FAFSA Application form can be a straightforward and easy process. Select the “Fill Out the FAFSA” button on the home page, and just follow the directions on the screen. Below are some tips to help you along the way.
Whether you’re a student, parent, or borrower, you’ll need to create your own account to complete federal student aid tasks.
Read More: How To Sign Up for a Student Account in Schoology
What You Can Use Your FAFSA Account For
Filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form
Signing your Master Promissory Note (MPN)
Applying for repayment plans
Completing loan counseling
Using the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Help Tool
Items Needed to Create FAFSA Account
Social Security number
Your own mobile phone number and/or email address
Creating an FSA ID
They strongly recommend you create an FSA ID, a username and password combination, that allows you to sign your FAFSA form electronically. Your FSA ID also can be used to access the myStudentAid app, sign loan contracts, and access certain information online. While you can get your FSA ID as you’re completing the FAFSA form online, getting it ahead of time and using it to begin your FAFSA application form on fafsa.gov or on the myStudentAid mobile app cuts down on errors and delays.
Important note: If you’re a dependent student, one of your parents whose information is reported on the FAFSA form will also need an FSA ID so that he or she can sign your application electronically. If your parent doesn’t have a Social Security number (SSN), your parent won’t be able to create an FSA ID (which requires an SSN). This means you’ll have to select the option to print a signature page when you get to the end of your FAFSA form on fafsa.gov (this option isn’t available in the myStudentAid app).
Creating your FSA ID before you begin the FAFSA application form only takes a few minutes and could prevent processing delays. (Plus, you can’t use the myStudentAid mobile app at all without an FSA ID, so you’ll need to create it before filling out the FAFSA form on the app.)
Tip: Use your FSA ID to start your FAFSA Application Form
When you create your FSA ID, be careful to enter your name and Social Security number exactly as they appear on your Social Security card. Then, if you go to fafsa.gov to start your application and indicate that you are the student, you will be given the option to enter your FSA ID or to enter your “identifiers” (your name, date of birth, and SSN).
If you log in with your FSA ID, certain information (including your name, Social Security number, and date of birth) will be automatically loaded into your application. This will prevent you from running into a common error that occurs when your verified FSA ID information doesn’t match the information on your FAFSA form. Additionally, you won’t have to provide your FSA ID again to sign your FAFSA form electronically or to use the Internal Revenue Service Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT) if you’re eligible.
The student is the one applying for financial aid, so be sure it’s the student entering his or her FSA ID in the “I am the student” tab. Do not start the FAFSA form by supplying the parent’s FSA ID in the student role.
Gathering the FAFSA Application Documents Needed to Apply
The FAFSA questions ask for information about you (your name, date of birth, address, etc.) and about your financial situation. Depending on your circumstances (for instance, whether you’re a U.S. citizen or what tax form you used), you might need the following information or documents as you fill out the application:
Your Social Security number (it’s important that you enter it correctly on the FAFSA form!)
Your parents’ Social Security numbers if you are a dependent student
Your driver’s license number if you have one
Your Alien Registration number if you are not a U.S. citizen
Federal tax information or tax returns including IRS W-2 information, for you (and your spouse, if you are married), and for your parents if you are a dependent student:
IRS 1040
Foreign tax return, IRS 1040NR, or IRS 1040NR-EZ
Tax return for Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or Palau
Records of your untaxed income, such as child support received, interest income, and veterans noneducation benefits, for you, and for your parents if you are a dependent student
Information on cash; savings and checking account balances; investments, including stocks and bonds and real estate (but not including the home in which you live); and business and farm assets for you, and for your parents if you are a dependent student.
FAFSA Application | How To Apply For Federal Student Aid
Now that you have known everything you need to know including What You Can Use Your FAFSA Account For, Items Needed to Create FAFSA Account and Gathering the Documents Needed to Apply so its high time you applied for FAFSA.
To get started, go to https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/personal-info
Enter First Name, Middle Initial, Last Name, Date of Birth and Social Security Number.
Now click continue to continue the second step of the registration.
After the FAFSA Application is done you can follow the instructions here to get into your account. Thanks.
How To Contact FAFSA Customer Service
For potential students, currently enrolled students, loan borrowers, and families
• Please visit their “Contact Us” page.
If you are not sure which service center to call, contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-433-3243 or by email at [email protected]