Counselor's Corner
Smyer High School
Financial Aid
1. File your taxes - make sure you do this accurately so you don't need to make corrections later.
2. Apply for federal student financial aid (FAFSA) at:
3. Electronically upload your taxes to your FAFSA. (This is not required. However, this will prevent other paperwork that you will be required to do if you do not. It will also prevent a process called "verification" where the college will need to verify your tax information with a tax transcript.)
4. Use your college login to check the financial aid process. If your college does not offer this, you need to be calling to check on it about once a week.
5. You will need to accept any grants or loans awarded. (You can usually do this with your college login online.)
6. Make sure you have enough funds to pay your whole bill for that semester.
7. If you do not have enought funds, you may need to apply for an emergency or parent plus loan through your college.
There is no denying that getting the funds needed for college is a huge task. The page will give you a few tips and checklist to make the process go a little smoother.
Loans & Grants
Smyer is partnered with LEARN. This is a fantastic opportunity for parents and students to get the help they need in completing the financial aid process for college. Here is their website with more information.