Creating an FSA ID

We strongly recommend you create an FSA ID, a username and password combination that allows you to sign your FAFSA^® form electronically. Your FSA ID also can be used to access the myStudentAid app, sign loan contracts, and access certain information online. While you can get your FSA ID as you’re completing the FAFSA form online, getting it ahead of time and using it to begin your FAFSA form on fafsa.gov or on the myStudentAid mobile app cuts down on errors and delays. Find out how to get an FSA ID and what to do if you forgot your FSA ID.

Important note: If you’re a dependent student, one of your parents whose information is reported on the FAFSA form will also need an FSA ID so that he or she can sign your application electronically. If your parent doesn’t have a Social Security number (SSN), your parent won’t be able to create an FSA ID (which requires an SSN). This means you’ll have to select the option to print a signature page when you get to the end of your FAFSA form on fafsa.gov (this option isn’t available in the myStudentAid app).

Creating your FSA ID before you begin the FAFSA^® form only takes a few minutes and could prevent processing delays. (Plus, you can’t use the myStudentAid mobile app at all without an FSA ID, so you’ll need to create it before filling out the FAFSA form on the app.)

Tip: Use your FSA ID to start your FAFSA form.

When you create your FSA ID, be careful to enter your name and Social Security number exactly as they appear on your Social Security card. Then, if you go to fafsa.gov to start your application and indicate that you are the student, you will be given the option to enter your FSA ID or to enter your “identifiers” (your name, date of birth, and SSN).

If you log in with your FSA ID, certain information (including your name, Social Security number, and date of birth) will be automatically loaded into your application. This will prevent you from running into a common error that occurs when your verified FSA ID information doesn’t match the information on your FAFSA form. Additionally, you won’t have to provide your FSA ID again to sign your FAFSA form electronically or to use the Internal Revenue Service Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT) if you’re eligible.

The student is the one applying for financial aid, so be sure it’s the student entering his or her FSA ID in the “I am the student” tab. Do not start the FAFSA form by supplying the parent’s FSA ID.

Gathering the Documents Needed to Apply

The FAFSA questions ask for information about you (your name, date of birth, address, etc.) and about your financial situation. Depending on your circumstances (for instance, whether you’re a U.S. citizen or what tax form you used), you might need the following information or documents as you fill out the application:

• Your Social Security number (it’s important that you enter it correctly on the FAFSA form!)

• Your parents’ Social Security numbers if you are a dependent student

• Your driver’s license number if you have one

• Your Alien Registration number if you are not a U.S. citizen

• Federal tax information or tax returns including IRS W-2 information, for you (and your spouse, if you are married), and for your parents if you are a dependent student:

  • IRS 1040

  • Foreign tax return, IRS 1040NR, or IRS 1040NR-EZ

  • Tax return for Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or Palau

• Records of your untaxed income, such as child support received, interest income, and veterans noneducation benefits, for you, and for your parents if you are a dependent student

• Information on cash; savings and checking account balances; investments, including stocks and bonds and real estate (but not including the home in which you live); and business and farm assets for you, and for your parents if you are a dependent student

Automatically Transferring Your Tax Information Using the Internal Revenue Service Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT)

The IRS DRT automatically transfers tax information into the FAFSA form. Be sure to consider this option if it’s offered to you. (If you got an extension on filing your taxes and didn’t file until September or October, find out when your tax return information will likely be available using the IRS DRT.)

Here’s how the IRS DRT process works, assuming your tax information is available:

1. The IRS DRT takes you to the IRS website, where you’ll need to provide your name and other information exactly as you provided it on your tax return. Some information will be prepopulated from your FAFSA form.

2. At the IRS site, you’ll see a page that indicates that your tax information is available. (For security and privacy protections, you won’t see the actual information.) You can choose to import your information into the FAFSA form, or you can cancel your request and return to the FAFSA site.

3. If you choose to import your information into the FAFSA form, you’ll find that on the FAFSA site, instead of your tax information being displayed, you’ll see “Transferred from the IRS" in the appropriate fields. You won’t be able to make changes to those answers.

The CSS PROFILE is an application for college financial aid required by about 200 undergraduate institutions. Completing the CSS Profile, short for the College Scholarship Service Profile, can be arduous, experts say.

How to Complete the CSS Profile

Students applying to a college that requires the CSS Profile or families who need financial aid and are interested in schools that use the form should follow these steps below.

Step 1: Make a College Board account. Students who have taken the SAT may already have a College Board account, which can be used to complete the CSS Profile. Sign in or create a profile by going to https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/.

Step 2: Gather the necessary documentation. The CSS Profile requires tax documents from the same year as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, which is required for students interested in receiving federal financial aid. Students who have already completed the FAFSA can use much of the same documentation for the CSS Profile. Families will report their income from two years prior to the year a student plans to attend college on both forms.

However, the CSS Profile is a very in-depth form, so families should expect to need additional documents. These will include most recently completed tax returns; W-2 forms and other records of current year income; records of untaxed income and benefits; assets; and bank statements, according to the College Board.

Step 3: Select colleges. Students have the opportunity to specify which colleges they want to receive their CSS Profile.

Step 4: Complete the application. "In many ways it's going to start off feeling very much the same (as the FAFSA)," says Scott Wallace-Juedes, director of undergraduate financial aid at Yale University in Connecticut. "Tell us about your family, where you live, how old are your parents, do you have other siblings in college. Then it will ask for tax data."

There will also be an opportunity for families to detail any special circumstances. Experts say this is a good place for families to describe anything not apparent on their tax forms or in any other questions, such as the costs of caring for a grandparent overseas or other financial hardships.

Step 5: Submit the application. Families must pay a fee or receive a waiver before the CSS Profile will be sent to colleges.

Step 6: Check back. There may be more instructions after the CSS Profile is submitted. Students should refer back to the College Board's Dashboard to view any necessary action items and to see a payment receipt. After the form is submitted, students can still add colleges where they would like their profile to be sent, though they will be charged for each additional school.