The Department of Education has made significant changes to the worksheet that students and families use in applying for financial aid via FAFSA on the Web. The Department also has removed "Pre-Application" from the name of the worksheet; the form is now called the FAFSA on the Web Worksheet. Formatting and other design changes make the worksheet a much more attractive, efficient, and user friendly application tool.
Cross-references to the numbered questions on the paper FAFSA have been removed, and questions on the worksheet are now grouped by section. Similar to the paper FAFSA, the worksheet is color coded to help applicants distinguish between the student and parent information sections. However, unlike the paper FAFSA, applicants do not have to flip back and forth between the instructions and the questions. On the worksheet, instructions are embedded with the questions.
As before, the worksheet questions follow the order of questions on FAFSA on the Web. However, since the online application questions use a skip-logic feature, the worksheet points out in section 3 (Student Finances) that when entering the information online, dependent applicants will see some parent questions after the questions regarding the students tax filing status and type of return.
Although the worksheet will continue to be available online, the Department also will print it in a booklet format and distribute it to postsecondary schools, high schools, libraries, and community agencies. Because the vast majority of applicants file electronically, the Department is reducing the number of paper FAFSAs it will print and is implementing a new process for distributing both the FAFSA on the Web Worksheet booklets and paper FAFSAs. More detailed information regarding the new distribution process and the FAFSA on Web Worksheet is contained in Dear Colleague Letter GEN-05-10.
By Eileen F. Welsh
NASFAA Assistant Director for Training and Technical Assistance
Posted September 6, 2005 on www.NASFAA.org, the Web Site of the
National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA).
Copyright 2005. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited
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