Listen up, all you U.S. college-bound and college students (undergrad and grad). After January 1 of the current year you need to fill out a FAFSA in order to obtain a SAR (the FAFSA must be submitted before your state's deadline). Sorry for the acronyms but the lenders use 'em so you need to learn them. A Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is necessary if you want to apply for federal and state financial aid. Many universities, especially public ones, also require a FAFSA. You must submit a FAFSA every year that you want financial aid. The FAFSA is available in paper or e-format. The paper version can be obtained from your high school, the financial aid office at any college or university, probably the public library, or by calling 1-800-4-FED-AID.

The web-based version is preferable because it is often faster and more accurate (due to built-in edit checks). Step-by-step instructions are available at the official FAFSA website: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov. If you have technical questions about using FAFSA on the web, you can use their online chat service to directly connect to a FAFSA customer service representative. You will probably get your Student Aid Report (SAR) quicker if you fill out the web-based FAFSA.

The FAFSA requires you to enter year-end income information. Therefore it is recommended that you and/or your parent(s) or custodian(s) complete your income tax return(s) as early as possible; this information will be used on the FAFSA. However, you can complete the FAFSA with estimated information by using the last pay stub(s) of December. You will still need to forward the tax returns when completed. Try to be as accurate as possible so the outcome will be accurate.

Get started early. Gather your documents. Be accurate. This is important. And your college financial aid in the future depends on it!