Planning should begin as early as the elementary school years. But who does that? Start getting your financial ducks in a row not later than the freshman year in high school. You should implement any financial changes before the second semester of your student's junior year in high school. Otherwise, you will create a taxable event that may impact your financial aid eligibility.

Absolutely not! Complete both forms as early as possible.

The earliest you can file the FAFSA is January 1st of the senior year so you will want to file soon as possible after that date. The PROFILE can be sent in at any time, so early filing (before January 1st) is advisable.

If you anticipate qualifying for need-based financial aid, you must file NO LATER than March 1st. Many states and most colleges use the March 1st filing deadline to close eligibility for state and campus-based aid. By missing that date, you may be ineligible for those kinds of aid, your need notwithstanding. DO NOT miss this deadline.

Yes. As your finances change every year and as changes appear in the financial aid system, you will have to update your numbers every year. Completing future FAFSAs will be easier because renewal forms come pre-populated with much of your personal information already filled out. You will be required to update changes to your finances such as income and assets.

We urge you to file electronically (The PROFILE MUST be filed electronically). It is faster, more responsive, and easier for the colleges to process. If you file by regular mail, be sure to make a copy of the form and get a Certificate of Mailing at the post office to verify the mailing date. Don't lose the certificate! Do not use Certified or Registered Mail or anything that requires a signature at the point of destination.

You can register for the FAFSA by going to: www.fafsa.ed.gov

Registration for the PROFILE at: www.collegeboard.com

Money. Yours. Not theirs. Typically, only expensive, private colleges request a PROFILE. The reason is that the gap between a typical family's EFC (Expected Family Contribution) and the cost of the college is so large that there is not enough public money (state and federal) to fill the demonstrated need. Thus, the college has to use its own money to close the gap. Understandably, they prefer to use yours. Consequently they take a closer look at your cash flow and financial assets, including questions about home equity. Colleges can choose their own questions from a databank of several hundred questions. Each PROFILE form is therefore individually tailored for every family depending upon the colleges you apply to.

If the colleges require it, yes. Many "PROFILE" colleges ask for some preliminary financial data on the application. They still require the comprehensive PROFILE to support the earlier data and to add new information.

Make a reasonable estimate based on last year's tax return. Send it in as early as possible to stake your place at the front of the financial aid line. You can update your form with more accurate information later without losing your place in line. Be sure to use the financial aid completion guides on TuitionCoach.

No. Provided you are the custodial parent, only your financial information will be required. Colleges requesting the PROFILE will want your former spouse to complete a Non-Custodial Parent Form. TuitionCoach can walk you through the Non-Custodial Parent Form.

Yes. Any pre-nuptial agreements will have to be discussed with the college the student actually attends. The college has full discretion as to how they will react to such arrangements. It may depend upon the extent of the former spouse's ability to pay for college expenses.

List the top colleges first.

For FAFSA families who have received the processed Student Aid Report (SAR), you can select "Add or Delete a School Code" and add more schools by submitting a correction to your FAFSA information. Remember that if you make further corrections after adding the new schools, the schools you removed from the original list will not receive these corrections.

The relevant information will be included on the FAFSA but if you file a PROFILE, you will be asked to complete a Business/Farm supplement similar to a multi-year Schedule C on your 1040. TuitionCoach has a tool to guide you through the form.

If your current income goes up, wait until the end of the calendar year to report it on the next FAFSA and PROFILE. If your income goes down, once the student gets admitted, contact the college's financial aid office to discuss the EFC given your new, lower, income. They will guide you through the process. If you need a template for a letter of appeal, use the tool contained in TuitionCoach which suggests specific wording you can use.

You don't have to but we recommend it. Loans and work/study are considered to be self-help aid. If you wish to evaluate your financial aid offer against an objective standard, use the TuitionCoach tool called "Optimize Financial Aid Offers".

If you need a substantial amount of aid, the wait list is not where you want to be. By the time you are accepted, the college may claim that this year's financial aid money is already committed to others. So you may find that you are admitted eventually, but the pool of financial aid has dried up. If you require only a small amount of aid, there is probably enough public money to cover your need. You may be able to get the college to commit to meeting your future need for aid, even though this year they have a shortfall. Ask the college to provide a preview of what you can expect a year from now.

In all likelihood, yes. If the college has made an offer of financial aid, they may reduce their offer by the amount, or some percentage, of the outside scholarship. Subscribe to TuitionCoach for specific strategies to make outside scholarships work for you.

No. Unless you satisfy one of the conditions of independent status listed on the FAFSA, you must file as a dependent student. However, you might be able to request to be considered for a dependency override with the financial aid officer. You'll have to provide compelling reasons, documentation, and even an outside person to verify the truth of your claims. It can be done but it happens pretty rarely.

Probably not. Where you live, and the size of the mortgage you take on is entirely your choice. Don't expect much sympathy from a college because you chose to live in a certain place and purchase a house beyond your means. The same is true if you claim that one of your students attends a private K-12 school. On the other hand, if your student has special needs or a compelling reason to attend a private K-12 school, you can probably successfully bring that into the college funding equation.

This is a tough question. Many immigrants are caught in a twilight zone as they grow old waiting for action by the INS.

Meanwhile, here are some strategies you can take as you apply for financial aid:

A growing number of colleges use a service called IDOC. Using tax return data, it informs the college principally about actual income and assets by looking for "phantom losses" on the tax form. The IDOC tends to discount things like depreciation and carryover losses from stock sales and other transactions.

Simply call the financial aid office at the college and request an unsubsidized student loan (if the student has eligibility remaining) and/or a PLUS loan (Parent Loan for Undergraduate Student) in whatever amount you need for that year. You may borrow any amount up to the entire EFC. You might also become a subscriber to TuitionCoach and review the full spectrum of funding strategies ("Analyze Funding Options") given your unique set of economic circumstances.

The EFC depends on the reported wealth of only the custodial parent for most colleges. If the less affluent parent is the custodial parent through college, the student may be eligible for more financial aid programs and receive financial aid filing advantages that are based on certain income and asset ceilings.

Your options:

1. Talk to your Ex. Decide which of the former spouses should serve as the custodial parent. That parent should carry the student as an exemption on their income tax.


2. Don't forget the residency requirement. Before deciding, be sure to take into consideration residency implications. For instance, if the poorer ex-spouse moves out of state and the student wants to go to a public college in-state, you may wish to rethink the strategy. On the plus side, your student may be eligible for more financial aid. However, out of state fees will be higher. And the financial aid office will not provide as much financial aid to out of state students. Because residency requirements vary from state to state, we recommend contacting in-state colleges to see if the student would still be considered as a resident if the custodial parent moved to another state.


3. Remember the marriage trap. Stepparents married to the custodial parent must also report their income and assets on financial aid forms. You should consider the tax implications of gaining or losing an exemption, and whether either of the former spouses is likely to remarry while the student is in college.


4. Work together. If possible, try to make an informal but reliable arrangement with your ex-spouse to have the non-custodial parent contribute to the cost of college.