FAFSA FAQs

Who needs to file the FAFSA? 

All students who wish to receive federal or state Financial Aid for the academic year beginning July 1, 2013 and ending June 30, 2014 MUST submit a FAFSA (Free Applications for Federal Student Aid).

When is the deadline? 

Berkeley College’s deadline to complete your FAFSA is May 1, 2013.

What do I need?

• Your FAFSA pin from http://pin.ed.gov. If you are a dependent student, your parents will also need their FAFSA pin.
• Your Social Security Number
• Your Driver's License
• If you are not a U.S. Citizen, your alien registration or permanent resident card (green card)
• Your (and your spouse's, if you are married) 2012 Federal Tax Return. If you are a dependent student, you will also need your parents' 2012 Federal Tax Return. (Note: We highly recommend that you e-file your tax returns)
• Your (and your spouse's, if you are married) 2012 untaxed income records. If you are a dependent student, you will also need your parents' 2012 untaxed income records.
• Asset information which includes values of :
• • Cash savings and checking accounts
  • Properties
  • Businesses
  • Retirement accounts

How do I complete my FAFSA?

1. Before you begin the process, make sure that you (and your parents, if you are a dependent student) have a valid FAFSA PIN. You can go online at http://pin.ed.gov to check the status of your PIN. If you have forgotten your PIN, you may request a duplicate PIN here.
   
   
2. Once you have your PIN (and your parents' if you are a dependent student), visit http://fafsa.ed.gov and click on Start A New FAFSA.
   
   
3. Enter the requested personal information and continue.
   • Note: If you are a continuing student, we highly recommend that you select Start a Renewal FAFSA. This will prefill most of the information on your new FAFSA based on last year's information. Please review all information for updates and/or changes.
     
     
4. Remember to enter Berkeley College's school code in the appropriate section:

• New Jersey: 007502
• New York: 008556

5. On the financial portion of the FAFSA, we highly recommend that you make use of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. Please note that the feature is not immediately available. Please refer to the IRS Data Retrieval Timeline at the Appendix of this document. This feature will prefill some of your Financial Aid information based on your Federal Tax Return. Another benefit is that if you are selected for verification, you will no longer need to supply tax return information. This speeds up your award processing.
   
   
6. If you are unable to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, you may input the information from your Federal Tax Return. However, please note that if you are selected for Federal Verification, your award processing will be put on hold until you either:

• Log back in and use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool or
• Request an IRS Tax Return Transcript and submit it to the Financial Aid Office

7. Important: You will only be able to access this on the confirmation page. Once you reach the confirmation page of the FAFSA application, make sure that you click on the link to complete your State Grant application. You can find this under “Optional Feature – Start your state application” by clicking on the word here.

Need Help?

• Reach out to and or visit your location's Financial Aid Department. 
• Watch Berkeley College's FATV Video on completing your FAFSA.
• You may also access FAFSA on the Web's Help Page here.
   

Appendix

IRS Data Retrieval Tool Timeline