How to Apply for Federal Student Aid

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Last Updated: April 22, 2023 References

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a centralized way to apply for financial aid for college. Almost all colleges require the FAFSA if you want to get financial aid. Filling out the application is relatively simple if you keep track of the deadlines and gather the financial forms you’ll need before you get started.

Part 1

Part 1 of 4:

Keeping Track of Deadlines

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Apply as soon as you can. A lot of aid money is given out on a first-come, first-serve basis. The earlier you apply in the application cycle, the more—and the better—aid you will get.^{[1]
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- The FAFSA application opens on October 1 of the year before the next school year. If you’ll be attending school in the 2018/2019 school year, you can apply for the FAFSA beginning on October 1, 2017.
- By applying as close to October 1 as possible, you can ensure that you won’t miss any state-specific or school-specific deadlines.
You can submit the FAFSA until June 30 of the summer after the school year. If you attend school in the 2018/2019 school year, you can apply for the FAFSA up until June 30, 2019. However, this deadline is meaningless. Every state, and every school, has its own deadlines for applying for the FAFSA. You need to meet those deadlines if you want to receive financial aid.^{[2]
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Check for state-specific deadlines. Every state has its own deadlines for when you must complete the FAFSA if you want to qualify for state aid. Use the tool at https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/fafsa-deadlines to find the deadline for the state where you’ll be applying to school.^{[3]
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- If you’re applying to schools in more than one state, check the deadlines for each state and make sure you get the FAFSA in by the earliest deadline.
- Remember, you’ll be in the best shape if you apply as close to October 1 date as possible.
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Check for school-specific deadlines. Contact the financial aid offices of each school you’re applying to get their FAFSA deadlines. Many schools have their own deadlines for when you must complete the FAFSA. Two schools within the same state may have different deadlines, so it’s important to check with each school you’ll be applying to.^{[4]
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- There is no tool on the FAFSA website to check individual schools’ deadlines.
- School-specific deadlines are often earlier than state-specific deadlines.
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Part 2

Part 2 of 4:

Gathering Documents

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Determine your dependency status. Go online to https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/filling-out/dependency#dependency-questions and look through the list of questions there. If you can answer “yes” to any of the questions, you are an independent. This matters for one reason: you’ll probably get more aid if you’re an independent. As an independent the FAFSA will only ask for your own financial information when calculating your aid; as a dependent you’ll have to provide your parents’ financial information as well, and this will usually bring down your overall aid package.^{[5]
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- You’ll be asked questions to determine your dependency status on the FAFSA. However, it’s good to know it ahead of time so you know what documents you’ll need to complete the FAFSA. If you’re a dependent, you’ll need your parents financial information as well as your own.
If you’re a US citizen, you’ll need your social security number to enter into the FAFSA application. If you’re not a US citizen, the FAFSA will ask for your alienage registration number.^{[6]
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Gather your tax information from the previous year. You’ll need your Federal Tax Return as well as copies of any W2s.^{[7]
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- Depending on when you apply for the FAFSA, you can use the prior year’s tax returns or the prior-prior year’s tax returns. For example, if you apply on October 1, 2017, you can use your 2016 tax return. If you wait to apply until May 1, 2018, you can either use your 2016 tax return or your 2017 tax return.
- Request copies of your W2s if you don’t have them on hand.
The FAFSA will ask you how much money you have in your bank account and the value of any investments you have. For purposes of the FAFSA, “investments” means stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and retirement plans.^{[8]
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Ask your parents for their financial information. If you’re a dependent, you’ll need your parents’ Federal Tax Return, W2s, bank account statements, and investment information.^{[9]
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- Tell you parents why you need the information. For example, you might say, “I want to go to college and I’ll probably need financial aid. The FAFSA asks for parental financial information and I can’t get any financial aid without it.”
- If your parents are hesitant to hand over copies of their financial information, tell them that they can enter the information themselves on the FAFSA website.
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Part 3

Part 3 of 4:

