FAFSA Application is now open!

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as FAFSA, opened October 1 for the 2023 – 2024 academic year for students attending post high school higher education. Being prepared ahead of time will make completing the application easier. This application NEVER costs money, if a site is stating a cost to submit the form, it is NOT the official studentaid.gov website. Students, as well as parents, need to complete their portion of the FAFSA application every year the student is looking for financial aid, not only for their first year of post high school education. Many schools require this to be completed to be considered for merit (academic or talent) scholarships. Even if you do not feel you will qualify for federal financial aid, still complete the FAFSA form. The student needs to have a FSA ID (Federal Student Aid ID) or create one before starting the FAFSA application. If the student is a dependent on parent's tax return, then one parent also needs to create a FSA ID to complete the application. This ID will be used each year you or your student completes FAFSA; make sure you write down the information you used to set this up for future use. The form takes about 30- 45 minutes per the website to complete.  Experienced parents and students who have gone through the process suggest planning for over an hour. Have the following information gathered before starting will help:

1. Social Security Number of student, along with parents' social numbers if the student is a dependent
2. Driver's license number, if you have one
3. Separate email addresses to use for student and parent portion of the application, makes the process less confusing as update emails get sent
4. Previous year tax returns for student and parents, if the student is a dependent
   • You may be able to retrieve and transfer your tax information automatically into the form by using the Internal Revenue Service Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT)
   • Example: Aid application for 2021-2022, you will need 2019 tax returns
5. Any "untaxed" income records, such as child support interest income or veterans noneducation benefits
6. Cash, savings, and checking account balances at the time of completing the form
7. Other investment balances such as stocks and bonds and real estate, except for your home
8. Print the documents once completed and keep for your records
9. You can save the FAFSA application and return to it should you not have all the information

Once you complete the form and submit it, you will receive an email confirming receipt of the application and that it has been processed. In following years of submitting the FAFSA application, you will be asked for information from previous years application, retain the information you provided to make the job smoother. The federal financial aid information will be included in a school's award letter financial aid offers along with any additional aid the school is providing. If you have applied to more than one school, each financial aid award letter may be different, so review each award carefully to determine the financial aid package being offered. Between scholarships and grants (the FREE money) and federal financial aid (the CHEAP money), the remaining balance is what a family needs to pay. This is the number to consider when comparing schools to attend. For detail information on completing the FAFSA form go to https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out