Your Guide to the FAFSA

Now that the holidays have passed and 2015 is upon us, the 2015-16 FAFSA is available to be completed. This form generates many questions from parents and students alike as they work their way through it. Below you’ll find advice that will take the stress out of the FAFSA process.

Getting Started – The FAFSA ID

Before you can input your personal and financial information, or even select the schools that will receive this info, you will need to create a FAFSA user ID for one parent as well as the student.

You can find more information on the FAFSA ID and how to create one here.

While you can begin the FAFSA prior to creating a FAFSA ID -- using the personal information of the applying student -- you will not be able to sign and submit the FAFSA until you have a FAFSA ID for the student and one parent.

Getting Started – The FAFSA

You will go to this site to either start a new FAFSA or resume one you’ve already begun. In either case, it will request personal information in the form of the birth date, first and last name and social security number of the student that is submitting the FAFSA OR the FAFSA ID, if you have already created it.

You will have the opportunity to create a password to use a save key. Do it! This password isn’t the same as your FAFSA ID, but it is required if you want to start your FAFSA, take a break, and then resume the same FAFSA at a later time.

FAFSA School Codes

As you input your personal information one of the sections will request the school(s) that is to receive the FAFSA. You can search these in one of two ways, but it’s often easiest to visit the school’s website and use the FAFSA School Code they provide. This helps to avoid schools other than those you intend to list on the FAFSA. If you accidentally select the wrong school this will result in these schools receiving the FAFSA instead of the schools you intended. You can find a school’s FAFSA Codes in the financial aid section of the school’s website or by doing a quick Google search, in most cases (example search, Bucknell FAFSA school code).

When Should I Complete the FAFSA?

One common question related to the FAFSA is, 'When should we complete the FAFSA?' The FAFSA is available October 1 of each year. The form now requires the previous year's taxes to complete, which in most cases has already been filed by families. For example, in order to complete the FAFSA for the 2020-21 school year, families used the 2018 tax return.

What is my Household Size?

How big is your household? This question confuses many parents, as they don’t know what constitutes household. Does this include children that spend most of the year living in a college apartment? Does this include children that have graduated but who are still supported by mom and dad? Does this include grandparents that are living with and supported by their children? The answer to all of the above situations can be yes. This is a case-by-case situation, but it’s good to remember that the larger your household size the greater your financial aid eligibility.

Am I an Independent Student?

Like household size, determining if your student is dependent or independent is another question that has some parents scratching their heads. Just because parents are not willing to provide support when it comes to college doesn’t make the student an independent student. Even if the student is going to pay their entire way doesn’t mean they are independent. The FAFSA will ask the student a string of questions to determine if they are independent. Unless they are able to answer one or more of these ‘yes’ they will not be considered an independent student, unless the attending school’s financial aid office overrides the decision.

Do I have to fill out the FAFSA again next year!?!?!

The answer is yes. The FAFSA, and other school-specific financial aid forms, are required each year the student is attending. This is because the school will re-evaluate financial aid eligibility each year. In this way there is the potential for the need-based financial aid extended to increase or decrease based on the family’s financial situation.