Applying for Financial Aid

Last year, we held a Financial Aid 101 in collaboration with Davidson College! Please watch the video of the presentation below:

The Free Applictation for Federal Student Aid, or the FAFSA, is how families can apply for federal financial aid. All colleges require the FAFSA in order to qualify for need based financial aid. The FAFSA primarily looks at family income when determining aid eleigibility. This year, the FAFSA is supposed to open on December 1, 2024. It is in your interest to submit it as soon as possible after that date. 

Updates will come here, but for now, please go to this website for more information about the FAFSA: https://studentaid.gov/. 

The CSS Profile is a financial aid form that is used primarily by private colleges, but also by some public schools (including UNC Chapel Hill!). This form is more in depth than the FAFSA and asks questions about families' assets and more detailed questions about a family's income. 

This form will open October 1. Please find more information at this link: https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/

These websites provide a ton of great information about financial aid: 

• FinAid.org: General financial aid information

• StudentAid.gov: Lots of great general financial and information and federal financial aid/ loan information

• U.S. Department of Education: Additional site for information about federal financial aid