Many students have heard the term “FASFA” but most have no idea what it does or why. As class of 2025 starts their last year and the rest of you prepare yourselves for the rest of your high school career its detrimental to know pathways and options for college and the FASFA is one of the more commonly known and used in helping aid students with the finances of school. Who should fill out the FASFA? Anyone whose even thought about college has the opportunity to apply because its free! Most people have the impression that the FASFA is only eligible for low income families although that is true even if your family makes $200,000 a year, you could be eligible for aid. Even if your goals include scholarships some merit-based scholarships require a FASFA to determine the amount of scholarship money this applies to many work-study programs as well.
To fill out the FASFA , you need your Social Security number, your Alien Registration number (if you’re not a U.S. citizen), your federal income tax returns, W-2s, and other records of money earned. You may be able to transfer your federal tax return information into your FAFSA form using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. If you encounter technical difficulties, document your issues. This information may be useful when seeking assistance or reporting problems to the Education Department. Your first line of recourse for these issues is to reach out directly to the FSA Office. If you are planning on attending college in the next academic year, you should complete the FAFSA in the fall of your senior year. Be aware that there are three types of FASFA deadlines depending on the college the deadlines may vary by school. Its also important to check your states deadline and lastly the federal FASFA deadline which is the last day the applications will be taken.
Regardless of the deadlines you should send in your FAFSA as soon as you can. There’s a lot of financial aid out there give yourself the best chance to be accepted by applying as soon as possible!
