FAFSA: What it is and how to apply

If college, a certificate program or graduate school is on the horizon for you, you might be wondering about financial aid and how to apply for it. If that’s the case, you may want to familiarize yourself with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA®.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, you have to submit the FAFSA form if you want to be considered for federal student aid like federal grants, work-study funding, scholarships and loans. And filling out and submitting a FAFSA form “gives you access to the largest source of aid to help you pay for college or career school.”

Keep reading to learn more about FAFSA and how to apply.

Key takeaways

• FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
• The FAFSA is a form that prospective college students can fill out and submit if they’re interested in federal financial aid.
• Some states and colleges—and even private financial aid providers—might also refer to FAFSA information to determine eligibility.
• The federal FAFSA application for the 2023-2024 school year becomes available October 1, 2023, and is due by 11:59 p.m. CT on June 30, 2024. 

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a free form schools and other organizations use to determine eligibility for federal aid like grants, scholarships, work-study funding and loans. 

Many states and colleges use FAFSA information to award financial aid, too. Some private financial aid providers also use FAFSA information. 

To qualify for federal student aid, students must be a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen and show financial need. Students must also be enrolled or accepted into a certificate program at a college, career school or graduate school.

“There is no income cut-off to qualify for federal student aid,” according to the Department of Education. “Many factors—such as the size of your family and your year in school—are taken into account.” 

So even if you think your family income may be too high, it’s still worth filling out and submitting the FAFSA form to see what you might qualify for.

According to the Department of Education, to be eligible for federal financial aid, students must:

• Show a financial need for need-based federal student aid programs
• Be a U.S. citizen or an eligible noncitizen
• Have a valid SSN; there are a few exceptions to this requirement listed on the Federal Student Aid website
• Be enrolled—or accepted for enrollment—as a student in an eligible degree or certificate program
• Be enrolled at least half time if you want to be eligible for Direct Loan Program funds
• Sign the certification statement on the FAFSA form, which states that you’re not in default on a federal student loan, that you don’t owe money on a federal student grant and that you’ll only use federal student aid for educational purposes
• Show you’re qualified to get a college or career school education

You can show you’re qualified by:

• Having a high school diploma or state-recognized equivalent, like a General Education Development (GED) certificate
• Completing a high school education in a homeschool setting that’s approved under state law
• Enrolling in an eligible career pathway program and meeting one of the “ability-to-benefit” alternatives listed here

There may be additional eligibility requirements in situations where a student is a non-U.S. citizen, is criminally convicted or has intellectual disabilities. And keep in mind that even once you receive your financial aid, “you must make satisfactory academic progress” to maintain it. If you’re not able to do so, you risk losing your financial aid.

The FAFSA is an application process that has to be repeated before each school year to be considered for federal aid like loans, scholarships and work-study funding. The process has a few key steps. 

1. First, you’ll need to fill out and submit your FAFSA application. You can submit a paper form, but electronic can be faster and easier. And remember, you have to fill out and submit the FAFSA form before each school year to see what aid you might qualify for.
2. Once the application is received and processed, you’ll get a Student Aid Report (SAR) that goes over your aid offers. If you’ve been accepted to multiple schools or programs and have multiple reports, you may want to compare the costs and amount of aid to see about how much you’ll owe for each program. This could help you decide which option may work best for you and your family.
3. Once you’ve picked your school or program, your school’s financial aid office will apply the aid to the amount you owe. And you’ll get billed for the rest. If you need extra help paying for college, here are 9 options to consider.

The expected family contribution was based on a student’s family’s “taxed and untaxed income, assets, and benefits (such as unemployment or Social Security),” according to the Department of Education.

But it was phased out starting with the 2024-2025 academic year as part of the FAFSA Simplification Act. Its replacement, the Student Aid Index, is still determined based on information from the FAFSA form.

You must fill out and submit a FAFSA form to be considered for federal financial aid. You can also learn more about the overall college application process. But in general, here are a few steps to help along the way: 

A good first step might be to check deadlines for when the FAFSA form is due. But keep in mind that there’s a federal deadline as well as separate college and state deadlines.

For the 2023-2024 academic year, FAFSA forms must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. CT on June 30, 2024. Any corrections or updates have to be submitted by 11:59 p.m. CT on September 14, 2024. 

But submitting your FAFSA form as early as possible can help ensure you don’t miss potential opportunities beyond federal aid.

You’ll be asked to create a federal student aid ID, or FSA ID, when you fill out the FAFSA form electronically. This is for added security. You’ll also use the FSA ID to sign the electronic form when you submit your FAFSA application. 

To create an FSA ID, you’ll need your SSN and phone number or email address. One of your parents might also need to create an FSA ID to sign off on your FAFSA application. 

If you have questions, you can ask your college or contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center by calling 800-433-3242 or emailing customerservice@studentaid.gov.

To fill out the FAFSA form, go to the official FAFSA website and click one of the two prompts at the top of the screen. You’ll be asked to either log in if you’re a returning user or start a new account. 

Both students and parents must fill out the FAFSA, so you’ll each need your own FSA ID to log in.

You’ll have to respond to a number of questions—some basic, like what your address is, to the more involved, like a detailed look at your family’s financial situation. 

You can get a lot of the financial information from your tax returns. You can even use the IRS data retrieval tool to download that data directly to the FAFSA form in some cases.

You’ll receive a SAR after you submit your FAFSA form. The SAR is an electronic or paper document that goes over the results of your FAFSA application and what your expected college costs might be.

You can access your SAR by signing in to your FAFSA account and selecting View SAR from the My FAFSA page.

The FAFSA can help you see if you qualify for financial aid in the form of grants, loans, scholarships and more. And many states, colleges and private financial aid institutions may also use the information provided in the FAFSA application to see if you qualify for aid they offer. 

Even if you don’t qualify for the aid you were hoping for, remember there are options. Here are 9 to consider that could help you pay for college.