Filing for aid? Here's help

摘要

This year, Uncle Sam will dole out more than $40 billion in grants and subsidized loans to more than 8 million college students. Claiming your share will require at least a few laborious hours of work on the Department of Education's "Free Application for Federal Student Aid"—the infamous FAFSA form. Cheryl Storie, director of financial aid at American University in Washington, D.C., advises all families to fill it out—even if they believe they earn too much to be eligible for assistance. "You truly don't know until you've tried," says Storie. And a majority of states rely solely on the form to allocate their own funds—as do many colleges.