What is FAFSA?

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is used by nearly all colleges and universities to determine eligibility for federal, state, and college-sponsored financial aid. This aid includes grants, educational loans, and work-study programs. To learn more, check out the short video below:

Start by creating a studentaid.gov account (your personal login)

Students and parents must create an individual StudentAid.gov account (login) at least 3 days before they plan to fill out the FAFSA application for tax info to automatically transfer over. Otherwise all tax information will have to manually be entered.  Explore below to get answers to questions about the:
WHAT
WHO and 
HOW of StudentAid.gov 
Or...watch the video below to find out what you will need to create a StudenAid.gov account:
Next, fill out the FAFSA application
​The FAFSA Application requires the following information:
  • Information about the student
  • Information about the student’s dependency status
  • Information about the student’s parents
  • Information about finances
  • A list of the schools that should receive the results of the FAFSA
Reminders and Resources
  • The FAFSA application for aid for the 2025-2026 school year opens December 1, 2024. 
  • College, State (the Opportunity Scholarship, for example) and Private scholarship and aid deadlines may be much earlier than federal deadlines. You should pay attention to your colleges' priority financial aid deadlines. Do the FAFSA application as soon as possible, especially this year.
  • Students MUST have a social security number to do the FAFSA and qualify for Federal Aid. If a parent doesn't have a Social Security Number the student can still fill out the FAFSA. Follow the instructions when creating an FSA ID and fill out the information accurately.
  • For help filling out the FAFSA application watch the FAFSA Walkthrough Video, linked above. Click HERE for a detailed question-by-question guide to filling out the FAFSA.
  • More free help can be found HERE where you can find links to the Help Center and chat with a Virtual Assistant.
  • Remember, filling out the FAFSA application takes a little bit of time but isn't too complicated. You can do it!
  • Still have questions? Stop by the College and Career Center or email [email protected] to talk to the College Access Advisor, Mrs. Chamberlain.