High school students heading for college will want to complete their Free Application for Federal Student Aid as early as possible in their senior year of high school. The Federal government is still the nation's most important source of college funding, disbursing 80 billion dollars of student aid per annum as grants, work-study wage or loans. If you want to get your share of the Federal education pie, you'll want to file your FAFSA application promptly.

The FAFSA application process has an undeserved reputation as a being difficult to understand and hard to complete. This impression may have been fostered in part by third-party fee-for-service providers that have made a business of helping applicants complete the necessary forms. However, the application process is much easier than its reputation and the Federal government has extensive online help to guide you through the three-step process. Also, the government charges no fees of any kind. The FAFSA application is free to all.

You'll want to kick off Step One of the FAFSA application process by applying for and receiving your own personal identification number, or PIN. Your PIN makes it possible to apply for student aid online, a process the government has streamlined and made as easy as possible. Your PIN also makes it possible to sign your FAFSA application online and access and correct your Student Aid Report. The SAR is the report you'll receive once the government has processed your completed FAFSA application. It tells you the level of Federal student aid to which you may be entitled based on your financial need.

Get your PIN at pin.ed.gov before you move on to Step Two of the application process. In this step, you should complete your FAFSA application online at fafsa.ed.gov, a site also known as FAFSA on the Web. The government has designed this site to offer step-by-step instructions as you answer each question in the FAFSA application. The online process also catches any potential mistakes you make and prompts you to correct them. Finally, filing your FAFSA application online is fast. You'll receive confirmation of the receipt of your application immediately and the typical FAFSA application is usually processed in just a few days.

In Step Three of the application process, you'll receive your SAR, or Student Aid Report, approximately three to five days after filing your FAFSA application online, or in seven to ten days if you filed by mail. The SAR contains your Expected Family Contribution, or EFC, which is the amount your family is estimated to be able to contribute to your college education. Your financial need is determined by subtracting the EFC from the cost of attendance at a particular college or university. Once you receive your SAR, review it for any errors and once it's complete, contact the financial aid office at the college or colleges you're considering. The financial aid office will let you know the type and amount of financial aid a particular college is willing to offer.

While not difficult to understand or complete, this three-step application process has more details than can be covered in a short article such as this. But the information provided here should pave the way for reviewing an easy-to-read, comprehensive government document that will shepherd you through the application process. Download the 60-page PDF document, entitled "Funding Education Beyond High School", from studentaid.ed.gov.