Students and families can get free assistance with forms required for federal financial aid at FAFSA Ready Iowa sessions hosted by Marshalltown Community College next week. The FAFSA help will be available from 4 to 7 pm on Tuesday, Feb. 5, in the MCC Computer Lab, room 213.

“Anyone planning to attend college and who will need financial assistance will need to file a federal FAFSA form with the U.S. Department of Education,” explains Ryan Flack, MCC’s Marshalltown Education Partnership (MEP) Coordinator. “The form can be filed on your own, of course, but many people have difficulty with the form’s complexity. That’s why MCC is again offering free help from volunteers at FAFSA Ready Iowa on Feb. 5.”

No appointments are needed, but students and families should be sure to bring along their 2017 tax information and W-2s. Students or parents may attend individually, but Flack says it’s best if the student and at least one parent or guardian come together.

To complete the FAFSA, families should bring, for both the student and parent, the following:

Social Security number, driver’s license number, and date of birth
2017 federal and state tax returns
W-2 forms or other records of 2017 income earned
Current bank statements and investment records
Records of untaxed income received last year
2017 business and farm records
Alien registration numbers (if not a U.S. citizen)

To speed up the process, students and parents may also register in advance for a FSA username and password, which are used to electronically sign the forms and make future changes. To create an account, visithttps://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/filling-out/fsaid.