To complete the FAFSA, students (and in almost all cases parents) must submit financial data from various sources, including their most recent IRS tax form. The Community Foundation strongly encourages using data from the 2007 tax return. For this reason, the deadline for SAR submission (received to the Community Foundation office) is March 1, 2008. All remaining parts of the application must be submitted by the original application deadline of January 15, 2008.

The FAFSA form can be completed online, but it is a very complex form. Applicants should plan on at least two weeks to complete the process. You might want to start with this FAFSA worksheet which asks the same questions as the online form. Do not start this process a week before the March 1 deadline. You won’t complete it in time. Also remember that, to even start the FAFSA process, tax returns must be completed (but not necessarily submitted), so don’t delay doing all this paperwork.

For more information about the FAFSA or to complete the form online, go to the FAFSA website.

Students who submit the FAFSA online will receive their SAR electronically. They may print and mail a paper copy to the office or they can forward an electronic version of the SAR to the Community Foundation (to dhammer @ dsacommunityfoundation.com, remove spaces) via email. The Community Foundation will acknowledge receipt of the SAR within 48 hours. Until acknowledgment has been received, students should not consider their forwarded SAR received by this office.

Scholarships which do not require the SAR are the G. Scott Ransom Scholarship and the Minnesota Power Community Involvement Scholarship. Instead of the SAR, these two scholarships will use the most recent Federal IRS 1040 form from the applicant’s parents, to determine financial need. In addition, there are many other non-need based scholarships offered by the foundation. Check those out on the Scholarship Funds page. The second column of the grid shows whether or not need is a factor.