I
Thursday, January 14, 2016
N/Warren Town and County News
PageSeven
Free Application for Federal
For college-bound stu-
dents, January brings
more than just the start of
a new year. January I also
marks the availability of
the Free Application for
Federal Student Aid
(FAFSA) for the
2016-2017 academic year
and the first date on which
"students can submit their
applications. Used to de-
termine student eligibility
for federal grants, loans
and work-study funds
from the federal govern-
ment, information submit-
ted on the FAFSA also
plays a factor in determin-
ing eligibility for institu-
tional and state financial
aid programs for many
colleges and states, includ-
ing Iowa.
This year, students
must use a FSA ID, intro-
duced earlier in 2015, to
sign and electronically
submit FAFSAs. The FSA
ID, consisting of a
username and password,
replaces the now defunct
FAFSA PIN process. This
is the last year students
and families will have to
wait until January to file
the FAFSA. For the 2017-
18 academic year, students
will be able to submit the
form as early as October 1,
2016, and use a 2015 tax
return.
Completing and filing
the FAFSA is not as diffi-
cult as many people think.
"We encourage students
and parents to complete
the FAFSA online at'
www.fafsa.gov rather than
filing a paper form be-
cause the help features and
built-in edits reduce appli-
cant error," explained
Karen Misjak, executive
director of the Iowa Col-
lege Student Aid Commis-
sion (Iowa College Aid).
"With all of the recent en-
hancements to the online
form, it only takes about 30
minutes to complete."
To help Iowa families,
Iowa College Aid offers
the following FAFSA filing
tips:
File the FAFSA what-
ever your financial situa-
tion. Even if you do not
think you will qualify for
need-based financial aid,
you should still file the
FAFSA. Many colleges re-
quire that you file the
FAFSA to be considered
for institutional aid, and in
addition, you are required
to complete the FAFSA to
be eligible for federal
Stafford loans. Complet-
ing the FAFSA does not
obligate you to accept any
of the aid offered.
Never pay to file the
FAFSA. You can file the
FAFSA for free at
www.fafsa.gov. Reputable
free resources, including
Iowa College Aid, are
available to help. In addi-
tion, more than 70 College
Goal Sunday events will
be held throughout Iowa
to provide one-on-one as-
sistance with FAFSA filing.
Dates and locations of the
events can be found at
http://www.icansucceed
.org/index.cfm?nodeID
=82830&audienceID=1.
Meet state and college
fill'!;'7 ..................
Student Aid Now Available
deadlines. Many states,
including Iowa, have
FAFSA filing deadlines for
state-funded scholarships,
grants and work-study
opportunities. Several
state of Iowa financial aid
programs have priority ill-
ing dates as early as March
1. Keep in mind, most col-
leges and universities have
their own FAFSA filing
deadlines. You should
check with your college of
choice to verify its priority
deadline for financial aid
and to determine if addi-
tional documentation is
required.
It's easier than ever.
One of the more recent
enhancements, the IRS
Data Retrieval Tool allows
you to automatically trans-
fer the required tax infor-
mation to the FAFSA,
which saves time and re-
duces applicant error. You
can file your FAFSA prior
to completing your 2015
taxes by using estimated
income information. The
tax data should be avail-
able within 1-2 weeks of
electronically filing taxes
and then the IRS Data Re-
trieval Tool can be used to
make a FASFA correction,
streamlining the comple-
tion of the FAFSA.
Electronically sign;
your FAFSA. The elec-
tronic application is not
complete until both you
and your parent electroni-
cally sign the FAFSA using
your respective FSA IDs.
You can apply for student
and parent IDs while com-
pleting the FAFSA online,
or go to the Federal Stu-
dent Aid ID website,
https://fsaid.ed.gov, to ob-
tain FSA IDs prior to start-
ing the FAFSA.
In addition to the
FAFSA, some Iowa-
funded grants and scholar-
ships also require the
completion of the Iowa Fi-
nancial Aid Application.
All Iowa residents who
complete the FAFSA
online have the option to
link directly to this appli-
cation from their FAFSA
confirmation page.
Students and families
who have questions about
applying for financial aid,
or who are interested in
learning more about the
resources available for col-
lege and career planning,
may contact Iowa College
Aid at 877-272-4456 and
select option 3, or go to
Iowa College Aid's
website, www.Iowa
CollegeAid.gov.
Crayola LLC produces
more than 1,500 pounds
of Silly Putty each day.
That's mo e'tha n'20;000
eggs.
Call 911
for
emergencies!
Keep Iowa Beautiful
Fifty years ago small
town Iowa represented the
cultural image and center
for cultural vitality and
value development - the
hubs of economic and so-
cial activity. They pro-
duced (and to some degree
still produce) some of the
greatest leaders in our na-
tion. People like Henry A.
Wallace, Dr. James Van
Allen, John Wayne,
Meredith Willson, Grant
Wood, John Ruan, Bill
Knapp, Walter P. Chrysler,
Peggy Whitson, the
Phillips brothers, Glen
Miller, Frederick L.
Maytag and dozens of oth-
ers that you can add to the
list.
The general decline of
the small town appears to
be inevitable as we con-
tinue to follow the "bigger
is better" concept. People
flocked to the metropoli-
tan areas in pursuit of jobs
and livelihoods. Small
schools disappeared - re-
placed by consolidated
school districts. Technol-
economic and indus-
trial progress changed the
shape and character of our
state.
Maybe this is the time
to consider reversing that
trend by sparking new vi-
sions back into the ru_ra!
small towns. Those small
towns in many instances
are important in providing
diverse cultural support
areas for the large urban
centers - i.e. different life
styles than those found in
the larger communities.
They need to work to-
gether for the enhance-
ment of both.
Through increased high
speed internet accessing,
the business world and
livelihoods can again re-
turn to small town Iowa.
Maybe, with a focused ef-
fort, we can revive the
sense of community that
was once a strong cultural
and economic asset of
Iowa. At the same time we
can still support growing
the assets of the metropoli-
tan areas.
Some studies indicate
that the east and west
coasts of America are re-
discovering the cultural
and economic importance
of small towns. People are
returning to small towns
escaping the scale and de-
mands of living in large
metropolitan areas. Those
individuals are looking for
a return to community val-
ues where they know their
next door neighbors, feel a
sense of place and owner-
ship, feel they can make a
difference and recapture
that neighborhood front
porch feeling. Tied to these
factors is the desire for a
sense of service, belonging
and pride. The feelings
that can help determifie
the future of where they
live and make a difference.
Will all communities
survive? Some may not,
but, they deserve the op-
portunity to reshape their
futures and develop new
leadership with visions for
the future. These small
towns will not be the same
as they were - the future
requires a different vision
and sense of place.
That kind of investment
does not take away from
the metropolitan areas but
provides a supportive ring
of small communities pro-
viding diverse life styles
that can still support those
larger areas and enhance
the overall diversity and
attractiveness of the state.
Some specific efforts
needed to facilitate the re-
vitalization of small town
Iowa are:
• Public matching
funds for expansion of
the Hometown Pride pro-
gram and provision of
Community Coaches.
• Expansion of the der-
elict and abandoned
building grant program
and to include legal assis-
tance to small towns to
gain possession of der-
elict properties.
• Development of pre-
ventative programs to dis-
courage future derelict
buildings and abandon-
ments.
• Enhancement grants
to communities of 10,000
or less to build a sense of
pride.
• Increasing access to
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