The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as the FAFSA, is your key to unlocking hundreds or thousands of dollars in aid to pay for college. If you’re a college-bound senior or a current college student, this guide is your one-stop-shop for all things FAFSA, including what to know, how to fill it out and how to troubleshoot common errors.
Hanneh Bareham specializes in everything related to personal and student loans and helping you finance your next endeavor. She aims to help others reach their collegiate and financial goals through making loans easier to understand.
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What to know about the FAFSA
The FAFSA is the form that students need to fill out to apply for federal or state-based financial aid. The form uses your family's financial portfolio, including income, household size and total assets to determine your expected family contribution (EFC) — which in turn helps colleges assess how much financial need you have. The application is free and is not credit-based.
Only U.S. citizens and eligible noncitizens may receive federal aid through the FAFSA, but DACA students can still fill out the form to potentially receive state or institution-specific aid. While most of the financial aid available from the government is need-based, unsubsidized federal student loans are offered to all borrowers, so students from all financial backgrounds should seek federal aid through the FAFSA. To remain eligible, students need to fill out the application every year.
Types of aid available through the FAFSA
By filling out the FAFSA, students gain access to potentially thousands of dollars through grants, student loans and more.
Grants
Grants are a type of free money based on financial need. Federal and state grants are available through the FAFSA.
Features
Most common federal grant is the Pell Grant
Grants are usually awarded based on financial need
State grants may have early or different deadlines
If your parents are separated or divorced, you'll have to put both parents' information if they live together — but if they don’t, you need to include information on only one parent.
Only include your custodial parent’s information
If both share custody, list the one that financially supports you the most
If both support you equally, list the one you've lived with more in the last 12 months
If you live with a foster parent or a legal guardian, you’re automatically considered as an independent student on the FAFSA, which means you’ll be eligible for additional aid.
Fill out using only your information
List a family size of one if you don’t have dependents
You don’t need your foster parent or guardian’s signature
If they don’t have a Social Security number, write “000-00-0000”
If they didn’t file a tax return, check “Not going to file”
You won’t qualify for federal aid as a DACA student, but you should still fill out the FAFSA, as this will determine your eligibility for state and institutional aid.
You’ll need a Social Security number to fill out the form
You’ll have to provide your parents’ information
If your parents don’t have a Social Security number, write “000-00-0000”
If your parents are missing or incarcerated, you left home due to an abusive family environment or you're between the ages of 21 and 24 and experiencing homelessness, you can request a dependency override. By doing this, you won’t have to include your parents’ financial information — just yours — and you could be eligible for additional aid.
You’ll fill out the form as usual, skipping Step Four and Five
Contact your school after submitting the form to request the override
You’ll need to provide proof of your situation (police reports, incarceration records, etc.)
If you’re an emancipated minor at the time you fill out the FAFSA, you don’t have to put your parents’ financial information, as you’ll be considered an independent student.
Answer “yes” to the question on whether you’re emancipated
You’ll skip Step Four and Five and provide only your financial information
If your income is limited, you may be eligible for additional aid
If one of your parents has died — even if it was recently — you can’t include their financial information in the FAFSA. If both of your parents have died, you’ll automatically be considered an independent student, even if you’re under the age of 24.
You’ll put only the financial information of your surviving parent
If both parents have died, answer “yes” to that question in Step Three, skipping Step Four
If either of your parents die after filling out the FAFSA, contact your financial aid office
If your parents never got married, how you fill out the form will depend on whether they still live together or not.
If they live together, check “never married” in Step Four and include information for both of them
If they live separately, list only the income of your custodial parent
If they live separately but share equal custody, list the income of the one that supports you the most financially
If your parents are married, fill out the form with information from both of them
If your parents are unmarried and living separately, you’ll include only the information of your custodial parent
If your parents are unmarried and living together, you’ll include information from both of them
Completing the FAFSA
What to know before filling out the FAFSA
FAFSA applications open on Oct. 1 for the upcoming academic year and close on June 30 of the academic year for that award. For instance, the 2022-23 FAFSA opened on Oct. 1, 2021 and closes on June 30, 2023. However, each state and school has its own deadline that you must adhere to. Although you’ll have plenty of time to fill it out, it’s always best to do it as soon as possible, since some aid is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.
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What to know while filling out the FAFSA
The FAFSA takes about 30 minutes to complete. To fill it out, you’ll need your FSA ID, Social Security number or Alien Registration Number, driver’s license and most recent federal tax information. If you’re a dependent student, you’ll also need your parents’ Social Security numbers and tax information.
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What to expect after submitting the FAFSA
It can take anywhere from three to 10 business days for the U.S. Department of Education to process your FAFSA. Once that happens, the department will send both you and the schools listed on your application your Student Aid Report (SAR), which summarizes your application. If you need to make corrections, you can edit your information on the FAFSA website or by sending a written request by mail. Your actual award offers, including offers for loans or work-study, will be included in the financial aid award letters you receive from colleges when they send out acceptances.
