A tradition for all but the best off students is filling out the FAFSA form which is the application for federal student loans and often used by schools to determine other benefits as well. However, there are many groups that seek to unnecessarily profit off the application process most notably websites that offer a veneer of legitimate “assistance” for filling out the form. In reality, they offer little help since the FAFSA form is a simple process overall even though you will need access to some documents and information such as tax returns. In addition, some financial planners inject themselves into the higher education financing process by offering to sell services that allegedly help cover cost but in reality pay hefty commission to the planner while offering marginal benefits to the buyer. Ultimately, almost all individuals are capable of navigating the student loan system without specialized help due to the relative simplicity of the application process and ample amount of free assistance available online. Only in rare circumstances do paid professionals need to be involved and still be wary of those that are paid for what the sell rather than the advice they have to offer.
See John Wasik, Avoid These Two FAFSA Scams, Forbes, January 13, 2016.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
