Step 1. Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
The FAFSA determines a students’ eligibility for federal and state aid, which includes grants and federal loans. It can be completed on the web at www.fafsa.ed.gov. The FAFSA is available for the upcoming award year after January 1 of each year. All students need to submit the FAFSA in order to receive/continue receiving financial aid. You will need a Personal Identification Number (PIN) in order to electronically “sign” your FAFSA. If you are a dependent student, your parent must have his/her own PIN as well. The website to apply for a PIN is www.pin.ed.gov.
To ensure that Columbia College Hollywood receives your FAFSA, be sure to list our Federal School Code of 014697.
Students who provide a valid e-mail address on their FAFSA will receive an e-mail with a link to their Student Aid Report (SAR). All students should review the information on their SAR for errors. If estimates were used for the income section of the FAFSA, be sure to correct the information provided as soon as you have accurate information. Be sure to also review the comment section of your SAR because you may have been selected for a review process called Verification. Each year the Department of Education randomly selects a percentage of FAFSA forms for verification. This means that the Financial Aid Office will be requesting verification documents, including copies of federal tax returns, to verify that the information provided on your FAFSA is accurate.
Need help completing the FASFA? Click here for a video tutorial.
Step 2. FERPA Consent
FERPA, enacted in 1974, is a set of regulations that applies to those institutions that receive funding from the Department of Education. FERPA was written specifically for students and guarantees them the right to inspect and review their education records, the right to seek to amend education records, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of information from those education records. It is recommended that students who wish to have their information released complete and submit the FERPA consent to the college authorizing the release of their information to a parent, spouse, friend, etc.
Step 3: Receive Your Award Letter
After each of the above steps has been completed, a Financial Aid administrator will contact you to provide you with your award amount. Your award will show how much financial aid you have been awarded and how much in additional funds, if any, you need. Keep in mind that the award letter you initially receive is only based on the information we currently have available to us. Additional funds, such as scholarships and Parent loans, can be added on after the first award letter is generated.
