Updated October 2024
Understanding FAFSA and Unlocking More Financial Aid
What Does FAFSA Stand For?
FASFA is the acronym for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. This application is used to determine a student’s eligibility for federal financial assistance or aid programs. Federal Student Aid, a division of the US Department of Education, is in charge of administering the FASFA.
For students claimed as dependents on parent tax returns, parental financial information is required to complete the application. For FAFSA purposes, a parent refers to the legal parent, who may be the biological or adoptive parent(s).
Student and parent(s) will need to work together through this process.
Important Things to Know About the FASFA
Regardless of your family’s financial situation, every individual applying to college or already in college should file the FAFSA. Only students who complete this form will be considered for need-based financial aid. The FAFSA is your starting point for federal grants, the federal work-study program and federal student loans.
Equally important, many schools will require completion of FAFSA in order to access their merit-based institutional aid. And currently, schools are the primary source of student aid dollars, accounting for nearly 50% of all aid, so completing FAFSA is key to getting more financial help to cover college costs.
To obtain student aid for each school year, you must complete the FAFSA. You can find the FAFSA and submit it at www.fafsa.gov.
Do your best to make sure all of the information you supply is accurate. Incorrect information will jeopardize your financial aid eligibility.
Once you file your FAFSA, Federal Student Aid distributes your documentation to the future colleges you list on your application (for new students) or sends to your current college (for returning students.)
Qualifying for Financial Aid
The financial information provided in your FAFSA is used to determine your family’s Student Aid Index (SAI). Prior to 2024, the SAI was previously known as the Expected Family Contribution or EFC.
According to Federal Student Aid, the Student Aid Index is “an index number used by financial aid professionals when creating an aid offer.”
Said another way, the SAI is used to help determine your family’s potential eligibility for need-based financial aid.
The Student Aid Index has a range of -1500 to 99999.
The lower the SAI (including a negative number) the higher the likelihood your family qualifies for need-based financial aid, including Pell Grants. The higher the SAI, the less likely your family will qualify for need-based financial aid.
For a little more insight about the SAI and where your family income falls in relation to financial need, the team at The College Investor created a handy reference chart – view here.
Keep in mind, ultimately schools craft financial aid offers based on several factors, SAI is just one of those factors.
Since FAFSA is filed on an annual basis, your SAI will be recalculated each year as well.
Types of Financial Aid
Financial aid comes in several forms, including grants and scholarships, work-study, and loans.
One of the most important distinctions to keep in mind as you maneuver through financial aid is understanding which aid is gift aid and which aid is loans or borrowed money.
Gift aid does not require any repayment and helps you lower your out-of-pocket college costs.
Loans require repayment and do not lower your college costs.
Grants
The most well-known of all the federal grants include Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, Pell Grants, TEACH Grants and the Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants.
Work-Study
Part-time work for students enrolled in undergraduate, graduate, and professional studies are available. You’ll earn money to help cover part of your school expenses for a fixed number of hours each week.
Federal Student Loans
Loans are available through the federal government, for both students and parents. Federal student loans usually have more advantages than private loans received from banks or other private lending sources. (Private student loans are not part of the FAFSA process and have their own applications and requirements.)
When Is FAFSA Due?
The form is available starting October 1 of each year and you must submit it by June 30th. However, because awards are given on a first-come, first-serve basis, it’s important to complete and submit the application as soon as possible.
Important Update: For the 2025-2026 academic year submission, FAFSA will be available on December 1, 2024, not October 1.
The change in opening date for FAFSA is related to the recent FAFSA Simplification Act, which included modifications to the form and an effort to streamline the form by the Department of Education in 2023-2024. Unfortunately, the update was beset by problems and errors, in-turn leading to delays in the form being available for families to complete in 2023 and 2024.
Who Is Eligible for FAFSA?
Students enrolling at approved institutions (in the United States, Canada, or elsewhere) are eligible for federal student funding. You must also be a citizen of the United States or a qualifying noncitizen, as with a permanent resident.
How Much Financial Aid Can Students Receive?
Each student will receive a financial aid package based on a variety of factors, including the school’s cost of attendance, Student Aid Index, enrollment status (full-time, part-time) and the class year in school.
Following the submission of the FAFSA, each institution to which the student provided the Federal School Code on their FASFA and is subsequently offered admissions, will establish a financial assistance package and send a financial aid award letter outlining the types and amounts of aid that are available for the student.
How to File the FAFSA
To begin the process, you must first create a new FSA ID. This is your valid electronic signature, consisting of a login and password. This is a requirement in order to log into the Federal Student Aid online portal and complete the FAFSA application.
Make a note of your FSA ID as well. You will need it to log in and track your application throughout the application process.
