FAFSA

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