UMKC’s March 1 priority deadline for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is quickly approaching.
In order to receive federal grants, loans or work study, or to receive need-based scholarships, students must complete the online form.
A new FAFSA option created last year, the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, automatically loads data from tax returns submitted within one-to-two weeks of electronic filing or six-to-eight weeks of filing a paper return.
This makes completing the FAFSA as simple as a few clicks, as the data pre-populates for students who submitted the form in a previous year.
The FAFSA can still be submitted using estimated income figures, but these must be updated once returns have been filed.
Those who miss the FAFSA priority deadline may lose out on financial aid opportunities.
For campus-based programs, such as the Perkins loan, federal work-study and the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), schools are given a set amount to reward each year.
Some of this money is held for the spring semester in anticipation for transfer students, which means that students who miss the priority deadline could miss out.
However, Stafford loans, PLUS loans, TEACH grants and Pell grants are Congressional entitlements, meaning schools cannot limit how much money is awarded.
March 1 is also the deadline to apply for competitive UMKC scholarships. The application must be submitted along with two letters of recommendation, at www.sfa.umkc.edu.
