Every student who plans to attend a post-secondary school should complete a FAFSA form in order to be considered for scholarships and other financial aid. This is how post-secondary schools decide how much of the sticker price you will actually have to pay, so even if you feel you may not be eligible for aid, you still need to complete this process.
FAFSA typically opens on October 1st each year, but in 2023, the government changed the form, and it wasn't released until the end of December. In 2024, it was supposed to be released on Dec. 1st, but it surprisingly opened on November 22nd.
So keep your eyes open for the date it opens each year as you will want to complete it as soon as possible to be able to have your post-secondary schools get the information early and be able to offer you a bigger piece of their financial aid pie.
Steps for completing this process:
You and each of your contributors (usually your parents/guardians) will need to apply for a FSA ID at https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch
This takes 3-5 days to come back, so complete this in the early fall of senior year and watch your personal email for response
Follow all directions on that site, keeping safe your ID number- you will need this every year that you are in school (master's and doctorate included)
You and your contributors will need to complete a FAFSA form- the videos within the form help walk you through what you need- https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa
You will need to know how much money exactly is in each of your bank accounts on the day you complete the form
Keep in mind that money in a student's account is rated at a higher percentage than money in a contributor's account- students will not want to have more than $7,600 in their name as that may lessen the aid you are able to receive
This website is also helpful to prepare you ahead of time- https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/fafsa-support