education for Virginia

While the FAFSA is designed by the federal government primarily for the purpose of identifying students eligible for federal financial aid, the EFC and the individual family data components have gained widespread use for a number of other financial aid related reasons, even if the student might not qualify for need-based assistance.

This may be, as you suggest, for the purpose of collecting statistical analysis of families qualifying for merit-based awards but most often it’s simply a standard office policy so that students can be considered for all forms of assistance. Also, some forms of merit-based awards carry a disclaimer that the award when combined with other forms of aid cannot create an over-award (when combined grants/scholarships is greater than the cost of education).

So, if the student qualifies for need-based aid, then the merit-based award could be reduced accordingly. This allows the student to be fully awarded while allowing the institution to recoup some of its merit aid to use for other deserving students. The college financial aid office will be able to tell you if the FAFSA is required for consideration of the institution’s merit-based programs.

- Lee Andes, State Council of Higher Education

Please see the latest post.

We’ve used your story as the example situation and are pleased to let you know that the Academic Common Market can probably help!

Some families question whether there is a benefit to completing the FAFSA. Because of their high income, they reason that they will not qualify for need-based aid and so completing the form amounts to a waste of time.

In truth, family income is but one of the components for determining aid eligibility. Other factors include family size, cost of living, number of family members in college, and age of oldest parent (for retirement protections). Because of these factors and depending upon the cost of education at a particular college, there are cases where families with income over six figures or more have still been able to demonstrate financial need.

Even if the family does not qualify for the Pell grant - reserved for primarily for very low income students - other forms of need based aid from the state, the institution, or private resources may be available and most of these sources use the financial information provided on the FAFSA.

Finally, to qualify for federal student loans - both need based and non-need based - the student must first complete the FAFSA.

If borrowing becomes necessary, these loans should be the first considered as they provide many forms of student benefits unmatched by private student loans. In short, the FAFSA is an important part of the college preparation process that should be considered by all students.

-Lee Andes, State Council of Higher Education