Financial Aid

Financial Aid forms may be available in a variety of downloadable formats. If you want to view a form as a PDF document and you do not have Acrobat® Reader® installed on your system yet, please download the free version now. If you can fill out a form on your computer, please remember to print it and sign it before submitting it by mail or faxing to 360-867-6576

Question: What is a FAFSA?

It is a need analysis form used by the Department of Education to collect each family's personal information in order to calculate the family's ability to contribute to the student's educational costs.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is used to apply for federal and state financial aid. The FAFSA is a standardized application including detailed financial and household data which is required to determine eligibility for all financial aid programs. A new FAFSA is released each year and can be completed beginning January 1 before the Fall semester you will attend college.

Evergreen's priority deadline for receiving valid FAFSA results (the ISIR or Student Aid Report) is March 15. When filing the FAFSA, remember that Evergreen's school code is 008155. providing this number on your FAFSA identifies Evergreen as a school which may receive the information you provided on the FAFSA.

Steps to filing the FAFSA electronically:

Step 1. Get a FAFSA Worksheet

Step 2. Get a FAFSA PIN.

Parents of dependent students also need a PIN (electronic signature).

If you have filed before, use the same PIN(s). If you have lost or forgotten your PIN number, go to the same site to re-request one.

see information about real-time PIN's

Step 3. File your FAFSA and e-sign with the PIN(s).

After receiving your FAFSA results, you may be asked complete and submit other FAFSA forms to your school. Do not submit these forms unless you are requested to do so.

Real-Time PINs Available

Beginning January 1, 2008, students and parents will be able to apply for and receive a "real-time" PIN when completing a FAFSA on the Web (www.fafsa.ed.gov) or when applying for a PIN on the Department’s PIN Web site (www.pin.ed.gov).

After determining that 97 percent of PIN applicants provide correct information (i.e. social security number), the Department decided to make this real-time PIN available not only for first-time PIN applicants but also for those who have lost or forgotten a previous PIN. After receiving the real-time PIN, applicants will be able to change the PIN to a number that is meaningful to them.

First-time PIN applicants will instantly receive a conditional PIN that will allow them to electronically sign their FAFSA on the Web. The conditional PIN can only be used to sign the original application that students and/or parents are completing at the time they applied for the PIN. The data supplied by the PIN applicant will then be verified with the Social Security Administration (SSA). If the applicants’ PIN information is accurate, the conditional PIN will then be good for all processes that require a PIN in the future. If the applicants’ data does NOT pass the SSA match, they will receive a SAR with a rejected signature comment and the school will receive a rejected ISIR. The students and/or parents will then need to provide the required FAFSA signatures. Students and parents will need to correct PIN data to receive their PINs.

The 2008-09 Process Guide for Student Web Application Products provides more guidance about how the real-time PIN process will work. The following is taken from that guide.

Real-time PIN - When applying for a PIN, requesting a duplicate PIN, or changing a PIN, applicants can receive their PIN in real-time. Whether system-generated or user-selected, if the applicant chooses to display or personalize the PIN or receive the PIN via e-mail, he or she can use the PIN immediately to sign the application.
SSA Match - The Social Security Number (SSN), name, and date of birth information submitted by the applicant and parent is transmitted for a match with the Social Security Administration (SSA). If the SSN, name, and date of birth are successfully matched, the PIN remains valid and becomes a permanent PIN. 98% of student records and 97% of parent records are successfully matched with the SSA, so this change will positively impact the application process for the vast majority of students and parents.
PIN Status Information - Using the PIN Web site, the applicant can check the status of a PIN application and learn the results of the data match with the SSA.
Successful SSA Match - After receiving a successful SSN match from SSA, the PIN can be used to access SAR information on the Web, make corrections using Corrections on the Web, and access personal information on other Federal Student Aid Web sites.
Unsuccessful SSA Match - If the match with the SSA is not successful (does not result in a match flag of "4"), we alert the student. We ask the student to apply for a new PIN using the correct information if the information provided on the PIN Application is not correct, or to contact the SSA if the information is correct. The student is unable to use the PIN until the SSA match is successful.

Question: I was selected for FAFSA verification. What does this mean?

Verification is a process used to verify certain information on the FAFSA to ensure its accuracy. Some students are selected for verification by the U.S. Department of Education. Others are selected by the school. Only a certain percentage of students are selected for verification.

Why is my FAFSA file being verified?

There are several possibilities. For example,

Your file was among the approximately 30% of applications that were selected randomly by The Department of Education
Your application has incomplete data
The data on your application is contradictory
Your application has estimated information on it.

Now what should I do?

After you receive notification that you have been selected for verification, read any messages from the Department of Education appearing on your Student Aid Report.

Then, contact your Financial Aid Office if you have any questions.

Next, you should collect and submits copies of documents that the Financial Aid Office requests. These documents may include:

The FAFSA Verification Worksheet (found on this page)
FAFSA Worksheets ABC (found on this page)
a Marriage Certificate,
a Social Security Card,
an Alien Registration Card, and
Federal Tax Forms.

Not all students selected for FAFSA verification will need to submit the same documents.

Do not turn in any documentation that is not requested.

What happens if there are discrepancies in the application?

After you turn in all required documents, the Financial Aid Office will compare them with your Student Aid Report. If errors are found, corrections will be made. If the errors are significant enough to change the amount of financial aid that you were awarded, the Financial Aid Office will send you a revised award letter showing increased or decreased amounts.

If you are selected for FAFSA verification, you need to return the information and requested documentation as soon as possible. Processing usually takes two to three weeks, but it can take longer during the peak season. Because verification must be completed in advance of disbursing any money from any financial aid program, it is vital to send complete and correct information as quickly as possible. Above all else, don't be upset because you were selected for verification. This is a process that is required by the federal government. The Financial Aid Office may even discover errors in your report that could actually increase your eligibility for more aid.

If you do not have access to a computer, or if your circumstances otherwise prevent you from filing a FAFSA on the web, you may file by mail.

Complete a PDF FAFSA (Note: PDF FAFSAs must be mailed for processing) or

Request a paper FAFSA by calling the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243) or 1-319-337-5665.

If you are hearing impaired, please contact the TTY line at 1-800-730-8913.

What happens next?

Essential Determiners

What is your class standing?

What is your enrollment status?

Are you a resident of Washington?

Related Links

FAFSA on the Web

Loan Entrance Counseling

Sign Your 0708 MPN Online

Sign Your 0809 MPN Online

Track Your Loan Status

Veterans Affairs

Office of Financial Aid
Location: SEM 3127
Hours:
M-F 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Phone:(360) 867-6205
Fax: (360) 867-6576
Email: Financial Aid

Contact the Site Manager

Last Updated: June 30, 2008

The Evergreen State College

2700 Evergreen Parkway NW

Olympia, Washington 98505

(360) 867-6000