College can represent a substantial personal investment. The good news is that most schools on Education-For-Careers.com strive to make college affordable, and most are approved for federal Title IV financial aid programs. When you make the decision to enroll, an important part of the process is finding out if you are eligible for one or more federal financial aid programs including the Pell grant, Stafford loan, PLUS loan, or work-study program.

Title IV Programs

You may see on college websites that the school is authorized to participate in Title IV financial aid programs. What does this mean? Federal student aid programs are authorized under U.S. Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA), which became law in 1965. These programs include federal grants, loans, and work-study programs.

Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education, ensures that all eligible individuals can benefit from federally funded or federally guaranteed financial assistance for education beyond high school. Federal Student Aid provides money for college to eligible students and families. Today, Federal Student Aid provides a wide range of services:

• Educates students and families on the process of obtaining aid;

• Processes millions of student financial aid applications each year;

• Disburses billions of dollars in aid funds to students through schools;

• Enforces financial aid rules and regulations;

• Services millions of student loan accounts;

• Secures repayment from borrowers who have defaulted on their loans;

• Operates information technology systems and tools that manage billions in student aid dollars.

The FAFSA Form

Most prospective students apply to three or four colleges – or even a dozen! The idea of filling out a financial aid application for each college would discourage even the most determined applicant. Fortunately, the federal government provides a simple solution: you fill out one confidential form, and Federal Student Aid processes your financial information. Then they send your information to as many colleges as you want.

It costs nothing to apply. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (known as the FAFSA) is a form that you fill out annually to determine your eligibility for federal student financial aid (including Pell grants, Stafford loans, PLUS loans, and work-study programs). The form is available online at the FAFSA website.

The FAFSA form consists of numerous questions regarding your finances, as well as those of your family (if you are determined to be "dependent"). This information is entered into a formula that determines the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). A number of factors are used in determining the EFC including the household size, income, number of students from household in college, and assets (not including retirement and 401(k) funds). This information is required because of the expectation that parents will contribute to their child's education, whether that is true or not.

The FAFSA does not have questions related to student or family race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, or religion.

Beginning January 1 of each year the Department of Education begins accepting the application for the school year. If you have filled out a FAFSA in previous years, you are able to fill out a renewal FAFSA, but information on taxes and savings, for example, must be updated annually. In addition, most states and schools use information from the FAFSA to award non-federal aid.

After you fill out the online form, the agency processes your information. Within a few weeks you will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR), which is a summary of your FAFSA responses. You should review the SAR carefully for errors and make any corrections. An electronic version of the SAR (called an ISIR) is made available for downloading by the colleges/universities that you selected on the FAFSA. The ISIR is also sent to state agencies that award state need-based aid.

Schools may award aid on a first-come, first-served basis, and you are advised to fill out the FAFSA as early as possible for consideration for maximum financial assistance. Financial aid awards can be substantial – and because the application is free, you have nothing to lose!