FAFSA 2022-23

Free Application for Federal Student Aid

What is FAFSA?

Gateway Application:

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• Loans
• Grants & Aid
• Need-based
• Merit-based (Scholarships, Work-Study)

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• Undergraduate & Graduate
• 2 & 4 Year Schools
• Trade Schools
• Access to:
• 9 Federal Student Aid Programs
• 600 State Student Aid Programs
• Institutional Aid

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• Must be completed each year

Who is eligible?

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• U.S. Citizens (or eligible non-citizens)
• Have a valid Social Security Number
• Males must be registered with Selective Service
• High School Diploma or GED
• Enrolled at least ½ time AND maintain progress

Types of Financial Aid

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Grants

Scholarships

Work-Study Jobs

Loans

Aid for Military Families

Aid for International Study

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Why Apply for FAFSA?

• The U.S. Department of Education's office of Federal Student Aid provides more than $120 billion in financial aid to help pay for college or career school each year.

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• Beginning with the 2021-22 school year, it is a graduation requirement in Texas

Did You Know?

High school graduates eligible for a Pell Grant left behind $2.6 billion in free aid by not applying for financial aid.

(NerdWallet, 2019)

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Steps of FAFSA

1. Start Planning Early

2. Fill Out the FAFSA® Form

3. Review Your Aid Offer

4. Get Your Aid

5. Graduate and Start Repayment

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FAFSA Deadlines for 2023-2024 School Year

Federal - June 30, 2024

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State - January 15, 2024

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College - Check with your College/University of interest

Before you start

• Create FSA ID
• Username and password

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• Documents/Information Needed
• Social Security number 
• Parents' Social Security numbers (if you are a dependent)
• Driver's license number (if you have one)
• Alien Registration number (if not a U.S. citizen)
• Federal tax information/returns for 
• You
• Spouse (if married)
• Parents (if dependent student)
• Records of untaxed income (child support, interest income, veterans noneducation benefits)
• Information on cash, savings and checking account balances, investments (stocks, bonds, real estate), other assets

How to Complete the FAFSA and Apply for Additional Aid

Go to

Www.studentaid.gov

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1) Sign up with your (personal) email.

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Use your personal email address so that you have access once you graduate.

Verify your email address when asked.

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2) Answer questions, to fill out your profile.

Answer a series of quick questions, such as education level (high school, community college, college, graduate), graduation year, GPA, and intended major.

The answers will be saved to your profile, which will then be used to match you to eligible scholarships.

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3) Get your matches & recommendations

Completing the FAFSA® Made Easier

Create FSA ID in advance to save time

• Fastest way to sign form and have it processed
• ONLY way to access or correct information online
• Fafsa.gov (or goingmerry.com can take you to it)
• One FSA ID per SSN
• Parents, if you created a FSA ID when in school, you must use that one

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Completing the FAFSA® Made Easier

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You’ll answer a set of questions related to:

• Your personal profile (e.g. gender, address, email)
• Your academic plans (colleges you’re applying to, degree you’re planning to obtain)
• Your household (who’s in it, who your parents are)
• Your dependency status (are you aged 24+, married, a grad student, active duty, veteran, an emancipated minor, or homeless?)
• Your parents’ finances (2018 income and benefits, current cash balance, net worth of investments)
• Your personal finances (2018 income and benefits, current cash balance, net worth of investments)

Completing the FAFSA® Made Easier

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• Next - You’ll hit “Submit” on the form.
• Going Merry will use your answers to fill out the FAFSA® for you. They will notify you when it’s ready.
• Follow instructions to go to the official government FAFSA® website to sign your form.
• Use Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) if available to you to verify financial information
• Within a few days, the federal government will process your form and send your application to the colleges you’re applying to.
• The colleges will automatically consider you for federal financial aid and provide you a financial aid package (offer) in a letter, usually sent to you in March or April.

Dependent or Independent?

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• Will you be 24 or older by Jan. 1 of the school year for which you are applying for financial aid? For example, if you plan to start school in August 2021 for the 2021–22 school year, will you be 24 by Jan. 1, 2021 (i.e., were you born before Jan. 1, 1998)?
• Are you married or separated but not divorced?
• Will you be working toward a master’s or doctorate degree (such as M.A., MBA, M.D., J.D., Ph.D., Ed.D., etc.)?
• Do you have children who receive more than half of their support from you?
• Do you have dependents (other than children or a spouse) who live with you and receive more than half of their support from you?
• Are you currently serving on active duty in the U.S. armed forces for purposes other than training?
• Are you a veteran of the U.S. armed forces?
• At any time since you turned age 13, were both of your parents deceased, were you in foster care, or were you a ward or dependent of the court?
• Are you an emancipated minor or are you in a legal guardianship as determined by a court?
• Are you an unaccompanied youth who is homeless or self-supporting and at risk of being homeless?

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Source:  https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/parent-info

Award letter

• Once accepted, school will calculate aid offer

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• Timing of aid offers varies from school to school

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• Decide what aid to accept

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Questions?