High school students heading for college will want to complete their Free Application for Federal Student Aid as early as possible in their senior year of high school. The Federal government is still the nation's chief source of college funding, disbursing 80 billion dollars of student aid annually as grants, work-study wage or loans. If you're interested in sharing in a piece of the Federal education pie, you'll want to file your FAFSA application promptly.

The FAFSA application process has an undeserved reputation as a being difficult to understand and hard to complete. The less than stellar reputation may in part be attributable to fee-for-service providers that are in business to help college-bound high school juniors and seniors complete the application. However, the application process is much easier than its reputation and the Federal government has extensive online help to guide you through the three-step process. Also, the government charges no fees of any kind. The FAFSA application is free to all.

Step One in the FAFSA application process is to apply for a PIN, or personal identification number. Your PIN makes it possible to apply for student aid online, a process the government has streamlined and made as easy as possible. Your PIN also makes it possible to sign your FAFSA application online and access and correct your Student Aid Report. The SAR is the report you'll receive once the government has processed your completed FAFSA application. It tells you the level of Federal student aid to which you may be entitled based on your financial need.

You'll need to get your PIN as soon as possible at pin.ed.gov before beginning Step Two of the application process. In this step, you should complete your FAFSA application online at fafsa.ed.gov, a site also known as FAFSA on the Web. Filling out your application online at FAFSA on the Web is a good idea because there are detailed instructions for answering each question in the application. The online process also catches any potential mistakes you make and prompts you to correct them. Filing at FAFSA on the Web is also the fastest way to get into and through the Federal application process. Most FAFSA applications are processed within just a few days of their filing date.

In Step Three of the application process, you'll receive your SAR, or Student Aid Report, approximately three to five days after filing your FAFSA application online, or in seven to ten days if you filed by mail. In addition to compiling the information contained in your FAFSA application, the report also determines your financial need, which is calculated by subtracting your Expected Family Contribution, the amount your family is estimated to be able to contribute to funding your college education, from the cost of attending a particular college or university. Once you receive your SAR, review it for any errors and once it's complete, contact the financial aid office at the college or colleges you're considering. The financial aid office will let you know the type and amount of financial aid a particular college is willing to offer.

While not difficult to understand or complete, this three-step application process has more details than can be covered in a short article such as this. But the information provided here should pave the way for reviewing an easy-to-read, comprehensive government document that will shepherd you through the application process. Download the 60-page PDF document, entitled "Funding Education Beyond High School", from studentaid.ed.gov.