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Renewal FAFSAs

This section asks for your signature, your parent's signature if you are a dependent student, and the date you completed the FAFSA.

Question 101 Student/Parent Signatures - You must sign and date the FAFSA. If unsigned, it will be returned unprocessed. If you provided parent information in Step 4, one parent whose information is provided must also sign. You (and anyone else who signs the form) certify that all information on the form is correct and that everyone is willing to provide documents to prove that the information is correct. Such documents may include U.S. or state tax returns and Worksheets A and B. By signing the FAFSA, you give the Secretary of Education the authority to verify income reported on the FAFSA with the IRS. Do not sign, date, or mail the FAFSA before January 1, 2000. If sent in before this date, the form will be returned unprocessed.

If you apply for aid using FAFSA on the Web or FAFSA Express, you will be directed to use your PIN to electronically sign your application, or print out and mail in a signature page for your application to be processed.

You should mail this signature page immediately after submitting your electronic application. If the Department does not receive a signature page within fourteen days of receiving your electronic application, the Department will send you a rejected Student Aid Report (SAR). Sign this SAR and return it to the Department's processor to have your application information processed. If you do not have access to a printer, you should indicate this at the time you submit your application. In this case, the processor will immediately generate a rejected SAR and mail it to you to sign and return.

If you apply for aid using Renewal FAFSA on the Web, you do not need to submit a signature page. The PIN, formerly called an Electronic Access Code (EAC), that you use to access that web site is considered by the Department to be your electronic signature. Do not share this number with anyone. If you are a dependent student using Renewal FAFSA on the Web, your parent will still have to submit a signature page or use their PIN. To obtain a PIN or for more information about Renewal FAFSA on the Web, go to the PIN web site at http://pin.ed.gov

By signing the FAFSA, you also give permission to the state financial aid agency to which information is being sent to obtain income tax information for all persons required to report income and for all periods reported on this form. Although parental information must be provided for a dependent student, a high school counselor or a postsecondary school's financial aid administrator (FAA) may sign the application in place of your parent(s) if

• your parent(s) are not currently in the U.S. and cannot be contacted by normal means,
• your parent(s)' current address is not known, or
• your parent(s) have been determined physically or mentally incapable of providing a signature.

If you are a dependent student, you cannot get federal aid without your parent(s)' financial information and signature on the FAFSA. Unless your parent(s) are unable to sign for one of the reasons listed above, your FAA cannot sign in their place. Your parent(s)' unwillingness to sign the FAFSA or provide financial information is not, in and of itself, a reason for the FAA to sign your FAFSA in their place.

If your counselor or FAA signs the FAFSA in place of your parents, he or she should provide his or her title when signing and briefly state the reason (only one reason is needed) why he or she is signing for your parent(s). By signing your application, however, your counselor or FAA does not assume any responsibility or liability in this process. If the FAA finds any inaccuracies in the information reported, he or she will direct you to submit corrections.

Questions 102-104 Preparer's Name/Social Security Number/Signature - The law requires that if anyone other than you, your spouse, or your parents prepares the application, then the preparer must write in his or her name, the firm/company name (if applicable), the firm/company address, and either the firm/company's Employer Identification Number (EIN) (as assigned by the IRS) or the preparer's SSN. High school counselors, FAAs, and others who help students with their applications by actually filling out line items on the form or dictating responses to items on the form are considered preparers, even if unpaid for their services.

Courtesy of: "Completing the 2000-2001 FAFSA," from the U.S. Department of Education