What is the FAFSA?
A Student's Guide to Applying for Financial Aid
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FAFSA Overview Eligibility How to Apply Timeline FAQsThe Free Application for Federal Student Aid, , is the one-stop application for aid from the federal government, state governments, and colleges you want to attend. Every year, the Federal Student Aid office provides more than to help students across the country pay for college. Some scholarships and other funding options also require you to submit the FAFSA as part of the application process.
Common misconceptions about the FAFSA cause millions of students to leave free college funding on the table each year. and their families do not complete the FAFSA because they think they won't get any financial aid, aren't interested in student loans, or are confused about the application.
However, the majority of students do qualify for some type of financial aid, which includes gift-aid like grants and scholarships alongside the work-study program and low-interest student loans. Nearly pursuing their first degree use federal financial aid to pay for college, and completing the FAFSA is the first step in applying for these funds.
As tuition costs continue to rise, securing financial aid remains one of the most important factors in being able to attend college. The process can seem daunting at first 鈥� that's why we've created this guide to help you figure out how to apply for financial aid, what kind of funding you might get, and how to use financial aid to minimize student debt.
- Free Application for Federal Student Aid, the one-stop application for aid from the federal government, state governments, and colleges you want to attend.
How Does the FAFSA Work?
The FAFSA asks for information about your income, family size, how much money you have, and other factors that help determine your aid eligibility. It also asks which schools you want to receive your aid application.
The U.S. Department of Education sends your FAFSA to each college you listed, and these schools use it to determine how much financial aid you qualify for. This calculation is based on the cost of attendance (COA) at that school and your Expected Family Contribution (EFC), or how much you and your family can afford to pay.
In order to receive a financial aid award, you'll need to be accepted to the college, but you can still list a school even if you haven't applied yet. Each school you are accepted to will send you a financial aid award package to tell you how much gift aid, work-study funding, and federal student loans you can receive if you choose to enroll at that school.
Many incoming undergraduate students are considered dependent, which means their parents' income will be factored into their aid eligibility. Students who are older than 24, married, have children, or enroll in graduate school are considered independent, and their aid eligibility is based only on their income. Both types of applicants can get financial aid.
The Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is one of several factors 鈥� along with your enrollment status, your year in college, and the total expense of attending your school 鈥� that is used to calculate how much federal financial aid you are eligible to receive. Your EFC is determined by the answers you provide in the FAFSA form regarding your (or your parents') income, assets, family size, and the number of family members attending college. If your or your parents' income is less than $27,000, your EFC is automatically set at 0. However, if you are an independent student, you must have dependents other than a spouse to qualify for the zero EFC.
Schools subtract your EFC from the Cost of Attendance (COA), which includes tuition, books, room and board, and more, to determine how much aid you are eligible for.
However, many families find they end up spending more than the EFC for a student's college education. Since the term "Expected Family Contribution" is somewhat misleading, it will be changed to .
Although the Pell Grant is typically limited to undergraduate degrees, graduate students are still eligible for federal aid through FAFSA. Students looking to enroll in graduate school may still qualify for the TEACH Grant, the work-study program, direct unsubsidized loans, grad-PLUS loans, and funding from their state and school.
Graduate students can minimize their student loans by seeking out scholarships, research grants, or part-time work related to their degree through their university. Some graduate students choose to earn their master's or doctorate online through part-time or accelerated programs that allow them to continue to work while earning their degrees. To help students decide whether a graduate degree will be financially worth it, we've to access the FAFSA form. You can start your application, save it, and finish it later if you need to. You can also website includes a number of practices, guides, and resources to consider. The College Board Opportunity Scholarships program also includes FAFSA completion help. Students can learn more at , where Wyatt 鈥� a free, SMS-based chatbot, offers personalized, easy-to-understand guidance through the FAFSA process, 24/7."
You've Submitted the FAFSA 鈥� What Happens Next?
Completing the FAFSA is one of the biggest and most exciting steps students take towards making their college plans a reality. While it feels good to be able to put the paperwork behind you, you might be wondering what to expect next.
After you complete the application, it goes to the U.S. Department of Education for processing. If you submit online, it should be processed within three to five days. If you mailed in a physical copy, it should be processed within 7-10 days.
You can check the status of your application by logging into fafsa.gov or the myStudentAid app. If you submitted online, the status of your application will be available right away. If you mailed in a paper copy, the status should be available online around 7-10 days after you mailed it. You can check the status to see if your application is still processing, has been processed, is missing signatures, or if there are any other issues that need attention.
The Department of Education will send you a copy of your Student Aid Report (SAR), either to your email or as a letter, which will include all of the information you submitted on the FAFSA form. Check this to make sure the information you included in your application is accurate. If you notice an error, you'll need to correct your FAFSA. Your SAR will also include your Expected Family Contribution (EFC), which is used by schools to determine how much aid you qualify for.
