What is the FAFSA? 

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The FAFSA is a form used to determine the amount of money a family is expected to contribute to the price of attending a 2 or 4 year college or university. The results of the FAFSA are used in determining student grants, work study, and loan amounts that the student may receive to pay for college. In order to receive federal Pell Grants, institutional grants, work study, or federal loans for community college or a 4-year institution, you MUST fill out a FAFSA. 

 

When do I fill it out? 

The FAFSA will be released on October 1st. You will use your 2020 tax returns, so you should be able to complete the FAFSA as soon as it is released. Because funding, particularly grant monies, are first-come first-serve and often are gone quickly, you should complete the FAFSA as soon as possible. 

 

What can I get from the FAFSA? 

The FAFSA can result in 3 things: Grants, Loans, and Work Study 

 

Grants: Money you don't have to pay back 

• A Federal Pell Grant, unlike a loan, does not have to be repaid and can be awarded for as much as $5800 

• NC Need-Based Grant / UNC System Grant : Can be as much as $4000 

• Institutional Grants : Awarded with funds from a particular college / university 

 

Loans: Money you do have to pay back with interest 

If you decide to take out a loan, make sure you understand who is making the loan and the terms and conditions of the loan. Student loans can come from the federal government or from private sources such as a bank or financial institution. Loans made by the federal government, called federal student loans, usually offer borrowers lower interest rates and have more flexible repayment options than loans from banks or other private sources.  The William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program is the largest federal student loan program. Under this program, the U.S. Department of Education is your lender. There are four types of Direct Loans available:      

• Direct Subsidized Loans are loans made to eligible undergraduate students who demonstrate financial need to help cover the costs of higher education at a college or career school.  

• Direct Unsubsidized Loans are loans made to eligible undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, but in this case, the student does not have to demonstrate financial need to be eligible for the loan. 

• Direct Plus Loans are loans made to graduate or professional students and parents of dependent undergraduate students to help pay for education expenses not covered by other financial aid. 

• The Federal Perkins Loan Program is a school-based loan program for undergraduates and graduate students with exceptional financial need. Under this program, the school is lender.                               

 

Work Study: A job on campus 

• Work Study provides part-time jobs for undergraduate and graduate students with financial need, allowing them to earn money to help pay education expenses. The program encourages community service work and work related to the student’s course of study. 

 

What do I need to fill out the FAFSA? 

• FSA- ID: Both the student and the parent must create their own FSA-ID to fill out a FAFSA. This can be created at fsaid.ed.gov.  Student and parent cannot share an FSA-ID, you must each create your own. You need a social security number and a valid email address to create this ID. If the student or parent does not have a valid social security number, please see the College Adviser for additional information. 

 

• 2020 Tax Returns (1040 / 1040a / 1040ez) 

• Parental tax information, as well as student tax information in cases where the student is employed, must be included on the FAFSA. Starting last year, you will use prior prior year taxes. This means you will use 2020 taxes for the 2022-2023 school  year FAFSA.  

• Regardless of if the parent is financially contributing to the student’s college expenses, the parent MUST provide their tax information if the student is still a dependent, which is almost always the case. 

 

• Other things you might need 

• Cash, savings, and checking account balances 

• Alien registration number (if applicable) 

• Records of untaxed income 

• Investments other than your home 

 

How do I fill out the FAFSA? 

• After you have created your FSA – ID, go to https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa and begin the FAFSA. The student should log in and create a “save key” so they will be able to save their FAFSA and return to work on it at a later date. The FAFSA should be filled out through the student’s account. You will begin by providing student demographic, parent demographic, and dependency information. 

• Students are able to list up to 10 schools on the FAFSA. List any school that you might attend, even if you have not received an admissions decision yet! 

• When asked to provide financial information, you may either manually enter your information, or you have the option to use the IRS-Data Retrieval Tool. This tool allows students and parents to access the IRS tax return information needed to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), and transfer the data directly into their FAFSA from the IRS Web site. It is highly recommended that you use this tool if possible, as it is the easiest way to provide your tax data and ensure that your FAFSA has correct tax information. 

• Students or parents who are married and filed as Married Filing Separately or are married and filed as Head of Household are not eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, and must enter their tax return information manually.  

• You must allow at least three weeks if filing your tax returns electronically, and at least eleven weeks if filing by mail, before using IRS Data Retrieval tool. If this time has not passed, you may enter your information manually or wait until the data retrieval tool becomes available to you. If you are eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, then click Link To IRS to transfer your tax return information from the IRS Web site into your FAFSA. 

• After providing all the student, parent, and financial information, the student will electronically sign the FAFSA. The parent must sign in using their own FSA-ID and electronically sign the FAFSA as well. After this is done, the FAFSA is able to be fully submitted. 

• In about 30% of cases, a student may be selected for verification. If this happens, the student will need to provide additional tax return information. This usually entails ordering a tax transcript. If you receive an email in the weeks following your FAFSA submission alerting you that you have been selected for verification, do not ignore it! You must complete this process to receive financial aid. 

 

 

What happens after I complete the FAFSA? 

• After you submit the FAFSA electronically, your EFC will appear on the screen. This is your Estimated Family Contribution, which is the amount of money that a family is able to contribute to their student’s college education. 

• The EFC, along with the results of the FAFSA, will be sent to the schools that you listed while completing the FAFSA. Schools that you are admitted to will then send you a Financial Aid Award letter. This letter will tell you the exact amount of grants, scholarships, and loans that you can expect to receive from the institution as well as any federal aid you will receive, such as Federal Pell Grants. In most cases, this letter will not include any outside scholarships you have received from community organizations, the school, or businesses.  

• You should wait until you have received your Financial Aid Award letter from every school you are considering before making a final decision. This will allow you to compare your financial aid packages at each school. Remember, don’t just look at the sticker price of attending a school! Look at how much each school will cost after you take into account and grants and scholarships you receive. 

• Remember, loans are NOT free money! You must pay them back after you finish school. 

• Grants and scholarships, for the most part, ARE free money. You usually do not have to pay them back. 

• Please set up an appointment with your adviser to go over your financial aid award letter. It is very easy to get confused and mistake loans for grants/scholarships. Please be informed and make smart financial decisions!