University students must file their Federal Application for Financial Student Aid by Feb. 15 to receive the maximum amount of federal financial aid possible.
The limited funding for the Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Work Study and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant means not all students with the need will receive the funds from these three programs.
Eric Bucks, associate director of Financial Aid, said Uncle Sam does not give the University enough funds to help all students who meet the need requirement.
The Feb. 15 deadline prioritizes the FAFSA records received by the Student Financial Aid Office for those seeking funds from one of the three programs because of the extremely limited funds, Bucks said.
Students not seeking aid from the Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Work Study or FSEOG can file the FAFSA at any time throughout the school year, but it is not required.
Senior Allyson Wert said she has filed the FAFSA every year of her college career.
“My family doesn’t get much, but we do it to try to get more money from grants and loans and I think one of my scholarships required it,” Wert said.
Freshman Margaret Selzer said since her dad works at the University, she does not receive federal aid, but does fill out the FAFSA because she was told she still needed to.
Bucks said more than half of University students file the FAFSA. “It’s not required that students do it, but for a lot, it’s a necessity,” Bucks said.
Wert said she knows the FAFSA helps determine how much money each family gets and it is helpful for those who need financial aid in paying for school.
“I think that since my brother was college age last year, we received more aid,” Wert said.
All federal loans, federal Pell Grants and some scholarships require students to file the FAFSA in order to demonstrate need, Bucks said.
Regardless of when students file the FAFSA, students are still eligible for the federal loans and Pell Grants, Bucks said.
Both Selzer and Wert said they try to fill out the FAFSA by the priority deadline of Feb. 15.
“It’s usually last minute, but we usually make the deadline,” Wert said.
The 2011-2012 school year brought in 46,713 FAFSA records for the University. Bucks said this includes all potential students, which causes the total number to be more than the number of students enrolled in the University.
Bucks said students tend to apply early with 16,156 of those FAFSA records from the 2011-2012 school year coming in by the end of February 2011.
As of Jan. 23, the Student Financial Aid Office had received 2,474 FAFSA records, Bucks said, which includes new, current and potential students.
The Student Financial Aid Office is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday to help any current or potential students and parents filing the FAFSA, Bucks said. Those in need of assistance can go to the office at 231 Administration Building or can call the office at 419-372-2651.
Bucks also said the website students go to fill out the FAFSA, fafsa.ed.gov, provides online chat help and a phone number to call for assistance as well.
