The deadline for your family to complete its Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form is quickly approaching.
Applications must be submitted by June 30, 2023. A completed application will help put you in a position to apply for financial aid in the 2024-2025 academic year.1
Why FAFSA?
Some families are hesitant to submit the application for Federal Student Aid, believing they may not be eligible for any federal support for undergraduate or graduate work. But in addition to federal support, applying for the FAFSA also allows you to qualify for grants, scholarships, and other federally sourced aid, such as work-study or student loans
Completing an application by the June 30 deadline will put you in a better position if you consider applying for any support for the 2024-2025 school year, too. FAFSA starts accepting applications on October 1, 2023. The opening date is the same for all states.1
“For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.” Luke 15:24
How to Get Started
To apply, the student will need to create an FSA ID, which will require them to set up a username and password. FSA will ask for your Social Security number, full name, and date of birth. And you’ll also be asked to complete a set of questions and answers so you can retrieve your account information if you forget it.
Your FSA is required to log in to the U.S. Department of Education online systems if you are considering applying for financial aid and to check the status of any student aid on federal websites.
Important: A Social Security number, email address, and mobile phone number can only be associated with one FSA account. Keep that in mind if you have more than one person in your family interested in the FAFSA process.2
Insider Tips
- File Early. Financial aid is awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis. To improve your chances of receiving some type of aid, have your account set up and be ready to file as close to October 1, 2023, as possible.
- State and School FAFSA Deadlines Can Differ. Colleges can have their own deadlines, so check with the ones you are interested in attending.
- More Than 2 of Every 5. At last check, $3.6 billion in college aid money in the form of Pell Grants was left on the table in 2022 because more than 40% of high school seniors and their parents didn’t bother to fill out the federal financial aid form.3
Whether your family moves ahead with taking financial aid will depend on a number of factors. If you’re undecided on whether to move forward, please give us a call so we can walk through the benefits and challenges of using debt to pay for college. If nothing else, completing the application may give you a better idea of what’s available.
- StudentAid.gov, 2023
- Forbes.com, October 22, 2022
- InsideHigherEd.com, January 31, 2023
