Samantha Schaefer

If you have been considering higher education, you may be wondering how you will pay for college. With the cost of tuition always rising, it may seem impossible. Luckily, there are many ways that you can receive financial aid to pay for college. One of these ways is to apply for financial aid from the government, which is done by filling out the FAFSA.  

What is the FAFSA?

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, also known as the FAFSA, is a form that uses your household income and other factors to determine data that is then used by your school to determine your eligibility for federal aid. In some cases, the school also uses this data to determine the amount of aid they will give you themselves. 

After deciding which schools you will be applying to, you will submit the FAFSA to these schools. There is a section included in the application where you can put which schools you would like it to be sent to. The FAFSA form can be found and filled out on www.studentaid.gov.

What do I need to fill out the FAFSA?

The FAFSA form may seem intimidating at first, so it is important to come prepared. 

To fill out the FAFSA form, you will firstly need your social security number. You will need your parent or guardian’s tax returns and W-2s if you are deemed a dependent student, as well as your own tax documents if you have been making an income. Your aid is determined from your household income, and as a dependent student, this includes your parents as well as yourself. If you have any investments or untaxed income, you will need records of these as well.

Once you have all of this information compiled, you are ready to fill out your FAFSA.   

What can I get from the FAFSA?

The FAFSA form determines your eligibility for many forms of financial aid, such as grants, subsidizes and unsubsidized loans, and work-study programs. After submitting your FAFSA application to the schools you have applied to, you will receive an aid offer from each school you submitted to that outlines what aid you have been deemed eligible to receive. This is a fancy way of saying they will tell you how much money they can give to you. 

Once each school that you have been accepted to gives you an aid offer, you can compare the numbers to see what you can afford, as well as which school is the most cost-effective. If there is a disparity between the cost left after aid and what you are able to pay, you have the option of taking out federal PLUS loans through your parents, or private loans with a possible cosigner to cover the cost to pay for college.   

Filling out the FAFSA may be a daunting and time-consuming process, but it is your best chance at being able to pay for college if you cannot afford to pay tuition out-of-pocket, so it is worth the time and effort.