Financial Aid

FAFSA presentation: Award year 2026-2027

FAFSA Completion Workshops at BHS:

-Thursday, Oct. 9th - 3:30-7:00 pm (Drop-In Event)
-Wednesday, Jan. 7th - 10:00am - 2:00 pm (Drop-In Event) - MCPS Teacher Workday

Financial Aid representatives will be available to help families complete and submit the 2026-2027 FAFSA.  Arrive anytime within the designated time ranges and bring: 

• Your chromebook (or personal computer) and all relevant financial and tax information from 2024 for BOTH parent AND student

• StudentAid.gov log-in information for both student and parent

• Social Security Numbers (for both student and parent)

• 2024 tax returns including IRS W-2 information for the student, parent, and spouse (if married)

• Records of your untaxed income, such as child support received, interest income, and veterans’ non-education benefits

• Information on cash, savings, and checking account balances; investments (including stocks, bonds, 529 plans, and real estate but NOT including the home in which you live); and business and farm assets

What is Financial Aid?

Financial aid is a combination of grants, scholarships (money you don’t have to pay back), loans (money you do have to pay back), and work-study funds.  In order to receive financial aid, you must first complete the FAFSA.   

How do I qualify for Financial Aid?

• In order to receive financial aid, you must first complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).  Even if you think you may not qualify for need-based aid (based on financial need), most schools require the FAFSA to initiate the scholarship process (for merit-based aid).

• You must be a US Citizen or eligible non-citizen to qualify for Financial Aid.

• In addition to the FAFSA, some colleges require the CSS profile - only complete this form if the college specifically asks for it.

How do I complete the FAFSA?

The FAFSA is an online application that must be submitted EVERY year you plan to attend college.  Complete the form that matches the academic year you plan to attend:  2025 Grads will complete the 2026-2027 FAFSA - available on Oct. 1

Step One: Create a StudentAid.gov account:

This account allows the student and parent/contributor to provide information on the FAFSA and is required in order to access the FAFSA - both the student AND parent/contributor must have their own separate StudentAid.gov accounts. 

A contributor is:  

• • anyone who is required to provide information, consent and approval, and a signature on the FAFSA form - includes student, student's spouse (if applicable), a biological or adoptive parent(s), and a step-parent (if applicable)

  • Grandparents or other family members taking care of the student are NOT contributors unless they have legally adopted the student or if the court has appointed them as a legal guardian - this is NOT the same as a custody arrangement

    • If the student still has contact with a biological parent, the biological parent is considered the "contributor" unless contacting the parent poses a risk to the student - this situation will require documentation

  • Being identified as a contributor DOES NOT mean the contributor is financially responsible for the student's school costs

  • Use the below tools for additional help:   

    • Am I a Contributor on my Child's FAFSA form?

    • Use the "Who's my  FAFSA Parent?" Wizard Tool

Account Instructions/Tips:

• Both the student and parent will need to know their SSN to create the account - contributors without an SSN are able to create an account (need to indicate that they do not have an SSN)

• Use this worksheet to help you create and record your StudentAig.gov account information

• When creating your account, be very careful to enter the SSN correctly - DO NOT mix-up parent and student SSNs

  • This is a common mistake and is very hard to correct

• Your StudentAid.gov account is used every year the student plans to attend college - DON'T FORGET IT!!!

Step Two:  Gather Needed Documents

The FAFSA won't take long if you have these documents on hand for both the student AND parent/contributor:

• Social Security Numbers (if the contributor does not have an SSN, they can still create an account) - click here for video directions

• Tax returns AND W-2 forms for two years prior - needed for student, parent(s)/step-parent (if applicable)

• Records of untaxed income, such as child support received, interest income, and veterans' non-education benefits

• Information on cash, savings, and checking account balances

• Information on investments - 529 plans, stocks, bonds and real estate

  • you DO NOT include the home in which you live

  • More information about what to include when reporting investments can be found HERE

• Information on business and farm assets

Step Three:  Start the FAFSA - WAIT until 2026-2027 FAFSA is available on Oct. 1

The student and parent portions of the FAFSA are separate - they are linked by SSNs and an email invitation

• Either the student or parent can start the FAFSA and "invite" the other

• Go to the FAFSA website, select "Start New Form" and enter your StudentAid.gov account information

• After logging-in, select your "role" to complete the FAFSA - either "Student" or "Parent" - BE SURE TO SELECT THE CORRECT ROLE FOR THE ACCOUNT USED TO LOG-IN 

• Watch the onboarding videos for an overview of the FAFSA process and begin the application

Step Four:  Complete and Submit the FAFSA

Answer the questions based on the "role" that you selected - either "Student" or "Parent"

• The student will add all schools they would like to receive their FAFSA (can add up to 20 schools)

• Both the student and the parent MUST "approve" to have tax information transferred directly from the IRS onto their FAFSA form - this is a REQUIRED step

• The FAFSA is not complete until BOTH the student AND parent/contributor have completed, signed, and submitted their portion of the FAFSA:

  • One "role" will send an email invitation to the other "role:" to accept the invitation, either the student or parent will click on the "Accept Invitation" link within the email and log-in using their StudentAid.gov account information

Who is a Contributor on the FAFSA?

After the FAFSA - What's Next?

• After the student and parent/contributor sign and submit the FAFSA, you will see a confirmation page that displays the completion date and SAI (Student Aid Index) - a number colleges will use to determine your financial aid package

• Final determination of the student’s financial aid eligibility is provided by each school’s financial aid office 

• If selected for verification, colleges will need additional information to process the student’s FAFSA - it is VERY important that students continue to log-in to their college guest accounts and check email regularly 

• If your current financial situation is significantly different than 2 years ago, contact each school’s financial aid office to request a recalculation due to income reduction 

• Upon receiving the FAFSA (and submitted admissions application), each college will process the information and send the student an "award letter" or "Financial Aid Offer" in the spring.  The award letter details the school's cost of attendance and the amount of financial support the college is able to provide the student in the form of grants, scholarships, loans, and work-study funds.

  • Don't be surprised by the award letter - have a financial aid back-up option

  • Don't want to have "unmet need" and no way to cover the cost

• Award Letters are available in late March/April - use this document to help you compare offers

FAFSA Tips/Resources

• Check each school’s website for their priority filing date (usually between December-March)

  • If  you do not submit the FAFSA to the school by their established date, they cannot guarantee that you will receive any type of aid

• Submit the FAFSA as early as you are able - before the priority filing date if possible

  • Some money runs out and is first-come/first-serve

• In order to remain eligible for the NRCC ACCE scholarship, you must submit your FAFSA to NRCC by Feb. 15  

• The FAFSA is one source of receiving financial support - don't forget to APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS!!!

What about scholarships?

• Blacksburg High School posts scholarships on the Senior Google Classroom as well as the BHS Scholarship Site:     

  • The site is organized by deadline and is updated throughout the year - CHECK IT REGULARLY

  • The scholarships the BHS Counseling Office receives are just the tip of the iceberg - be sure to read the Scholarship Tips section on the BHS Scholarship Site

• Check each school’s financial aid page to find scholarships specific to the institution (typically the best source of aid) - some have a separate required scholarship application

  • Merit based scholarships may have an earlier APPLICATION DEADLINE!

• NEVER pay for scholarship information - this should be a FREE resource

Visit the Federal Student Aid Resource Center for additional tools to help you complete the FAFSA.