Yesterday was Day 2 of the annual FAFSA application challenge – where I help you get organized and accomplish this task, with encouragement and to help you keep from feeling overwhelmed.

(time for my gameshow announcer voice!) “And today’s bite sized piece is…”

Document gathering!

That’s right, just one task for today, although we’ll still break it into smaller chunks.

The common parental documents needed are:

• Parents’ Social Security numbers (actual card not needed)
• Parents’ dates of birth
• Parents’ 2020 federal income tax return, and all supporting documents (such as W2’s)
• Parents’ current bank and investment statements
  • For the FAFSA, this does NOT include your government tax advantaged retirement accounts.
• Property tax statements for any vacation or investment homes
• If any application to a CSS Profile school, for institutional or consensus method EFC calculation, then you also want:
  • The most recent property tax statement for your home (primary residence)
  • Retirement account investment statements
  • Also review this list for CSS Profile school applications.

The common student documents needed are:

• Student’s Social Security numbers (actual card not needed)
• Student’s date of birth
• Student’s 2020 federal income tax return, and all supporting documents (such as W2’s)
• Student’s current bank and investment statements
  • The FAFSA does NOT want any retirement accounts reported
• CSS Profile schools:
  • Also round up any retirement account statements, such as from an inherited IRA, if the child has them.

If you have special circumstances, such as being an independent student, not knowing who your parents are for the purposes of the FAFSA, own a business, receiving child support, received workers’ comp, or a host of other things, today’s common document list won’t be everything you need. Make sure you use resources such as those at https://studentaid.gov/resources .

Your next question is likely: But that’s a lot of paperwork! How will I know what I need from this giant stack of paper? A useful place to put numbers into this FAFSA worksheet.

Don’t forget to check out my other articles about college. I’ll see you again tomorrow for FAFSA application challenge Day 4.