The FAFSA, step by step

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is the single form most colleges and many states use to decide your aid. This page walks through it in the order you will meet it, from setting up an account to reading what comes back. Filing it costs nothing, and it is done at studentaid.gov.

Set up the accounts first

Every person who provides information on the form needs their own StudentAid.gov account. That means you, and depending on your situation, a parent or a spouse. The form calls these people contributors.

Create the accounts a few days before you plan to file. Each one is checked against Social Security records, and that check can take a little time. A parent without a Social Security number can still create an account and take part.

What the form asks

The form asks about you, your household size, and the schools you want to hear from. You can list several schools, and each one on the list receives your results.

Income and tax details come straight from the IRS when each contributor gives consent. That consent is required, even for someone who did not file a tax return. Without it, the application cannot be processed into an aid result.

The form opens by October 1 for the following school year. Filing early matters because some state and school money is handed out in the order applications arrive.

Before you start

• A StudentAid.gov account for you and each contributor
• Your Social Security number if you have one
• The list of schools you are considering
• Your state's FAFSA deadline

What comes back

After processing, you get a FAFSA Submission Summary. It shows your Student Aid Index, a number schools use to measure financial need. A lower index generally means more need-based aid, but each school builds its own offer around it.

Your school may ask you to confirm some details through a process called verification. Send what it asks for by the date it gives, or your aid can stall. Corrections can be made on studentaid.gov if something on the summary is wrong.

Doing it again next year

The FAFSA covers one school year at a time, so you file a new one each year you want aid. Much of your information carries forward, which makes later years faster. Your contributors will need to give consent again each time.

Keep your StudentAid.gov username and password somewhere safe, and never share them with anyone offering to file for you. Schools and the Department of Education will not ask you to pay to submit the form.