Dot-gov is free, dot-com costs $79.99

Across the country, millions of high school seniors are struggling to fill out the FAFSA, a government document that students complete to gain access to almost every type of government-sponsored financial help.

FAFSA is an acronym for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. As the name implies, there is no fee to fill out and file the form.

However, there is a Sacramento company whose Internet site has FAFSA in its address. The site charges new clients $79.99 – repeat customers pay $49.99 – to file the document.

The company clearly states on its site that it has no association with the U.S. Department of Education. Still, some parents and students who use the for-pay Web site, owned by Student Financial Aid Services, have complained about the confusion.

Completing and filing the document is free at the government's site: www.fafsa.ed.gov.

Emmy Moyes, a parent of a senior in York, Pa., said she recently called the company and the Better Business Bureau in Sacramento to complain.

She paid to file her son Sascha Frost's FAFSA through the company. Her son plans to attend Penn State University in the fall.

"I just thought times had changed and they started to charge now for the FAFSA form," she said.

Moyes said the company has promised to return her money. Using the word FAFSA in the company's Web address is misleading, she said.

Pleasant Grove High School counselor Teresa Schmutte is well-acquainted with the commercial site. A counselor for 24 years, she knows of students who have used the commercial Web site, not knowing they could have filed for free.

In workshops, Schmutte tells students to use the free site. And her school conducts training for parents and students to help them through the complicated, time-consuming form.

But for thousands of students each year who use FAFSA.com, it is money well spent, according to Craig Carroll, chief economic officer of Student Financial Aid Services.

"There are a lot of people who are very happy to find us," he said.

The FAFSA is complex and answers from the government are hard to come by, he said.

"We are just simply an optional choice for people who want to use an H&R Block kind of service," said Carroll. "There are people who are happy to file their taxes on their own, just like there are people who are happy to file their FAFSA on their own."

On the FAFSA.com Web page the company pledges to help students get money and provide answers to financial aid questions.

Among the services: an individual review of the FAFSA application, online filing and "exclusive 450-point FAFSACheck error detection."

The federal Education Department is the major source of student aid, disbursing nearly $80 billion in federal grants and loans last year.

Stephanie Babyak, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education, said the department contacted FAFSA.com in 2001.

"As a result of our efforts, their Web site now posts disclaimers stating that the site is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education," she wrote in an e-mail.

Better Business Bureau of Northeast California President Barry Goggin said Student Financial Aid Services has had 10 complaints against it three years.

"We get a few complaints a year from people who say they signed up for this service and then later on they found out they could have filed for free," said Goggin.

Complaints are resolved when customers are given refunds, said Goggin. There is no indication the company is trying to misrepresent who they are or what they do, he said.

"Their service involves walking you through the process and submitting it for you electronically," said Goggin.

Consumers need to do their homework and closely look at a Web site. Remember, Goggin added, the ".com" part of a site identifies it as a business.

About the writer:

• Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.