FAFSA smafsa

Yesterday I was talking to one of my friends who is graduating, and she made the astute point that she never has to fill out a FAFSA (free application for student aid) ever again. I'm super jealous. They're not very much fun, and you don't get any money back at the end of it, like taxes.

I have to say, after 6 years of filling out a FAFSA, I was able to knock mine out in less than 20 minutes. That's pretty good, in my opinion. It helps that I know exactly what they're going to ask for, plus I don't need my parent's information since I'm a graduate student and YDS doesn't take that into account. It also means that the only information YDS considers when making financial aid decisions is mine, aka my awesome income of $6,000 this year. It brings my expected family contribution to a very hefty $0 - good for me, good for my financial aid, good for scholarships. Not to mention that YDS has made it a goal to somewhat relieve the burden of debt for their students - I'm talking in terms of new $1.5 million dollar grants for next year. Let's hope they send some of that my way. I'm quite the qualified, distinguished student.