The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now available! Filing in early fall is one of the best ways to maximize financial aid eligibility. As a result of improvements to the FAFSA, most people can complete their sections in 15 minutes or less! Below are some tips to help you when filing your FAFSA. Here is the link to the FAFSA Checklist to get you started.
Here is the FAFSA Checklist for Students & Parents
Where to File
Head over to StudentAid.gov to file your FAFSA.
If you haven’t already, the first step is to create a StudentAid.gov account. When you create an account, you’ll set up a username and password that will be used to access the StudentAid.gov site, where the FAFSA is located. All students need their own StudentAid.gov account. If parent information is required on the FAFSA, at least one parent will need their own StudentAid.gov account. To learn more about creating accounts, including who needs one, go to FAMEmaine.com/FAFSA.
Deciding Who Will Start the FAFSA
The FAFSA is role-based, and either the parent (use this tool to see if parent info is required) or the student can start the FAFSA. Whoever starts the FAFSA will “invite” the other person to complete their section of the FAFSA. The invitation process links the student and parent sections of the FAFSA together.
We recommend that you (the student) start the FAFSA and invite your parent(s) simply by providing your parent’s email address when requested. The parent will then click the link in the email they receive to access the parent section of your FAFSA. If your parent starts the FAFSA, they will need to provide your legal name, date of birth, Social Security number, and email address for you to receive the email invitation.
Here is a list of upcoming events on FAME's website. Registration is not required for in-person sessions.
To keep track of your FAFSA account information you can use this document: Account-Info-Sheet.pdf