The FAFSA opens December 1st 2024, for the 2024-2025 school year. Every student/family must complete the FAFSA in order to attend college, and every/student family must complete the FAFSA every year that they are in school. 

1. The 2024-2025 FAFSA opens December 1st 2024. PLEASE COMPLETE ASAP once it comes out.

2. Sit down as a family to discuss financing college using this guide. 

3. We created your FSA ID during Senior Seminar, so now you need to complete the FAFSA.

To apply for federal student aid, such as federal grants, work-study, and loans, you need to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Completing and submitting the FAFSA is free and easier than ever, and it gives you access to the largest source of financial aid to pay for college or career school.

In addition, many states and colleges use your FAFSA information to determine your eligibility for state and school aid, and some private financial aid providers may use your FAFSA information to determine whether you qualify for their aid.

You must be a U.S. citizen or an eligible noncitizen and have a valid Social Security number. You must have a high school diploma or GED certificate. You must be enrolled or accepted as a student in an eligible degree or certificate program. 

The FAFSA application will open December 1st, 2024 for the 2024-2025 school year: 

In order to complete the FAFSA you must do the following:

• You must create your FSA ID. Once you create an ID, fill out this Google Form. (students will complete this during Senior Seminar)

• You MUST know your nine-digit Social Security Number.

• Students: do NOT use your TMA email for the FSAID. Use your current cell phone number. 

• Parents who will provide information for a student's FAFSA, must also create a FSA ID, if you have not done so already.

• You will need your and your parent's completed 2023 Federal Income Tax, or copies of all 2023 W-2.

ELIGIBILITY

• For the purposes of FAFSA, the parent section must be completed by a biological, adopted or step-parent. 

• It does not matter which parent claims the student for Federal Aid; however, for DC TAG the parent on the FAFSA must be domiciled in the District. 

• Legal Guardians, Grand-parents, Aunts, Uncles, etc, cannot complete the parent section of the FAFSA, unless they are one of the above relation.

• FAFSA will use Prior-Prior Year Tax Returns.  Therefore, parents will use your 2024 Federal Tax Returns; we encourage using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. 

The DC Tuition Assistant Grant or, DCTAG is available to students who are DC residents. Their application, the "OneApp" opens on Feb. 1 each year and closes in June. DCTAG provides up to $10,000 per year to any public institution.

Please note, the information on DCTAG Maximum Income.

The DC Tuition Assistance Program (DCTAG) was created by Congress in 1999 for the purpose of expanding higher education choices for college-bound residents of the District of Columbia. Currently DCTAG has helped students in attending over 300 colleges and universities. DC TAG provides DC residents with up to $10,000 in tuition assistance to all public universities and most private HBCUs.

DC College Access Programs (DC CAP) provides up to $4,000 per year for Ward 7 and 8 students. For more information, please contact our DC CAP adviser, Mrs. Hurley (dccap@tmapchs.org).  

DC-CAP is a non-profit organization working in partnership with the District of Columbia Public and Public Charter School Systems that provides counseling and financial assistance to students who might otherwise never have the opportunity to attend or graduate from college. DC public and public charter high school student is eligible for DC-CAP services, regardless of academic history, grade point average, family income, citizenship status, ethnicity, special education eligibility, delinquency or juvenile criminal history. 

Any student applying to either of these scholarships, must complete this authorization form. 

The PROFILE form is administered by the College Scholarship Service (CSS), the financial aid division of the College Board. The CSS PROFILE is required by many private colleges and universities to determine your eligibility for non-government financial aid, such as the institution's own grants, loans and scholarships. 

*please note:  The Profile is only for specific colleges, and is not required by everyone.  Please use this link to see if the colleges you are applying to requires the profile.  

The CSS Profile is NOT the FAFSA.  Here are key differences:

• Submission dates: The CSS PROFILE can be submitted in the fall; as early as October 1st.

• Specific questions: The CSS PROFILE contains questions specific to the school or program you're applying to; FAFSA contains the same questions for everyone.

• Different methodology: The CSS PROFILE determines your financial need differently than the FAFSA, taking into account such factors as whether your family owns a home. In general, the CSS PROFILE asks for more detailed information than FAFSA.

• Minimum student contribution: The CSS PROFILE requires this; the FAFSA doesn't.

• Greater reliance on professional judgment: The CSS PROFILE gives financial aid counselors greater freedom to grant aid based on a student's particular circumstances.

• Cost: There is a cost to filling out the CSS Profile, though some families may qualify for fee waivers; the FAFSA, as the name implies, is free.