The 2012-2013 FAFSA is Now Available

The new 2012-2013 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now available at fafsa.ed.gov. In order to help applicants prepare to complete the FASFA, Mapping Your Future® has provided some helpful tips. Click here for the article.

A demonstration site is also available for counselors who wish to increase their understanding of the FAFSA on the Web and/or show it to students and parents before they apply. Go to fafsademo.test.ed.gov to access the demo site. The user name is eddemo, and the password is fafsatest.

Net Price Calculators Provide More Accurate Individual Cost Estimates

Effective October 29, 2011, each postsecondary institution that participates in Title IV federal student aid programs now must post a net price calculator on its Web site. The calculator must use institutional data to provide estimated net price information to current and prospective students and their families based on a student's individual circumstances. This calculator should allow students to calculate an estimated net price of attendance at an institution (defined as cost of attendance minus grant and scholarship aid) based on what similar students paid in a previous year.

The net price calculator is now available to your high school seniors who are doing cost comparisons in order to determine their financial responsibility for their school(s) of choice. When you provide information to your students about the availability of this new tool, you should also let them know that some net price calculators include fields requesting personal data such as their GPA or contact information. However, colleges cannot require this information. Anyone who does not want to share their personal information with an institution does not have to in order to get net price results.

Arkansas College Goal Sunday Scheduled for February 19