Last-minute moves to boost financial aid

(Reuters) - Financial aid filing season starts right after the New Year's holiday and if you hope to get financial aid to pay for college next year, there is still some time left to maximize what you can get.

But first make sure your hopes are realistic. At the high and low income ends of the financial spectrum, many attempts to boost aid do not help much, if at all.

Families in the vast middle, though, will qualify for some form of financial aid and the following steps might help:

1. Plan to apply early -  A lot of college financial aid is first come, first served, so you want to turn in your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as soon as possible after the filing season begins on Jan. 1.

You will not have all your tax information at that point, but that is fine - in fact, advisable. Estimate and then update with the correct numbers after you have filed your federal tax return, said Martha Savery, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Education Financing Authority and a former financial aid director for the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

You should file a FAFSA even if you do not think you will qualify for need-based financial aid. Most students need to borrow for school and the best loans - those offered by the federal government - require this form.  Read More