Filling out the Application

Go online to https://fafsa.gov/. This is the only website you should use when applying for the FAFSA. Other sites may be scams trying to get your personal information.^{[10]
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Get your FSA ID. Look at the top of the fafsa.gov page for the lock icon that says “FSA ID” underneath it. Click on the lock. On the new page, scroll down to the button reading “Create an FSA ID Now.” Click the button. On the new page, fill in your personal information and click “Finish” to generate your FSA ID.^{[11]
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- Write your FSA ID somewhere that you remember. Ideally, this should be somewhere on your computer so you can simply search for “FSA ID” and it will show up. You’ll be using this same ID every year you apply for the FAFSA and it’s a hassle trying to get a new one if you lose it.
Go back to https://fafsa.gov/ and click on “Start a New FAFSA.” Click on “Enter your (the student’s) FSA ID,” and enter your FSA ID and password.^{[12]
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The application will ask for basic information like your name and address, as well as financial information. Use the tax forms, bank statements, and investment documents that you gathered earlier to fill out the financial information.^{[13]
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Enter the schools to which you’ll be applying to. There will be a screen that asks what schools you’re apply to. You’ll see a dropdown menu that lists each state. Select the state where the school you’ll be applying to is located. You’ll see another dropdown menu appear that lists all of the schools in that state. Select you school.^{[14]
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- If you’re applying to more than one school, click on “Add Another School,” and repeat the process.
- If you decide to apply to more schools later on, you can log back in to your application and add these schools.
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Fill in your parents’ financial information. If your parents provided you with the necessary documents, you can fill out this section by yourself. Otherwise, you’ll have to have your parents log-in to your application to enter the information.^{[15]
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- Tell your parents to go to https://fafsa.ed.gov/ and click on “Login.” They won’t be able to use your pin to log-in. Instead, tell them to click on the button labeled “Enter the student’s information.” They’ll need to enter your full name, social security number, and date of birth. Then they can enter their financial information into the application.
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Submit the FAFSA application. Once you have everything filled correctly, click “Submit.”
- Double-check that everything on your application is correct before submitting.
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Part 4

Part 4 of 4:

Getting Your Financial Aid

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Wait for your Student Air Report (SAR) to arrive. After you submit the FAFSA, your financial information will be analyzed to determine how much aid you qualify for. A SAR report will be sent to you for review. It usually takes about 3-5 days to arrive.^{[16]
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- Review the SAR carefully to check for any errors you or the government may have made on the form.
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Check your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The EFC will appear on the front page of your SAR. It tells you how much your family is expected to contribute to your educational expenses. Your aid will be reduced by the amount of your EFC.^{[17]
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- Note: this only applies if you are a dependent. If you’re an independent, you will likely have no EFC unless you are independently wealthy.
- If you think your EFC it too high, contact the financial aid office at one of the schools you are applying to. They can help you determine if there has been an error or if an unexpected circumstance, such as a sudden drop in your family’s income, might change your EFC.^{[18]
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The FAFSA should automatically be sent to every school you put in the application. However, you should double check that this happened by calling each school’s financial aid department. You don’t want to miss out on any first-come, first serve aid.
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Accept or reject your financial aid. Each school that you are accepted to will send you a financial aid package that tells you what financial aid your qualify for. You should only accept as much financial aid as you need to pay for school. You may be offered more than you need.^{[19]
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- There are three types of aid you may be offered: 1) Grants/scholarships; 2) Loans; 3) Work Study. Grants and scholarships do not need to be repaid. Loans do need to be repaid. Different types of loans will be offered to you depending on your financial circumstance. Work Study aid requires you to work for the school in some capacity, and you will be paid for this work so it does not be to be repaid.^{[20]
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You need to resubmit the FAFSA every year. If your personal and financial circumstances haven’t changed, this will just be a matter of scrolling through the application and clicking “Submit.” If something has changed, however, you’ll need to amend your application before you submit.^{[21]
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Question

Who contacts you after you apply for the FAFSA?

LibArtsPremed18

Top Answerer

You should get an emailed confirmation from the Department of Education that you have submitted the FAFSA. Then any colleges you have requested your FAFSA be submitted to and applied to will get in touch about how much financial aid they can offer you. Usually that won't come until you have been accepted by that school.

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Question

My parents are not U.S. Citizens and live abroad, but I am a U.S. citizen. Do I qualify for the FAFSA?

LibArtsPremed18

Top Answerer

Whether you qualify or not can be a complicated matter. If you start the FAFSA on the federal aid website, it will tell you based on your initial answers whether you are eligible to receive federal aid or not. Filling out the FAFSA, even if you cannot receive federal aid, can still help schools determine how much aid they can give you.

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