What if you make a mistake on the FAFSA form?
I was asked about FAFSA errors this week when I was in Florida giving speeches about college strategies. A man in the audience confided in me that he believed he had made a mistake on his FAFSA application.
After listening to my presentation, the father of five children realized that he wasn’t supposed to include his retirement accounts when the FAFSA asked for the value of his investments. No one should ever include retirement accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s on the FAFSA. Unfortunately the financial aid application isn’t clear enough on this point.
The dad probably made other mistakes as well. And it probably explains why his FAFSA EFC or Expected Family Contribution was so high. He asked me how he could correct his FAFSA since he had already submitted it.
As it turns out, it’s easy. All you need to do is log back onto your FAFSA account and hit the FAFSA correction link.
You can go back in and fix the mistakes and resubmit the financial aid application. The federal government will send the updated FAFSA form to the colleges listed on the application. The updated FAFSA application should reach the school in three to five days.
If you have FAFSA questions here is the link to the FAFSA phone number.
Lynn O’Shaughnessy is the author of The College Solution and she also writes a college blog for CBSMoneyWatch. Follow her on Twitter.
Further Reading:
2 Biggest Reasons Why Saving for College Won’t Hurt Financial Aid Chances