The title of this article is a liberal interpretation of a saying about a bird and worm with the same message – it pays to take care of business early. Of course, for the student, the worm translates to more money in the form of college grants. Grants are always more desirable because unlike loans, they do not have to be paid back. Not everyone who applies for financial aid will be eligible for grants, but for those New Mexico residents who are eligible could receive considerably more grant aid by meeting the March 1, 2008 priority date.

March 1 is a target date and not a guarantee date. What this means is if a FAFSA is received by the central processing agency before March 1 and a student’s file is complete then a student has a much better chance of receiving additional grants if eligible. Completing a file is a very important part of the process and will be addressed in more detail in this article. Jan. 1 is the earliest a FAFSA can be filed for the 2008 – 2009 school year, which starts August of 2008. 

The reason the priority date is important is because some financial aid programs have fixed amounts of funds each academic year and when that money is gone there is no more to give even if the student appears eligible for those additional grants. In addition to some grant programs, state and federal work study programs also have a limited amount of funds each award year. A student may not be eligible for grants but may be eligible for work study so filing early and following up can reap financial aid benefits.

In fact, filing early can help those who have no financial aid need at all because those students could be eligible for state no‐need work study funds. These funds are very limited and run out quickly, just as many state grant programs do. A work study award is an amount the student is allowed to earn in the form of hourly wages for certain campus‐based employment positions.

Once a FAFSA is submitted it is the student’s responsibility to follow up and complete his or her “file.” Follow‐up is very important because often additional documents such as work sheets, tax returns, W2s, and other documents may need to be turned in for review before a student can actually be awarded financial aid. So, if a student completes the FAFSA before March 1, but does not turn in the required documents quickly there is a huge risk grants and/or work study that the student could have received will be gone when he or she is ready to be awarded.

The most effective way for your student to follow up is make a habit of checking LoboWeb. This on‐line resource allows students to see what is required to complete a file as well as other important information pertaining to attending UNM. Some of the tasks that can be done using LoboWeb are setting up a payment plan, setting up direct deposit, downloading needed forms, viewing awards, viewing billing statements, viewing grades, and registering for classes.

A new Web resource is FastInfo. FastInfo is a database of commonly asked questions with answers relating to attending UNM. We strongly encourage you to try out this helpful tool. For example, select Find Answers, then select Financial Aid for your department/subject area, then type in FAFSA for the search and you will see a list of very helpful questions with answers concerning a FAFSA. Also try this for LoboWeb (all one word). 

Best wishes for a very productive 2008!

Gary Stepic, UNM Financial Aid Office

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