The FAFSA® (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form is now open!
What is FAFSA & Why is it Important?
FAFSA is the application students must complete to receive federal financial aid to help pay for college or career school. The form is used by schools to determine how much financial aid students are eligible to receive in the form of scholarships, grants, work-study funds, and student loans. Check out this video for more details: WHAT IS FAFSA?
**On December 3rd, there will be a Financial Aid Workshop for ALL SENIORS during Cardinal Connections where they will learn about the different types of Financial Aid and how to apply.**
Ready to get started now?
First, create a student aid.gov account or FSA ID here: https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch
Students and required contributors (parents or anyone who's required to provide info on the FAFSA form) must have a verified account created before completing their section of the FAFSA form. It can take up to 3 days for an account to be verified by the Social Security Administration. NOTE: Parents without an SSN can also create an account to fill out their portion of the FAFSA form.
If the student is not eligible for federal aid due to citizenship or immigration status, including being undocumented, they can apply for state aid with the WASFA Click here to check your eligibility
Which parent needs an account to fill out the FAFSA form? Click this link to help you figure out which parent(s) need to fill out the form: studentaid.gov/fafsa-apply/parents
*IMPORTANT: Parent contributor(s) MUST provide consent and approval for the U.S. Dept. of Education to transfer their tax information to the FAFSA form. If a required contributor doesn't provide consent and approval, students will not be able to complete the form and therefore not be eligible for federal student aid - even if the contributor manually enters tax info into the form. (Even if contributors don't have an SSN, didn't file taxes, or filed outside the US, they will still need to provide consent and approval.)
Completing the Form
After the student completes the FAFSA form, they will electronically sign and submit it. However, the FAFSA form won't be complete until all required contributors (parents) complete their section of the form and give their consent and approval to transfer tax info. Once all required contributors sign and submit the FAFSA, it will be considered complete and submitted for processing.
The student will receive an email confirmation page that shows a completion date and next steps as well as an estimate of their Student Aid Index (SAI), Federal Pell Grant, etc.., these are only estimates. The official SAI will be on the FAFSA Submission Summary which students will receive after the form has been processed.
To keep track of the FAFSA form status, log in to your account and select your FAFSA submission from the "My Activity" section of your account dashboard. Click this link to learn what to expect after submitting the FAFSA: studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/review-and-correct
If you have any questions or need assistance filling out the form, reach out to Mrs. Bruinsma, College & Career Specialist, at abruinsma@fpschools.org
