Financial Aid & FAFSA

What is FAFSA?

The FAFSA is a form used to determine the amount of money a family is expected to contribute to the price of attending a 2 or 4 year college or university. The results of the FAFSA are used in determining student grants, work study, and loan amounts that the student may receive to pay for college. In order to receive federal Pell Grants, institutional grants, work study, or federal loans for community college or a 4-year institution, you MUST fill out a FAFSA.

When do I fill out the FAFSA?

The FAFSA is available on October 1st each year. Students are highly encouraged to complete the FAFSA as soon as possible. The earlier you complete the FAFSA, the higher your chance for a better aid package.

What do I need to fill out the FAFSA?

  • Student FSA ID

  • Parent FSA ID

    • Parents: If you previously created an FSA ID when you were a student or with an older child, you don’t need to create another one. You can only have one FSA ID linked to your Social Security number.

  • Student's Social Security Number

  • Parent's Social Security Number

  • Students Driver License Number if they have one

  • Student's Alien Registration Number if they are not a US citizen

  • Federal Tax Information or Tax Returns for the student and the parents if the student is still a dependent. Eligible students and parents who filed a U.S. tax return with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) now have the ability to have their tax information transferred directly into the FAFSA form with the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT).

  • Untaxed Income Information such as interest income, noneducation veteran benefits, child support received for the student and the parents if the student is still a dependent

  • Financial Information such as cash, bank account balances, investment accounts, businesses and farms for the student and the parents if the student is still a dependent

How do I fill out the FAFSA?

  • Gather materials, including FSA ID's

  • Visit fafsa.gov

  • Enter parent and student demographic information. (See graphic to determine who to put as "parent")

  • Students are able to list up to 10 schools on the FAFSA. List any school that you might attend, even if you have not received an admissions decision yet!

  • When asked to provide financial information, you may either manually enter your information, or you have the option to use the IRS-Data Retrieval Tool. This tool allows students and parents to access the IRS tax return information needed to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), and transfer the data directly into their FAFSA from the IRS Web site. It is highly recommended that you use this tool if possible, as it is the easiest way to provide your tax data and ensure that your FAFSA has correct tax information.

  • Students or parents who are married and filed as Married Filing Separately or are married and filed as Head of Household are not eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, and must enter their tax return information manually.

  • You must allow at least three weeks if filing your tax returns electronically, and at least eleven weeks if filing by mail, before using IRS Data Retrieval tool. If this time has not passed, you may enter your information manually or wait until the data retrieval tool becomes available to you. If you are eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, then click Link To IRS to transfer your tax return information from the IRS Web site into your FAFSA.

  • After providing all the student, parent, and financial information, the student will electronically sign the FAFSA. The parent must sign in using their own FSA-ID and electronically sign the FAFSA as well. After this is done, the FAFSA is able to be fully submitted.

  • In about 30% of cases, a student may be selected for verification. If this happens, the student will need to provide additional tax return information. This usually entails ordering a tax transcript. If you receive an email in the weeks following your FAFSA submission alerting you that you have been selected for verification, do not ignore it! You must complete this process to receive financial aid.

Fill out this worksheet and bring it back to me!

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22-23 FAFSA Prep Worksheet
22-23 FAFSA Prep Worksheet SPANISH

Why should I complete the FAFSA?

YOU CAN GET MONEY FOR COLLEGE! Many insitutions and scholarships will require a FAFSA to calculate an aid package.

Here are 3 things the FAFSA can result in:

  • Grants: Money you don't have to pay back

    • A Federal Pell Grant, unlike a loan, does not have to be repaid and can be awarded for as much as $5800

    • NC Need-Based Grant / UNC System Grant : Can be as much as $4000

    • Institutional Grants : Awarded with funds from a particular college / university


  • Loans: Money you do have to pay back with interest

  • If you decide to take out a loan, make sure you understand who is making the loan and the terms and conditions of the loan. Student loans can come from the federal government or from private sources such as a bank or financial institution. Loans made by the federal government, called federal student loans, usually offer borrowers lower interest rates and have more flexible repayment options than loans from banks or other private sources. The William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program is the largest federal student loan program. Under this program, the U.S. Department of Education is your lender. There are four types of Direct Loans available:    

    • Direct Subsidized Loans are loans made to eligible undergraduate students who demonstrate financial need to help cover the costs of higher education at a college or career school. 

    • Direct Unsubsidized Loans are loans made to eligible undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, but in this case, the student does not have to demonstrate financial need to be eligible for the loan.

    • Direct Plus Loans are loans made to graduate or professional students and parents of dependent undergraduate students to help pay for education expenses not covered by other financial aid.

    • The Federal Perkins Loan Program is a school-based loan program for undergraduates and graduate students with exceptional financial need. Under this program, the school is lender.        

                     

  • Work Study: A job on campus

    • Work Study provides part-time jobs for undergraduate and graduate students with financial need, allowing them to earn money to help pay education expenses. The program encourages community service work and work related to the student’s course of study.


FAFSA Customer Service

Phone Number: (800) 433-3243

Hours of Operation: Monday-Friday 8AM-11PM (ET) | Saturday-Sunday 11AM-5PM (ET)

Online Chat Available: https://bit.ly/2Smy8W0

Call or contact FAFSA Customer Service if you need help recovering your account information.

Download the App!

  • Download the “My Student Aid” App on Apple App Store for iPhones or the Google Play Store for Android.

  • This is a new application FAFSA launched in order to make FAFSA more accessible to families that may not have computer access readily available at home but may have a cell phone or tablet available.

More FAFSA Resources