Some students may be selected for verification, which requires the submission of additional documents to the college to show the information provided on the FAFSA is accurate. Your SAR may say you've been selected, or your school's financial aid office could contact you. This happens less frequently for students who use the IRS data retrieval tool to input their information.
If you're selected for verification, it's best to get the required paperwork in as soon as possible. The process can take anywhere from a few days to four weeks, depending on the student and school.
"If you get a letter that says you've been selected for verification or an email that says there's something missing from your FAFSA, you're not in trouble. Don't feel like it's saying you don't belong or you're not allowed to go to school. Ask for some clarification from your financial aid office, maybe your high school counselor, maybe if you have an older sibling or cousin who's gone through college, ask them about it. Asking questions is the best thing you can do."
After your application is processed, the Department of Education sends your SAR to each college you listed on the FAFSA. If you apply and are accepted to a school, the financial aid office at that school will determine how much aid you can receive based on your EFC and the cost of attendance (COA), a number calculated by the school that includes tuition and fees, room and board, and other educational expenses. They'll award you any federal, state, and school aid that you qualify for, including work-study and federal loan offers.
You should review your aid award and make sure to ask any questions you may have. Some aid packages might be confusing because gift aid and loans are both included in your aid award letter. Ensure you know exactly how much gift aid you are offered, how much it will cost you to attend that college, and how much funding you'll need to borrow in student or private loans to make up the difference.
If you are considering multiple schools, you can weigh each financial aid package's pros and cons to help determine which college is the best choice for you. You will need to accept or decline your financial aid offers by a certain date set by your school.
You must re-submit the FAFSA each year to get financial aid for the next year, and your award may change based on factors such as your age, income, or your year in school. FAFSA renewal is typically a much easier process than the initial application because the form is pre-filled with some information from the previous year. Most students just need to update income and tax information and anything else that has changed. You can log in to the same account using your FSA ID, make any changes, and sign and submit again.
Impacts of COVID-19 on Students and the FAFSA
Many families have gone through significant financial changes since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent survey done by Junior Achievement and the PMI Educational Foundation found that , a free online resource that provides appeal letter templates. Swift Student also provides information on how to ask for additional funding to cover childcare costs, financial emergencies, to purchase a computer for school, and many other financial needs that may not be captured by FAFSA. This resource will walk you through how to ask for an appeal, what information you'll need, and how to submit the letter to your financial aid office.
"Students can always appeal their financial aid award package. If there's any significant change in the household's financial status, students have the right and responsibility to go and appeal their financial aid eligibility because all of that can make a difference between receiving a Pell Grant and not receiving a Pell Grant or being awarded subsidized loans or being awarded an unsubsidized loan. It's really critical that students know that they can always come back and appeal based on circumstances."
For independent students, if you or your spouse is a dislocated worker due to COVID-19 and your household income is less than $50,000, the financial aid office will not include your family's assets in their EFC calculations.
If you are a dependent student and one of your parents is unemployed due to COVID-19 and your family income is less than $50,000, you also qualify for the simplified EFC calculation. This means you could qualify for additional funding.
I'm a Parent or Guardian 鈥� How Can I Help My Child With the FAFSA?
Dependent students are required to provide information about parent income on the FAFSA to determine their aid eligibility. But who counts as a parent?
For the FAFSA, a parent is defined as a biological or adoptive parent or someone who the state has determined to be the child's parent. This means that legal guardians, grandparents, foster parents, widowed stepparents, and other family members will not count as a parent unless they've legally adopted the student.
Students who are considered dependent but are not able to provide parent information should still complete the FAFSA but will need to work with their school's financial aid office to determine what options they have. More information is available on the
Another important thing to note is that parents need their own FSA ID to electronically sign the FAFSA. You'll need to create this using your Social Security number, full name, and date of birth. You'll want to use your full name that is on record with the Social Security Administration.
If you do not have a Social Security number, you should enter all zeros on the FAFSA form where it asks for your SSN. Do not use a Taxpayer Identification Number. You also won't be able to make an FSA ID, so you'll need to sign a physical copy of the application instead of signing electronically. Your child can complete the application online through the federal website and select the option to print a signature page at the end. Print and sign this page, and then mail it to the address on the form. See the for more information on filing the FAFSA for parents who are not U.S. citizens.
As a parent, you have the option to take out a to help cover the cost of your child's education. There are credit history requirements for this loan, and in most cases, you must be the biological or adoptive parent of a dependent student to access this funding. Direct PLUS loans have a fixed interest rate, and this rate changes annually depending on when you take the loan out. The current interest rate is 5.30% for loans disbursed between July 1, 2020, and July 1, 2021.
Frequently Asked Questions About the FAFSA
The Schedule 1 form is used to report income adjustments to tax returns for additional income, such as unemployment payments, capital gains, or alimony payments. One of the FAFSA questions asks whether you (if you're filing as an independent student) or your parents (if you're filing as a dependent student) have filed or will be filing a Schedule 1 with your income taxes. The answer is factored into the calculations for your Expected Family Contribution or Student Aid Index.
Answering the Schedule 1 question has become