FAFSA
Free Application for Federal Student Aid
What is the FAFSA?
FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. When colleges receive the results of your FAFSA, they know how much financial aid you need to receive in loans, grants and scholarships. FAFSA is the number one way a student qualifies for money for college. NOTE: The application is FREE. You should not pay to fill out the FAFSA.
Why do I need to apply?
It's the gateway to more than $150 billion in college grants or scholarships (money you don’t have to pay back), work-study funds (money you earn from a campus job), and federal student loans (money you borrow and have to pay back), as well as certain state-based aid. Some private scholarships require a FAFSA as part of their application process. Some schools may not offer merit aid (non-need-based aid) if a student does not fill out a FAFSA. As long as you file the FAFSA, you have a chance of getting some form of gift aid. The earlier you apply, the more money you have a chance to qualify for. Don’t wait! Funds from schools are awarded according to your need, and the date your FAFSA is completed.
How do I Apply?
Request a FSA ID (Federal Student Aid Identification) https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch
- A FSA ID will be required for the student and the parent/guardian. Because your FSA ID is equivalent to your signature, parents and students each need to create their own FSA IDs using their own email addresses and phone numbers. To determine which parent(s) will need FSA IDs, use this form. For additional help, consult this worksheet or video.
Complete your FAFSA: https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa
- You will probably need help from a parent, guardian or the person who files the taxes for your household. The FAFSA uses income information from the tax year two years prior, so if your family's financial situation has changed recently, contact the Financial Aid Office at the college(s) you are applying to directly. After the student and parent(s) provide consent to the Direct Data Exchange, the Federal Tax Information (FTI) will be linked to the application contributor. Federal Student Aid (FSA) will then directly transfer FTI from the IRS into the FAFSA form. Consent is required to calculate the student's aid eligibility. If any party to the FAFSA form does not provide consent, submission of the form will still be allowed, but students will only be eligible for unsubsidized loans.
What materials do I need so I can easily fill out the FAFSA?
- FSA IDs for student and parent
- Social Security numbers for student and parent(s)
- Federal Tax Return for the prior-prior year (so to apply for the ‘24-25 school year FAFSA, you will need 2022 tax returns)
- Records of untaxed income
- Cash/savings and checking account balances
- Investments other than the home in which you live
What if my parent does not have a Social Security Number?
Parents who are not U.S. Citizens or Eligible Noncitizens can use their Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to create an FSA ID.
How can I get help completing my FAFSA?
https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/help
Common misconceptions parents have about filling out the FAFSA:
- Parents mistakenly believe that if they refuse to file, the school will declare the student independent and pick up the parent's share of the college costs.
- Parents mistakenly believe that by submitting the FAFSA, they are obligated to provide support or take out loans. The government simply takes your information from the FAFSA, plugs it into a formula, and comes up with your SAI (Student Aid Index). The SAI is what the government uses to determine how much federal student aid the student would receive if the student attended college
- Some parents refuse to fill out financial aid forms because they think they won't qualify, are concerned about privacy, or don't want their children to know how much they earn. There’s no income cut-off to qualify for federal student aid. Many factors besides income are considered. Your eligibility is determined by a mathematical formula, not by your parents’ income alone.
- Filling out the FAFSA does not open parents up to additional taxes, or commit them to paying for college. It is simply an evaluation of your family’s ability to contribute. Students whose parents refuse to file will be ineligible for need-based grants and some scholarships (which you do not have to pay back).