Free Application for Federal Student Aid, also known as FAFSA,
is run by the U.S. government and is used to determine a student's
eligibility for college or university financial aid.
FAFSA Eligibility
To be eligible for FAFSA you must meet
the following requirements:
- You must be a U.S. citizen or eligible
non-U.S. citizen.
- Possess a Social Security Number.
- If you are male between the ages of 18 - 25, have registered
with Selective Service (http://www.sss.gov).
- Have a high school diploma, have passed the GED or an exam
approved by the Department of Education.
- Have been accepted or already enrolled as a student in an
educational institution that participates in the U.S. federal
student aid programs.
- Not have been convicted of a drug offense while you were
receiving federal student aid such as federal grants, student
loans, or work-study.
In addition to these requirements you
must also:
- Not owe a refund on a federal grant or
have defaulted on a federal student loan.
- Demonstrate financial need, with the exception of unsubsidized
federal Stafford loans.
How to Apply for Student Financial Aid
To apply for financial aid, you must first
correctly complete your FAFSA application and provide all
required signatures. Once the application is submitted you
usually need to wait for three to five days while the application
is processed at which point you will receive a Student Aid
Report (SAR), which will summarize the information you reported
on your FAFSA application. Keep a copy of your SAR report
and check it carefully.
You will also need to go over your Expected
Family Contribution (EFC), and if your application is complete
that data will appear in the top right corner of your SAR.
EFC is determined by the financial information you provide.
Check with your school as it will use the EFC to award your
student financial aid.
To learn more, you may want to visit the FAFSA
website (http://www.fafsa.ed.gov). There is detailed information
there on what you should do before filling out your FAFSA
application, how to fill out your FAFSA application, and what
you should do to follow up and check the status of your FAFSA
application.
>> FAFSA
School Codes
>> FAFSA Deadlines
