You may have heard the expression
"life is not about the destination, but the journey."
Well, getting an education is an important part of that journey.
And you can get money to help you pay for it.
Each year,
billions of dollars become available through the Free Application
for Federal Student Aid form, known as the FAFSA form.
Just fill it out.
The application offers access to federal student aid: grants, loans,
work study funds. States and schools also use the FAFSA form
to distribute their own grants and scholarships.
Where can you get the FAFSA form?
We post the FAFSA form on October 1st for the next school year.
It's available at FAFSA.gov in both English and Spanish.
You can also fill out the FAFSA form on the myStudentAid mobile app.
So, let's get started.
You'll need your Social Security number; Alien registration number
if you are not a U.S. citizen;
and possibly your federal income tax return, W-2s,
and other records to show money you earned.
You may be able to take advantage
of the Internal Revenue Service data retrieval tool.
This tool lets you securely transfer information
from your federal tax return to the FAFSA form
so you can complete the FAFSA form more quickly.
In addition, we recommend creating an FSA ID,
which is your account username and password.
Once you fill out the online application,
you can electronically sign it with your unique FSA ID.
You can also use your FSA ID
to access the myStudentAid mobile app,
sign loan contracts, and access certain information online.
Your FSA ID is your digital signature.
Create your own, only once.
Parents and students should keep their FSA IDs separate.
Why? the FSA ID is a legal signature.
It shouldn't be shared.
Sharing it may result in unauthorized changes to your account,
or it may delay your financial aid.
Plus, you'll need your FSA ID to renew your FAFSA form each year.
So, protect your information by making your FSA ID your own,
and keep it safe and secure.
Your FAFSA form has three sets of questions to answer:
Personal information, which includes your name,
email address, marital status and schools
you're interested in. Financial information, such as your income and assets,
certain personal and financial information about your legal parent,
if you're a dependent student.
Not sure about your dependency status?
Visit StudentAid.gov/dependency
to find out who must provide parent information on the FAFSA form.
Also, learn what to do if you live with only one parent
or you aren't in contact with your parents.
You can also ask the financial aid staff at your college or career school
for help figuring this out.
Since colleges and career schools use the FAFSA form
to consider you for financial aid programs,
the form asks you to list all the schools you are considering.
Be sure to list a school even if you haven't applied to the school
or received an acceptance letter yet.
You can always go back and update the list later, if needed.
One great feature of the FAFSA form is that it
may let you skip some questions that don't pertain to you.
And, if you're not sure how to answer a question,
you can chat with a knowledgeable agent on our contact center webpage.
Submitting your application online?
Remember, if you are dependent student,
your parent must use his or her own FSA ID to sign the form as well.
Submitting your FAFSA application online is often the fastest and easiest option,
but you can also fill out the PDF version, which you can print out
and drop in the mail;
submit the form in the myStudentAid mobile app;
or ask your college or career school to submit the FAFSA form for you.
If you provided an email address and submitted your form online,
you'll receive an email within a few days.
It will let you know we processed your application.
Once we process it,
an administrator from any school that you listed on the form
and that has accepted you for admission will contact you
to let you know what aid you are eligible for at the school.
Congrats,
you're one step closer to getting money for school.
And starting on one of life's most exciting journeys.
For more helpful resources on eligibility
deadlines, and items you'll need to fill out the FAFSA form,
visit StudentAid.gov.