Hopefully you are not reading this on the day of the financial aid deadline, because this is going to take more time than you think - if you want to maximize your aid. It is not a bad idea to begin to gather your financial information in December.

Here are the records you will need:

If you have already completed your 2004 tax return:

1. Completed federal tax return (all schedules)
2. W-2 forms
3. Records of untaxed income (social security payments received, welfare payments, tax-exempt interest income, etc.)
4. Bank statements
5. Brokerage statements
6. Mortgage statements
7. Your social security number and driver's license (if available)
8. If you are an owner of a business, the business's financial statements or corporate tax return
9. Any other investment statements and records
10. Record of child support paid to or received by former spouse
11. Records of medical and dental expenses (must have been actually paid or charged on your credit card during the base income year)

If you have NOT completed your 2004 tax return:

1. A blank copy of the 2004 federal income tax form
2. A copy of your federal return for last year (all schedules)
3. W-2 form (if unavailable, you can probably get your employer to tell you the numbers, or you can figure them out for yourself from pay stubs. Remember to include any bonuses or overtime you received.)
4. Any 1099s (statements sent by an employer, brokerage house, bank, or the government to report income earned as an independent contractor, dividends, interest, unemployment benefits, or a refund on state and local taxes from the prior year)
5. If you are self-employed, a record of all income received, and a record of all IRS-deductible business expenses
6. Records of untaxed income (social security payments received, welfare payments, tax-exempt interest, etc.)
7. Bank statements
8. Brokerage statements
9. Mortgage statements
10. Student's social security number and driver's license (if available)
11. If you are an owner of a business, the business's financial statements or corporate tax return
12. Any other investment statements and records
13. Record of child support paid to or received by former spouse
14. Records of medical and dental expenses (must have been actually paid or charged on your credit card during the base income year)
15. Record of any post-secondary tuition paid

A Word About Confidentiality
The information you supply will go directly to the financial aid office and will stay there. You can trust them to keep information confidential. No one else at the school will see your personal data. And no one else at the school—not professors, students, or administrators—will know who is getting financial aid and who isn't.

Some applicants are reluctant to share intimate details with a stranger. No matter how spectacular the details of your private life are, the FAOs have seen worse. And frankly, the FAOs are too busy coping with the needs of thousands of students to have time to make value judgments.

Currently the only way the IRS can see a copy of your need analysis form is by getting a subpoena, although the laws could change soon. However, the Secretary of Education now has the authority to verify the information on the FAFSA with the IRS.

Final Preparations
Practice, Practice, Practice: If you're completing a paper form: Before you even touch the form you are using, make a photocopy of it. You will use the copy to work on. Once you are satisfied with all of your entries, you can transfer the information carefully onto the real form. Only the original form will be accepted by the need analysis companies. When you've finished, make a photocopy of the completed form and put it in a safe place. If you are in the habit of just dumping all of your financial records at your accountant's office, change your habits for the next four years. Photocopy every conceivably relevant document, and then dump them at your accountant's office.

If you're filing a form online: fill out a worksheet copy of the form before you start inputting your responses online. For the FAFSA, you could either print out the worksheet version of the form that is provided online, or you could simply work on a paper version of the form. For the PROFILE, you can print out the worksheet copy provided by the processor.

Read ALL the instructions: You should read all the instructions on the form before you begin work. In many cases, these instructions will be sketchy or misleading. Hopefully, the information provided about the FAFSA and CSS PROFILE forms will help clarify the forms' instructions.

Make sure you use the proper writing implement when completing the form: If you use the wrong writing implement, your need analysis will be delayed until they return your original form and you send them another one. Next year, when you fill out the forms again for the next school year, don't get cocky. Read the instructions just as carefully. Sometimes the rules change from year to year.

Complete the response areas the proper way: If they want a "," don't give them a blank space. Writing in the margins is forbidden. You are also not allowed to give a range of numbers for a particular item. For example, you cannot write down $700-$800. It must be $750. Use whole dollar amounts only. Do not include cents or decimals. When writing down the numeric equivalent of a single-digit date, you must enter a digit for each box. Thus, January 5, 1984 would look like this: 01051984.

Don't Skip Anything
Finally, don't skip any question unless the instructions specifically tell you that you can. If you do not own a business, for example, put down "0" for any values related to a business. If you leave certain items blank on the paper version of the FAFSA, they will just send the form back to you to correct. You can't afford to lose the time that takes.