The F in FAFSA stands for “free,” which is why www.FAFSA.com needs to be boycotted by students for charging new clients $79.99 and returning clients $49.99.
The official government site, www.fafsa.ed.gov, allows students to complete and file the document for free.
No student should pay to fill out and file the form for federal aid.
Though the site states it is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education, it is clearly cashing in on people like incoming freshmen, who are new to college and new to FAFSA, and don’t realize they could easily file FAFSA for free.
The fact that FAFSA.com is happy to take considerable amounts of money away from the students who need the money to begin with is inefficient at best, and somewhere closer to deplorable.
The company defends itself as providing a service similar to companies who help individuals file taxes, but no one in their right mind would pay any money, let alone up to $79.99, for services equivalent to them logging into the official FAFSA site, filling out the application and submitting it online at no charge.
As students prepare to file for FAFSA in the coming months, every student should simply use the official FAFSA Web site if they want to apply online, which may be as many as 14 days faster than filing a paper form.
According to FAFSA.com, there is about $136 billion in financial aid available for students, and it seems they want a cut of the money, too.