To view a sample FAFSA form, click here for a pdf version from the Federal Student Aid website.
Important Steps to Follow for a Smoother FASFA Application Process:
Gather Your Documents ahead of time
You’ll need basic information such as your name, address, and date of birth, as well as your financial information. You may need the following additional information or documentation to complete the FAFSA, depending on your situation and dependency status:
- Social security number
- If you are not a US citizen, your alien registration number
- Your driver’s license number (optional)
- Your tax returns, including W-2s for parents and students*
- Account statements for your checking and savings account balances, and any investments you have**
- Records of your tax-free or untaxed income (example; workers compensation)
*You will use tax returns for the prior-prior year (from two years ago.) For example, if completing FAFSA for the 2025-2026 school year, you will provide tax information from the 2023 tax year.
**Use dollar values from most recent account statements.
Create an FSA ID
If you’ve never submitted a FAFSA before, you’ll need an FSA ID, as well as a password and username if you’re filling out the form online. Students and parents need to have an FSA ID.
To create this ID, you’ll need to submit your social security number and full name. Once you obtain your FSA ID, you will use it to submit a new FAFSA each year.
Complete Your Application
For the online version, if this is your first time using the application, click “Start Here.” If you already filed the FAFSA for the previous school year, you must renew it by clicking “Login.” If you need to leave the application before finishing it, you can use the “save” option to keep what you’ve entered without having to file it.
List One or More Schools
You have the option of sending your FAFSA information to up to 20 schools if completing FAFSA online, or up to ten schools if completing the paper version.
The order in which you list the schools on the FAFSA does not matter when applying for federal student aid. However, some states need you to list them in a specific order to be considered for state funding. You can check your state’s FAFSA filing order requirements here.
To get your FAFSA information sent off to schools, you’ll need to provide the school’s code, which you can usually search for in FAFSA or on the financial aid page of each school.
Sign and Hit Submit
When you’ve finished your application, sign your application with your FSA ID (if you’re doing a digital copy).
If choosing not to submit electronically, you can print the document, sign it, and mail it to the address on the signature page.
Monitor Your Application Status
After submitting your FAFSA form, you’ll get an email confirming that your application was received successfully (if completing it online.)
The next step is to wait and check the status of your application to confirm that it is complete, and to make any necessary modifications or edits.
What Happens After You Submit the FAFSA?
The FAFSA Submission Summary Report will arrive up to three days after the FAFSA is submitted electronically. This document outlines the information your family provided on the form. It also contains some basic details about your eligibility for financial aid, including your anticipated federal student loan and Pell Grant eligibility. The report also notifies you if you’ve been chosen for verification and will therefore need to provide additional information.
It may take up to two weeks to get your FAFSA Submission Summary Report if you filed the FAFSA via regular mail.
A copy of your FAFSA Submission Summary Report will be sent to each of the institutions included on your FAFSA, you do not need to separately submit the Report to colleges.
To view a sample FAFSA Submission Summary Report, click here for a pdf version from the Federal Student Aid website.
Accept Your Offer
Schools will send a financial aid award letter directly to admitted students, usually in early spring.
The cost of attendance for one academic year, your Student Aid Index and the proposed amount of financial aid you will receive, should all be included in each award letter, as well as clearly identifying gift aid separately from loans.
However, award letters are not uniform in their layout or terminology, so you may need to spend extra time reviewing the letters as you try to compare schools and their aid offers.
And while loans are pretty standard in financial aid packages, you do not have to accept them or accept them in full. If a school is too reliant on loans in their aid package, contact the school to discuss your concern. Consider reaching out to the Admissions Office first, especially if you already have competing aid offers from other schools, then the Admissions Office can work with the Office of Financial Aid to potentially consider other options.
Once you have accepted your financial aid package, your federal and state financial aid dollars will be sent directly to your institution, which will then utilize the funds to pay for tuition and other expenses. If there is money left over, it will be put into the student’s account (if direct deposit was selected) or mailed in the form of a check.
Maintain Student Eligibility for Financial Aid
Financial aid eligibility is not open ended.
Most schools will require that students maintain satisfactory academic progress, such as a minimum grade point average, as well as remaining enrolled at least part time.
The FAFSA does not renew automatically each year, it must be resubmitted for each year of college attendance.
You should also resubmit the FAFSA each year as close to the form availability date (October 1) as possible.
What Does FAFSA Really Stand For?
Financial aid is an integral part of paying for college today, an important way to reduce your overall college cost of attendance.
FAFSA is your access point to financial aid. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid opens the door to federal and state aid dollars, as well as to the institutional scholarships and merit awards for many schools.
Completing FAFSA for every year of college can help cover more of your family’s college costs.
Checkout the Federal Student Aid FAFSA resource page for additional information.
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