4. SAR

Once you've filled out and filed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), you will receive from the U.S. federal government's Department of Education the 2010-2011 Student Aid Report (SAR) Federal Student Aid Programs. The good news about getting the SAR, as it's always called, is there's nothing to fill out and it's not too long a document to read. It displays the printed responses you entered for each of the 100+ blanks on the FAFSA. It also tells you if you qualify for a Federal Pell Grant. Finally, it lists what are called Processing Results.

When you file the FAFSA online (at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/), you can print your own SAR immediately after submitting your information. If you forget to then, you can access and print your SAR later--as long as you remember your personal information number (PIN) and Social Security Number. (To get a PIN, hit http://www.pin.ed.gov/; to get a Social Security Number, click on http://www.sss.gov/ ). Here's the step-by-step way to go online to print your SAR:

1. Click on http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

2. On the screen headed "FAFSA on the Web YOUR FREE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID," look at the third column of choices, entitled FAFSA Follow-Up. Select the arrow choice Print Student Aid Report.

3. On the screen headed "FAFSA on the Web Print Student Aid Report (SAR)," click on the school year you want the SAR for--probably the 2010-2011 School Year. Click Next.

4. On the screen headed "FAFSA on the Web Print Student Aid Report (SAR)," click Next.

5. On the screen headed "FAFSA on the Web Print Student Aid Report (SAR) Supported Browsers," click Next.

6. On the screen headed "PIN REQUEST & INFORMATION Confirming Your Identity," enter the answer to each of these four questions about your student:

What is your social security number?

What are the first two (2) letters of your last name?

What is your date of birth?

What is your PIN?

Be sure to use the format given in the examples. Now click SUBMIT REQUEST.

7. On the screen headed "STUDENT ACCESS on the Web SAR Transactions," you'll find your Expected Family Contribution (EFC): Bingo!

If you complete and file your FAFSA, you'll usually receive your SAR in less than one month. It will have information on both the front and back sides. On the front side, your EFC will be printed about 4 inches to the right of where the student's name is printed. The last paragraph on the front side will say whether the student is eligible for a Federal Pell Grant. On the back side, your FAFSA responses will be printed on the top 2/3 of the page. On the bottom 1/3, under Procesing Results, your EFC will be printed at the top of the middle column.

The bad news about the SAR provided by the U.S. Department of Education to help colleges determine how much a student (and his/her family) can afford to pay per year is that most students and parents can't make any sense of it! Most important, they don't know where to look for the most important item it gives: the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). That's too bad, because the EFC is used to determine the financial need and eligibility of a student for financial aid. We'll talk about the EFC next.

Suffice it to say now, the SAR is an important document sent directly to the colleges you specified on your FAFSA. They'll use it to determine your financial need and whether you'll qualify for financial aid.