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HANNIBAL, MO -- You still have plenty of time to get your taxes done.

But for students and parents trying to get the most money for college this fall, the deadline is a little sooner than April 15.

Right now, many college-bound, high school seniors and their parents prepare a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, also known as FAFSA.

The application can be a little overwhelming, especially  for those whose parents never went to college.

But as KHQA's Rajah Maples found, the Internet is making the process easier and faster.

Katie Fretwell is a senior at Canton High School. She's had a lot to think about during her senior year. But she's found an efficient method to get things done.

"Everything your senior year is based around deadlines, so you have to manage your time,'' said Fretwell. "You have to be organized. I pick up scholarships, I write them down in my planner--this is what I have to do, and this is when it's due."

Katie's family has been through the financial aid routine before. Her brother started college four years ago. But the process has become a little easier. That's because you can now complete FAFSA online.

If they do it by paper, it takes about 6 to 8 weeks vs. 4 to 5 days online," said Culver-Stockton College financial aid director Tina Wiseman. "So it's a much quicker process to do it online. And it also helps accuracy-wise. It brings up certain questions at a time, and it just moves you through the FAFSA process. It's a much easier process.

You'll want to make sure you type in the correct Web address. Fafsa.com, for example, charges $80 to file the form. Instead, log on to fafsa.ed.gov. It's free and there's always help available.

"I think you just have to take it step-by-step. And you have to use your financial aid office,'' said Wiseman. "Use your guidance counselor. They will guide you through the process."

And that step-by-step process has paid off for Katie. She has just been selected to receive a "Pillars Scholarship" to Culver, which pays full tuition.

By the way, a FAFSA isn't the only thing you'll want to complete to get as much financial aid as possible.

Tina Wiseman says there's a lot of money and scholarships out there that go unclaimed every year. She recommends searching online to find scholarships unique to you. One of the Web sites that can help you do that is fastweb.com. 

You can use that site to build a profile. The Web site will sort through scholarships to find ones that you qualify for.

For example, she says there are scholarships out there specifically for left-handed people, those of a certain religion, even scholarships for students who like Arabian horses.

Pell Grants will increase from $4050 to $4310 a year per student.

The amount of money available through subsidized Stafford loans also will go up.

And the Federal Reserve is considering reducing interest rates for those loans during the next four years.

Wiseman says the FAFSA is basically a snapshot of a family's financial situation at that point in time.

It looks at the previous year's student and parent tax returns, assets, investments, and number in household.

Wiseman says she always encourages families to file the FAFSA whether they need the money or not to prepare for the unexpected.

Job loss, divorce or a death in the family can make a difference in your financial situation.

Wiseman says if anything like that happens during the academic year, you should inform the student's financial aid office.

**Viewer response: We received this e-mail from another scholarship-related website vendor that was not cited in the story.

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The article also cited fafsa.ed.gov and fastweb.com as websites students could use to find scholarships. These are indeed useful sites, but there is another website with numerous scholarship tools for students. Scholarships.com is the #1 non-sponsored result at search engine giants such as Google and Yahoo for the term "scholarships". It helps students find scholarships that are directly related to them, look up tuition costs, and find articles with tips on the college experience.

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