What to gather before you apply
The accounts, IDs, tax records and balances the FAFSA and benefit applications ask for, collected in one sitting.
- Create every account
- Pull the tax year the form asks about
- Write down balances and household details
All guides
Grants, scholarships, loans and work-study
Which kinds of aid you repay, who awards each one, and how they fit together in a school's aid offer.
- Sort every line
- Find what remains
- Choose work-study and loans
The full cost of a school year
How to add up housing, food, books, transportation, fees and personal costs alongside tuition for a full school year.
- Find the published figure
- Split billed from unbilled
- Put in your own numbers
Benefits beyond tuition
A map of everyday support worth looking into, from food and health coverage to internet, childcare, transit and tax credits.
- List your monthly costs
- Match each cost to the map
- Gather your papers once
Who decides what
Which office handles your aid, bill, enrollment, benefits, taxes and GI Bill, and how to get a clear answer from each.
- Name the question
- Pick the office
- Prepare before you reach out
Spotting a student-benefit scam
Fees for free forms, grants nobody applied for, loan-relief pitches and login requests, and what to do if one already reached you.
- Stop and save everything
- Call the real office yourself
- Secure your accounts
When to read what
The guides and articles to read at each point in the school year
Before you apply
Gather the papers and accounts first, and the forms go faster.
When an offer or a bill arrives
Read what you were offered, then check it against what the year will cost.
All through the year
Food, health, internet and family support do not wait for the aid calendar.
As soon as you can after it opens for the year you will be in school, usually by October 1. Some state and school money is handed out in the order applications arrive, and state deadlines can come early.
Every year you want aid. Each application covers one award year, and your circumstances are reviewed again each time.
Write to your school's financial aid office and ask for a review of special circumstances. The aid administrator can take changes such as a lost job into account. The article on asking for a second look explains how.
Legitimate scholarship searches are free, and so are the applications for most scholarships. The guide to spotting a student-benefit scam lists the warning signs.