FAFSA involves family
FAFSA requires family financial information to gauge need
Providing this information does NOT require a parent to pay for college
FAFSA determines your Expected Family Contribution—the amount outside of federal aid the student will be expected to cover with or without parental help
Completing the FAFSA is required to be eligible for student work-study programs
FAFSA can be filed for free at www.fafsa.ed.gov; or for a service fee, FAFSA.com has helped more than 500,000 families file the FAFSA with speed and accuracy.
Sources of family contributions
Personal savings
Education-related savings like 529 plans
Home equity loans, second mortgages or retirement savings (many feel private student loans are less risky and do not threaten retirement plans)
Credit cards (usually not the best option due to potentially high interest rates)
Co-signing: a great family asset
A parent, guardian, or any creditworthy adult can be a
A student without an established credit history may be more likely to have a loan approved with a co-signer
He or she may get a better interest rate with a co-signer
Co-signed student loans are a great way to begin building good credit for the student—an asset that will benefit a young person for years to come
Astrive Student Loans are private student loans marketed by Union Federal Savings Bank, Member FDIC and Equal Opportunity Lender. Astrive is a federally registered trademark of The First Marblehead Corporation, used by Union Federal Savings Bank.
1 Quantitative College Funding Attitudinal Monitor, The First Marblehead Corporation, November 2006.