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FAFSA basics
The federal deadline for the FAFSA is June 30 of that award year. For the 2022-23 award year, that deadline is June 30, 2023. However, each state and institution has its own FAFSA due date that may be earlier than the federal deadline. If you need to make changes to your FAFSA after submitting it, you can do so through Sept. 9, 2023, for the 2022-23 award year and Sept. 14, 2024, for the 2023-24 academic year.
Every year, the FAFSA opens on Oct. 1 for the upcoming academic year. If you're planning to enroll for the 2023-24 school year, the FAFSA will open on Oct. 1, 2022.
Because some aid is distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, students can maximize their aid potential by applying as soon as the FAFSA opens.
Much of the aid available through the FAFSA is determined based on your financial need, but some aid — like Direct Unsubsidized Loans — is available to all. Don't falsify your information on your FAFSA or submit inconsistent details to get more aid. These inconsistencies may be caught through a verification process, and deliberate misinformation could result in prison time and/or a fine.
You need to resubmit the FAFSA every year you're enrolled in school if you want to receive more aid. It's not necessary to reapply every semester; your financial aid amount is awarded for the entire academic year based on your initial application.
There is no income cutoff for financial aid through the FAFSA; your family size, assets and basic financial health are also considered in the application, as is the expected cost of attendance at your school.
If you're a dependent student, the financial information from your parents is the primary indicator of how much federal and state financial aid you'll receive. Their financial information is used to determine your expected family contribution, which is then deducted from each school's cost of attendance to determine your financial need.
If you're an independent student, however, you will not need to list your parents' income on your FAFSA.
Filling out the FAFSA will not draft you into the military. While males once had to register with the selective service in order to receive federal aid, the FAFSA Simplification Act eliminated this requirement. The question on the FAFSA regarding selective service registration will be removed from the 2023-24 application.
The Student Aid Report (SAR) is an electronic copy of your completed FAFSA form, which you can reference to view your answers and the schools that will be receiving your information. It also gives you some basic insight about your eligibility to receive federal financial aid.
You can view and print your SAR by logging into your FSA account and selecting the “View SAR” option on the "My FAFSA" page.
When you first fill out the FAFSA, you'll have the opportunity to list up to 10 schools that will receive the results of your application (or up to four schools if you're filling out a paper form). You will need to provide the following information for each:
The school’s federal code.
The school's name.
The school's address and city.
The school's state.
Whether you’ll be living on campus, with parents or off campus.
If you need to add schools after submitting the FAFSA, you can do so online, over the phone or by mail. To do so online, you'll log into your FAFSA portal and click the “Add/Update Schools” option. You can also add schools by contacting the Federal Student Aid Information Center over the phone or by printing your SAR, listing the colleges on the report and mailing it back to the Federal Student Aid address listed.
Formerly known as the FAFSA4caster, the Federal Student Aid Estimator is a free tool powered by the Office of Federal Student Aid that allows you to see how much aid you may be eligible for based on your expected family contribution (EFC). To use this tool, you’ll need provide:
Basic personal information.
Information about the number of people in your household.
Total household income and value of assets from the previous tax year.
This form usually takes between five and 10 minutes. After you've submitted your answers, the tool will give you an estimate of what your EFC will be, which will give you an idea of what types of need-based aid you may qualify for. Keep in mind that this is simply an estimate — you'll still need to complete the FAFSA to determine your actual EFC and receive your aid.
What to do if your federal aid runs short
Federal financial aid may not cover your entire cost of attendance, so it's not uncommon for students to turn to other resources when financing their higher education.
Even before getting results back from the FAFSA, you should actively apply to as many scholarships as you can. Many of these do not require financial need, and they can take a few hundreds or thousands of dollars off of your education bill even after federal aid rolls in.
Once you've exhausted all of those options, it may be a good idea to turn to private student loans. While these are typically considered a last resort for college funding — since they don't come with federal benefits and usually require a co-signer — they may be necessary. If your financial aid letter arrives and you don't have any way to pay for your education after scholarships, grants and federal student loans have been accounted for, compare interest rates from a few private lenders. While rates and terms change regularly, you can get a head start by researching lenders and getting a sense of how these loans work.
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Loan products, terms, and benefits may be modified or discontinued by participating lenders at any time without notice. Rates displayed are reserved for the most creditworthy consumers who enroll to make automatic monthly payments. Your initial rate will be determined after a review of your application and credit profile. Variable rates may increase after consummation. You must be either a U.S. citizen or Permanent Resident in an eligible state and from an eligible school, and meet the lender's credit and income requirements to qualify for a loan. Certain membership requirements (including the opening of a share account, a minimum share account deposit, and the payment of any applicable association fees in connection with membership) may apply in the event that an applicant wishes to apply with, and accept a loan offered from, a credit union lender. If you are not a member of the credit union lender, you may apply and become a member during the loan application process if you meet the lender's eligibility criteria. Applying with a creditworthy cosigner may result in a better chance of loan approval and/or lower interest rate. Loans for exam preparation classes, including, but not limited to, loans for LSAT, MCAT, GMAT, and GRE preparation, are not available via LendKey.com.
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