MN COLLEGE GOAL

FOR SENIORS AND THEIR PARENTS

Have a chance to win a $500 scholarship for attending

Going to college?
Apply Now for Free Application for Financial Aid (FAFSA)
WHEN: Tuesday Feb, 17th from 3:30 - 6:30pm
WHERE: Brooklyn Center High School Room 220

Things you will need to apply:

Social Security Number 2014 Federal Tax Return (1040, 1040A or 1040EZ)
Alien Registration Number (non U.S. citizens) Records of additional money earned
Drivers license number Current bank statements
2014 W-2 (for every job worked during 2014) Parent or guardian 2014 Federal Tax Information
What you need to bring in to fill out the FAFSA:

* Your Social Security number (its important that you enter it correctly on the FAFSA!)
* Your parents Social Security numbers if you are a dependent student<http://studentaid.ed.gov/fafsa/filling-
out#dependency>
* Your drivers license number if you have one
* Your Alien Registration Number if you are not a U.S. citizen
* Federal tax information or tax returns including IRS W-2 information, for you (and your spouse, if you are
married), and for your parents if you are a dependent student:
* IRS 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ
* Foreign tax return and/or
* Tax return for Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Federal
States of Micronesia, or Palau
* Records of your untaxed income, such as child support received, interest income, and veterans noneducation
benefits, for you, and for your parents if you are a dependent student
* Information on cash; savings and checking account balances; investments, including stocks and bonds and real
estate but not including the home in which you live; and business and farm assets for you, and for your parents if
you are a dependent student

Reporting Parental Information

Divorce and Separation - In situations where a students parents are divorced or separated, only one parent reports
their information on the FAFSA, but it is not the students or parents choice of which parent to include. The first
determination of which parents information to report is to ask which parent the student lived with more than 50% of
the time during 2011, and that parent reports their information. If the division of time that the student spent with
each parent is exactly 182.5 days to 182.5 days, then the next question is, which parent provided more financial
support for the student? Claiming a student on income taxes is not solely a determining factor for which parents
information to include. For example, if a student lived with his/her mother more than 50% of the time during 2011,
but the father claimed the student on his income tax return, the mothers information is reported on the FAFSA, not
the fathers.

Who is considered a parent? The question of whose information should be submitted in the parental sections of the
FAFSA is very common but specifically defined. A parent is defined as either an adoptive or biological parent.
Legal Guardians, grandparents and family members other than parents do not include their information in the
parental sections of the FAFSA.

The federal government created a section of the FAFSA to determine a students dependency status. The result of
the dependency status section determines whether a student will file independently or dependently. Independent
students file the FAFSA using only their own information and do not include an adults information. All students
ruled dependent must provide information from a biological or adoptive parent.

To determine dependency status, the FAFSA has a section of dependency statements. If none of the situations apply
to a student, and he or she cannot check any of the boxes, the student will file dependently and need to provide
parental information. If the student checks at least one box, he or she will file individually as an independent.

Seniors, you can go online now to file your FAFSA at www.fafsa.ed.gov<http://www.fafsa.ed.gov>. Please check
with the colleges that you've applied to for important financial aid deadlines. If you have any questions, feel free to
stop by the guidance office.