What is the FAFSA? How to use this form to pay for college

Filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a vital step along the road to college. The FAFSA puts you in the running for federal, state, and institutional financial aid, including grants, work-study options, and student loans.

In the 2022-23 school year, undergraduate students received an average of $15,480 in student aid, according to the College Board. By submitting the FAFSA, you can access valuable financial assistance for college. 

What is the FAFSA?

The FAFSA is a free form that allows you to access federal financial aid and other types of college funding. It collects your personal and financial information (and your parents’ data, if you’re a dependent student) to assess how much you can reasonably contribute toward college. You should submit the FAFSA for each year you attend college.

Schools use your FAFSA information to determine your financial need. They do this by comparing the school’s cost of attendance to your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Your EFC isn’t how much your family must pay for college — instead, it evaluates your family’s financial strength, which takes into account your family’s income, size, and other factors.

After evaluating your financial need, the schools you’ve been accepted into create your financial aid package. Your financial aid award might contain a combination of grants, work-study, and student loans.

What kind of aid does the FAFSA offer?

Submitting the FAFSA can grant you access to three main types of federal student aid:

• Grants: These are a type of gift aid that you don’t have to pay back, and that typically go to students with financial need. The Pell Grant, for instance, is awarded to undergraduate students with exceptional financial need and totals up to $7,395 per student in the 2023-24 school year.
• Work-study: This program provides part-time jobs to college students with financial need. The job may be related to your course of study and will pay at least the minimum federal wage.
• Federal student loans: Federal loans offer relatively low, fixed interest rates and are eligible for a variety of repayment plans, forgiveness opportunities, and other protections. Student loans are available to students with and without financial need.

Some states, colleges, and private organizations also rely on your FAFSA information to administer their own financial aid programs, which could similarly include grants, scholarships, or student loans.

Who should complete the FAFSA?

Everyone who meets the general requirements for federal financial aid should fill out the FAFSA, regardless of their family’s earnings. Even if you think your household income is too high to qualify for grants or work-study, you should complete the FAFSA — some forms of aid aren’t based on financial need. Having this option in your back pocket could be useful if you need a loan or additional funding at some point during the school year.

“99% of all students and families should file the FAFSA,” said Tom O’Hare, founder of Get College Going and senior partner at Pivotal College Years. “Supplying information through the FAFSA allows students and families to be considered for need-based financial aid, which in many cases can be the difference between enrolling or not.”

If you’re a dependent student (most undergraduates are), your parents also need to fill out the form. Independent students, however, can fill out the FAFSA on their own. You might be an independent student if you’re aged 24 or older, married, have your own dependents, or meet other qualifying circumstances.

How to submit the FAFSA

You can complete the FAFSA online at StudentAid.gov. Here are the steps you’ll need to take:

1. Create your Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID

If you haven't already, create an FSA ID to log in to your Federal Student Aid account. Your FSA ID is your unique username and password, and it can’t be shared. Your parents will also need their own FSA IDs if you’re a dependent student.

To create your FSA ID, provide your full legal name, date of birth, Social Security number, and a mobile phone number or email address. Make sure to save your FSA ID somewhere safe so you can easily access your account in the future.

2. Gather necessary information

Next, gather the information you’ll need to provide on the FAFSA. This includes your financial records, such as a W-2 from your employer, banking and investment information, and other paperwork related to your assets. If you’re a dependent student, your parents will also need to provide financial information.

To simplify the process, both you and your parents may be able to use the FAFSA’s IRS data retrieval tool to transfer data from your recent tax returns directly into the form.

You’ll also need to provide information on any untaxed income, savings accounts, business assets, and investments. The FAFSA will also ask about your family size and the number of siblings currently attending college.

3. Complete the form in the FAFSA portal

Once you’ve collected your information, you’re ready to fill out the FAFSA. If you’re a dependent student, there will be two parts to the application — one for the student and one for a parent.

You and your parent will provide demographic and financial information. Don’t worry if you’re not sure about your dependency status — there’s also a section that’ll help you determine whether you’re a dependent or independent student.

You can also list up to 10 schools to receive your FAFSA information.

4. Sign and submit

Your final step is to sign and submit the FAFSA with your FSA ID. Review all your information carefully to ensure there are no errors. You can go back into the form and edit it if you spot any mistakes.

Once everything looks accurate, digitally sign and submit the form. If you’re a dependent student, you only need one parent to sign the FAFSA with you.

5. Await next steps

After submitting the FAFSA, you’ll receive a Student Aid Report (SAR), which will summarize all of the information you provided. At this point, you’ll simply wait to receive your financial aid packages from your schools.

Once your offers start trickling in, you can compare them and evaluate your cost of attendance at each school.

When is the FAFSA deadline?

The FAFSA typically becomes available on October 1 every year, but 2023 is an exception. The newly revised FAFSA will become available in December 2023 for the 2024-25 academic year.

“This change has the potential to shift the entire college admissions cycle, and it is unknown at this date as to how colleges and universities will adjust,” said O'Hare.

The FAFSA typically remains open until June 30, over a year and a half after it opens. However, it’s a good idea to submit the FAFSA as soon as possible, since some financial aid is distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Some states and schools also set specific FAFSA deadlines that are earlier than the federal deadline, so check these due dates and mark them on your calendar. You can find a list of state FAFSA deadlines on the Federal Student Aid website.

You’ll need to submit the FAFSA for every year you’re in school and want to receive aid. Filling out the form will be easier in subsequent years, though, since you can transfer information from the prior year and simply make any necessary updates.

Submitting the FAFSA is the only way to access federal aid, so submit it as soon as you can to avoid missing out on valuable financial assistance for college.