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OTTUMWA, IOWA -- For Monday's Facebook story of the day, many of you wanted to know more about financial aid and how students can qualify.

The biggest misconception about financial aid is that households with a certain amount of income cannot qualify. This is not true. Any student can submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form and see what kind of aid they qualify for from certain schools. 

"Everyone should file a FAFSA," Chris Bowser, Director of Financial Assistance at Indian Hills Community College, said. "All eligible students who will be attending a titled four-year or two-year university here in the state of Iowa, or anywhere in the country, really, that receives federal financial assistance is eligable for something. At the very worst, it would be an unsubsidized federal student loan."

Students can also qualify for subsidized loans, grants and scholarships, depending on their financial situation.

Filing a FAFSA form is easy. The form is listed on http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/. Students can list up to ten schools they would like their information to be sent to. Those schools will then send a Financial Aid Award Letter, telling the student what kind of package they qualify for.

Students must resubmit the form each year if they'd like to continue to receive financial aid. And it's always best to file early.

"The funds are not available until the student is actually attending class, but you want to start that process now because, if you think about it, we have 5 to 6,000 students at Indian Hills, but we'll receive 8 to 9,000 FAFSAs," Bowser said. "A lot of folks will submit their application here to see what we can offer them and they use that as a shopping tool as well."

Indian Hills offers Financial Aid workshops where directors will help students with their FAFSA forms for free.

Those with questions in the Ottumwa area can contact Pat Kelly, Director of Educational Opportunity at IHCC, at 641-683-5130.