Federal Student Aid (2024)

FAQs

What are 5 common FAFSA form mistakes? ›

You'll have a better chance at receiving money for college if you avoid several common mistakes when filling out your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA^®) form. Such mistakes include not completing the form on time, not filling it out correctly, or forgetting to sign and submit.

If you did not complete the FAFSA for the academic year when you are seeking aid, you won't receive any. If you did complete the FAFSA, but didn't receive financial aid, confirm that you completed the form for the correct year. Contact your school's financial aid office if the wrong form was completed.

FAFSA® requires details about your (and your spouse's, if you're married) financial assets to help calculate how much aid you'll need to pay for college.

Once your FAFSA form or correction has been processed, you can get a copy of your SAR by logging in to fafsa.gov using your FSA ID and selecting the “View SAR” option near the middle of the “My FAFSA” page.

For many, the most difficult part about filling out the FAFSA is entering in the financial information. But now, thanks to a partnership with the IRS, students and parents who are eligible can automatically transfer the necessary tax info into the FAFSA using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool.

Students selected for verification of their FAFSA form may wonder, “Does FAFSA check your bank accounts?” FAFSA does not directly view the student's or parent's bank accounts.

This is question 40c on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA^®) PDF. Enter the total amount of taxable earnings that you (and if married, your spouse) received in 2021 from Federal Work-Study or other need-based work programs, such as fellowships and assistantships.

You can use the online FAFSA form to calculate your estimated EFC. The estimated EFC appears on the confirmation page when you complete and submit your form. After your application is fully processed, you'll receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) with your official EFC.

How do I know how much my financial aid refund will be? ›

Add tuition and fees and book allowance then Subtract tuition from the disbursed amount to get an estimated amount of your refund. disbursem*nt: If you have a balance, subtract it from the disbursed amount to get an estimated amount of your refund.

This article applies only to the 2023–24 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA^®) form. If you submitted your 2023–24 FAFSA form online, we'll process your form within three to five days. If you submitted a paper FAFSA form, your form will be processed within 7 to 10 days.

Don't enter nicknames or other variations on your name. Entering the wrong address: Don't enter a temporary campus or summer address as your permanent address. Entering the wrong federal income tax paid amount: This amount is on your income tax return forms from two years prior, not your W‐2 form(s).

Cars, computers, furniture, books, boats, appliances, clothing, and other personal property are not reported as assets on the FAFSA. Home maintenance expenses are also not reported as assets on the FAFSA, since the net worth of the family's principal place of residence is not reported as an asset.