Delphina’s Financial Aid Tips

By: Delphina Thomas

Tribal Affiliation: Diné

Study: PhD in Justice Studies

Everyone should fill out the FAFSA, even if they believe that their parents make too much money or if they didn’t file taxes for the requested year. The FAFSA is important for students because it tells the financial aid office what the student qualifies for.

When you fill out the FAFSA, every question you answer should be answered as it corresponds to that day. One example I use is: If you or your parents got married today and completed the FAFSA today, then your marital status would be “Married.” If you got married today, and filled out the FAFSA yesterday, your marital status would be “Single.”

By providing your parents’ personal and tax information, they do not become responsible for paying for your education or your student loans.

You are paying to attend college. Your tuition and fees help pay for many of the services and activities at ASU. So, take advantage of them!!! See a meeting you’re interested in learning more about? Go attend that meeting. Hear about a speaker giving an exciting talk? Go to it and take some notes! Have a question about financial aid? Go and seek out answers.

If you or your parents use the Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) rather than manually inputting the values in the FAFSA tax section, you have a much lower chance of being selected for verification. Verification essentially means that the Department of Education needs to verify that you or your parents’ income information is correct and the school’s financial aid office is required to request additional documentation to verify that information.

Requested items may include tax return transcripts, W-2s and letters of non-filing (if you did not file for that tax year). These items can be requested from IRS.gov and sent to you via mail and, in some instances, can be immediately retrieved online depending on whether you meet the qualifications.

Before you seek loans with a bank, check if you have already accepted your subsidized loan. This loan does not accrue interest until you either leaves school completely or graduate. If you’ve already accepted this loan, check if you have accepted the unsubsidized loan.

Other items that are considered special circumstances include divorce or separation, loss of child support, loss of one-time income and financially contributing to family members not in your household. For a more extensive list, please contact ASU’s financial aid office to speak with a financial aid counselor.

If you have a special circumstance regarding your income (such as your income decreasing by more than 25 percent since the requested tax year), you or your parents may be eligible to submit a Parent Review form or Student Income Reduction Review form and include supporting documentation to reduce the EFC.

For instance: Say that you made $45,000 in 2017, but in 2019 you or your parent are making $30,000. That is more than a 30 percent reduction in income and could impact your financial NEED, EFC, and potentially open up room for more NEED-based grant and scholarship aid.

ASU Financial Aid and Scholarship Services

Call 24/7: 855–278–5080

For more information, visit:
students.asu.edu/financial-aid