On January 1st of every year, the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) goes online. This is a really important form to fill out. With the information you provide, the government (along with universities) decide how much financial assistance you qualify for. But before any of this can happen, you must apply for a PIN. If you can, do this right away. (Seriously, if you have 10 minutes you can do it fight now. Follow along with me)
This personal identification number is really important. It’s the electronic equivalent of your signature. You’ll use this number to sign off on loans and other forms of assistance. The reason to do it before January 1st is because it can take 1-3 days to get the information verified. And the sooner you complete the FAFSA, the more money you’re likely to receive.
Ready? Good. Let’s begin.
First, you need to know your social security number, birth date, address, and email address. Once you know all this, head to http://www.pin.ed.gov.
Once there, click on “Apply Now”
Next, you’ll be presented with some information. None of this is super important, it’s just the general “there are 3 steps, here they are blah blah blah.” Click the picture to enlarge it.
Go ahead and click Next.
Then, you’ll see this:
On this page, you need to enter some information. Remember, no dashes or spaces in between numbers, challenge question is case sensitive, etc. If you do not know your social security number, do not guess. This number identifies you with the United States federal government. You don’t want to accidentally apply for financial aid as someone else.+
After you’ve double checked things and clicked submit, you should see this:
Read the terms and decide if you agree with them. (Hint: If you don’t, you won’t be getting financial aid.)
Select “I agree not to share my PIN”. Now you have 3 ways to receive your PIN. I chose email. That way I get it immediately and there’s a record of it. Having it mailed is also fine, but I didn’t want to wait on the postal service.
Finally, you’ll be presented with this screen:
Go ahead and print this page out or at least write down the number.
Once you do this, you’re done! The PIN you chose or the one given to you will be on its way. Once you have this, you can fill out and submit the FAFSA in January.
