The process of determining federal college student aid eligibility is different from the process of applying for admission to a college or university. The Free Application for Federal College Student Aid Assistance (FAFSA) is the basic application that will be used to apply for federal college student aid.

1. You should know that applying for federal college financial aid assistance is free at www.fafsa.ed.gov. Anytime you need more information you can visit Federal College Student Aid at www.FederalStudentAid.ed.gov or call them at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243). You may also talk with your high school counselor or the financial aid assistance office at the college or university you plan to attend. Just remember that federal financial aid assistance is provided to help college students pay for college, so you will not need to pay to apply. Do not every pay for help in applying for Federal College Student Aid.
2. Get your Federal College Student Aid PIN. This PIN will let you electronically sign your free online Application for Federal College Student Aid (FAFSA), and make corrections to your application information, and much more all online. You can go to www.pin.ed.gov and apply for a PIN.
3. You will need to gather your documents. You will need income tax information like tax returns and W-2 forms. Having these documents ready will make applying much simpler. For a full list of what you will need you can go to www.fafsa.ed.gov. If you have not filed your income tax return as of yet when you are ready to complete the FAFSA, you can estimate your tax information and make the corrections later.
4. Check all the deadlines. Although you may complete the FAFSA between January 1 and June 30 of the following year to get federal college financial aid, deadlines for college or state loan aid are typically much earlier. Applying online at www.fafsa.ed.gov as soon as possible on or after January 1 will help you meet the college and state loan aid deadlines.
5. After you have submitted your FAFSA, Federal College Student Aid will send you a Student Aid Report or SAR. The SAR will be a summary of your information and provides information on the status of your FAFSA application, so it is important that you review your SAR, and, submit any changes if necessary as soon as possible.
6. The colleges you list on your FAFSA will receive your information once the application has been processed. Sometimes these colleges and universities need to verify the information that you have provided on your FAFSA, so they might ask you to submit tax returns or other documentation. This process is called the verification. Make sure you submit the documentation to your college by the deadlines or your federal college fincial aid could be delayed.
7. Always follow up with your college’s financial aid office. Make sure the financial aid office at your college does have all the information needed to determine your eligibility.
8. Once you have received your award information that shows the financial aid you are being offered, contact your college’s financial aid office if you have any questions about the financial aid being offered.