Nearly all financial aid programs require reapplication each year, rather than simply renewing automatically. The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid encourages parents and students to reapply early every year to determine eligibility and set aside funds well in advance of when fee payment is due. It is important to remember that aid with limited resources is awarded exclusively to eligible students who apply by the deadlines. If you have not started the application process yet, now is the perfect time to apply for the upcoming 2012-2013 academic year. Plus, there is a new tool available to help families with completing the application form!

The deadline for returning students, transfer students, and new graduate students is May 1 (for freshmen entering Georgia Tech fall 2012, the application deadline is March 1).

Two forms are required:

1. The Georgia Tech Application for Scholarships and Financial Aid (GT APP) is available online at www.finaid.gatech.edu/forms and can be completed in a matter of minutes.  It’s the very first link on the page.
2. The second is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and can be completed at www.fafsa.ed.gov. To ensure that it is processed and received in our office by the deadline, we recommend completing the online FAFSA (www.fafsa.ed.gov) 2-3 weeks before the deadline.

Ideally, the FAFSA should be filled out using information from a completed 2011 federal tax return. However, it’s better to use solid estimates than to miss the deadline. The “IRS Data Retrieval” is a new tool that for downloading tax information directly to the FAFSA from the IRS. Tax data will be available through the IRS Data Retrieval option within one to two weeks after electronic submission of taxes to the IRS beginning February 1, 2012. This option will significantly reduce the amount of documentation needed to process students selected for verification.

Completing the FAFSA and the GT APP on time ensures that your student will be considered for all available aid administered by our office. For students who only apply for the HOPE scholarship, only the GT APP is required each year. The HOPE application itself is completed once at www.gacollege411.org.

Now is also a good time to search for independent scholarships. Current and prospective Georgia Tech students are often excellent candidates for private scholarships. Our office posts scholarship notices on its scholarship website. In addition, click here for helpful advice on planning a scholarship search.  It’s well worth an investment of a few hours to research the options.

For any questions about the financial aid application process, contact your financial aid advisor, listed at www.finaid.gatech.edu/contacts.