FAFSA Information
What is FAFSA?

Completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid is the first step towards receiving federal aid for college, career school or graduate school.

FAFSA is FREE and quick if you are prepared with the information you need. It gives you access to the LARGEST source of financial aid to pay for college.

FAFSA data is also used by states and colleges to determine your eligibility for aid. Private financial aid providers may also use your FAFSA information to determine if you qualify for aid making FAFSA crucial for paying for your college education. It must be renewed annually.
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Who is eligible for FAFSA?

Everyone is Eligible except for those students without a Social Security number. DACA students, although not eligible to receive Federal Aid, are able to fill out FAFSA and use the Student Aid Report (SAR) generated to help them receive aid from private financial aid providers.

It is also important to note that your parent’s immigration status does NOT impede when filling out FAFSA.

However, there are special steps for filling out FAFSA when your parents don’t have a SSN or if you are a DACA student. Details are outlined in the following link:


 
 https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/financial-aid-and-undocumented-students.pdf
 
 
General Steps for Applying for FAFSA

  1. Have your or your parents’ completed federal income tax returns.
  2. Create a FAFSA ID.  If you can, make one for one of your parents do so as well. If you cannot, you can still complete the FAFSA without you parents’ information.
  3. Go to https://fafsa.gov/ and click on Start a New FAFSA
  4. Answer all of the questions and sign and complete at the end. The following video explains the details of every subsection within FAFSA.
 
 https://www.finaid.ucsb.edu/fafsasimplification/