How to Complete the FAFSA
The FAFSA Process
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the financial aid application form you or your child will need to apply for federal and state student grants, work-study, and loans. While the FAFSA may seem lengthy and complex, there are many free resources, online and offline, to help you and your child navigate the application process.
Where to Find the FAFSA
The FAFSA comes in two versions—paper and electronic. The paper version is distributed to high schools, so your child should first check with his guidance office. If your child doesn't have any luck there, try the public library or the financial aid office of a local college. You or your child can also get a paper copy of the FAFSA by calling (800) 4-FED-AID or (800)433-3243.
FAFSA on the Web
You or your child can complete, submit, and track an application using FAFSA on the Web. This is the easiest way to apply for federal aid. Most importantly, data is checked before it is transmitted to the processing center, so there's less chance of making an error. What's more, filing the FAFSA online can reduce processing time by one to two weeks.Filing the FAFSA online can reduce processing time by 1-2 weeks.
Before Your Child Applies
Complete Your Income Tax Return
We recommend that your family completes income tax returns before filling out the FAFSA—much of the information requested is the same. Please note that you do not have to file your income tax return with the IRS before you fill out the FAFSA. You can find a list of documents you'll need to get started at FAFSA on the Web.
Get a PIN
If you or your child plans to complete and submit the FAFSA through FAFSA on the Web, we recommend obtaining a U.S. Department of Education PIN. The PIN will serve as your child's electronic signature, and gives access to the fastest way to submit the application. To get a PIN, simply fill out the brief application at www.pin.ed.gov. The PIN will be mailed to you in 7-10 days. You can still use FAFSA on the Web without a PIN, you'll just have to print out and mail in a signature page.
Completing the Application
Here are some reminders and resources to help you or your child complete the FAFSA.
- January 1 is the first day that your child is eligible to file the FAFSA. Your child should try to file as close to this date as possible, as school, state, and private aid deadlines may be much earlier than federal deadlines. You and your child should pay attention to colleges' priority financial aid deadlines.
- If you or your child has questions about any part of the FAFSA application, go to Completing the FAFSA, a government website with a detailed, question-by-question guide to filling out the FAFSA.
- Don't forget that many schools will also require your child to submit additional financial aid forms such as the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE® or institutional financial aid forms. January 1 is the first day that your child is eligible to file the FAFSA.
What Happens After Your Child Applies
Once you or your child submits the FAFSA, it goes to a large processing center that handles about nine million forms each year. This is where your family financial information is passed through the federal need formula.
The Student Aid Report (SAR)
Your child will receive either an email or a paper form from the Department of Education's Central Process System within a few days to four weeks of submitting the FAFSA. The form is called the Student Aid Report (SAR), and contains the data you or your child entered on the FAFSA. Review the SAR carefully for errors (the form will highlight items that didn't pass the edit) and follow directions for making and submitting corrections. Submit corrections promptly to avoid long delays in processing your application. Make sure to keep a copy of the SAR for your records.
Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
At the upper right of the front page of the SAR, you'll find a figure called the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The EFC is a preliminary estimate of the amount your family can contribute to college costs. The EFC is sent electronically to your state scholarship agency, as well as to the colleges your child listed on the FAFSA. State agencies and colleges will use the EFC to determine the size of your child's aid award.
If you see an asterisk next to your EFC figure, it means that your child's application has been randomly selected for a routine process called verification. Your child's colleges will request copies of signed tax returns or other information to verify the information reported on the FAFSA. Be sure to furnish this information as soon as possible.
Help With the FAFSA
If you or your child has questions about the application, FAFSA on the Web, or about federal student financial aid in general, call:
Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC)
(800) 4-FED-AID (433-3243) / TTY (800) 730-8913
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 12 midnight Eastern Time
Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time
