College and Financial Aid Summer Recap - Red Kitemyredkite.com /blog/college-and-financial-aid-recap-what-you-need-to-do-this-summer/

There are a few critical items you absolutely must do to keep up withcollege and financial aid deadlines this summer.

FAFSA Deadlines

Since the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is on a first-come first-served basis, and could mean free money, don’t procrastinate. Federal FAFSA onlineapplications for the 2015-2016 school year must be submitted by June 30, 2016 withcorrections or updates due by September 17, 2016.

State and college deadlines may differ and could be due as early as January 2015.Check with your high school guidance counselor, or your college financial aid advisorfor deadline details. The FAFSA is available online at: https://fafsa.ed.gov.

Make the most of your academic breaks

Unwinding after the school year is complete is necessary, but summertime and breaksbetween college semesters can be an optimum preparation time for:

Studying for SAT’s. Check out our blog on books that can help you prepare forthe SATs

Weighing your college options through research, or perhaps visiting the campusof your top picks. This post will help get you started.

Saving money for college. Some students pick up a summer or part-time job forextra cash or choose a work study program when applying for financial aid.Additionally, make the most of your time when searching for scholarships, grantsand fellowships. Remember that several smaller scholarships could calculate tobe about the same amount as that larger, more well-known scholarship that mighthave more competition.

Consolidating loans after graduation

Congratulations on making it through (or, nearly making it through) your college degreeprogram and graduating. Now is the time you might be reviewing your student loans andthinking about a plan of attack for repayment. If you have various loans from differentsources it may be beneficial for you to look into a consolidation loan program.

A consolidation loan allows you to combine your multiple loans into one loan. Thebenefit of a consolidation loan is that you will have one lender to work with onrepayment. You will need to compare your interest rates, term and benefits to see whatmakes the most sense for you.

Generally you will also need to handle your private and federal loans separately byconsolidating private loans with a private lender and federal loans through a federal loanprogram. To find out more about the federal student loan consolidation program, visitThe U.S. Department of Education.

To find out more about your federal loans visit, The National Student Loan Data System(NSLDS).