How do I apply for financial aid?
You should complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as soon
as possible after October 1 of your senior year in high school and after October
1 of each year you are in college. (Note, though, that the form is being updated
in 2023 and will not be available until December.) By completing this application,
you have applied for funds awarded by most federal and state agencies.
Applications
are processed and results are sent to the colleges you listed on the FAFSA.
Your
Student Aid Report (SAR) will be provided to you to confirm data. Your SAR
will arrive by email if you provided a valid email address; otherwise, it
will arrive by regular mail. (Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, the
Student Aid Report will be renamed the FAFSA Submission Summary.)
Your
school will then provide you with an award letter outlining types of aid for
which you are eligible. Further instructions will be included in the letter.
If
the financial aid office has determined that you will need a loan, contact
the financial aid administrator regarding the procedures to apply for federal
loans.
You can also apply for other scholarships and grants for which
you may be eligible outside of the college or university. For more information,
talk with your high school counselor.
When her daughter was applying
to colleges, Mary Crippen says that the financial aid offices provided excellent
materials and online instructions about the aid process.
"I was able
to complete the entire process online using the instructions without assistance
from the financial aid office or paid outside consultants," Crippen says.
Crippen
recommends keeping the family financial records organized for easy tax preparation.
She also says it's important to keep track of deadlines for certain parts
of the process.
If you are filing the FAFSA for the 2023-2024 school
year, you can report 2021 income information on the 2023-2024 FAFSA.
The
FAFSA can be updated with information from a completed tax return at a later
date.
If you have filed your taxes before completing the FAFSA, you
may be able to save time by using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT). This
will also ensure your FAFSA tax information is accurate -- you won't have
to worry about making mistakes since the IRS DRT transfers your tax information
for you. (Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, the DRT will be replaced
by the Direct Data Exchange or DDX.)
For more information,
please go to: StudentAid.gov.