Federal Student Aid (2024)

FAQs

Do I have to answer all FAFSA questions? ›

You must answer all relevant questions if the student intends to apply for state financial aid. The student's school may ask you to provide information after the FAFSA form is submitted. If you can't or don't provide this information to the school when asked, the student may not receive federal student aid.

Other reasons for financial aid disqualification include: Not maintaining satisfactory progress at your college or degree program. Not filling out the FAFSA each year you are enrolled in school. Defaulting on a student loan.

Request Additional Federal Student Loans

If you've exhausted other options and still need additional funds to help you pay for school, contact your school's financial aid office to find out if you're eligible for additional federal student loans.

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.

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.

Some types of information that might be verified include income, taxes, education tax credits, child support, high school completion status or number of members in your household. You can reduce the chances of a verification by importing information from your FAFSA directly from the IRS's data retrieval tool.

There is no set income limit for eligibility to qualify for financial aid through. You'll need to fill out the FAFSA every year to see what you qualify for at your college. It's important to make sure you fill out the FAFSA as quickly as possible once it opens for the following school year.

There are a few common reasons why the Federal Processor will reject an application: Missing signatures, inconsistent marital status with income, taxes paid are equal to or higher than adjusted gross income, citizenship questions are blank, marital status and family members blank, etc.

Federal student aid from ED covers such expenses as tuition and fees, housing and food, books and supplies, and transportation. Aid can also help pay for other related expenses, such as a computer and dependent care.

Is FAFSA first come first serve? ›

However, some of the available money is handed out on a first come, first serve basis. So, it's a good idea to file your application sooner than later to help pay for your education. A new, updated version of the FAFSA was recently launched for the 2024-2025 academic year. Here's how the form works.

Eligibility Requirements. Our general eligibility requirements include that you have financial need for need-based aid, are a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen, and are enrolled in an eligible degree or certificate program at an eligible college or career/trade school.

It's possible that you might not receive your entire scheduled award for an award year. There are a few reasons for this, the most common of which are that you are not enrolled for the full year or that you are not enrolled full-time, or both. We calculate the percentage of the scheduled award that you did receive.

Based on your answers to certain questions on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA^®) form, you may be given the option to skip additional questions about your income and assets. If you're given the option to skip questions, keep in mind that doing so won't affect your eligibility for federal student aid.

A mistake on your FAFSA can delay the processing of your application for financial aid. If your FAFSA is verified and contains errors, it can cost you.

You will be able to skip questions about your parents on the FAFSA form and submit it without a parent signature.

Borrow only what you need! If your living expenses are not going to be as high as the amount estimated by your school, you have the right to turn down the loan or to request a lower loan amount. Your school will tell you how to do this in the aid offer.