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.

Request a Reevaluation of Your Circ*mstances

Sometimes a family's finances are not accurately reflected on the FAFSA^® form because of changes that have occurred, such as job loss/reduction, divorce or separation, or other special circ*mstances.

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.

According to the office of federal student aid, some applications can be denied because applicants did not meet the basic eligibility requirements. These include: Having demonstrated financial need for need-based federal student aid programs. Being a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen.

To qualify for federal financial aid for college, a student must prove that they are capable of pursuing higher education. Without a high school diploma, GED, completion of a state-approved homeschooling program, or enrollment in an eligible career pathway program, you will not receive federal aid.

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.

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.

What not to include on FAFSA? ›

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.

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.

To be eligible for federal student aid and college financial aid, a student must be making Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP). This generally consists of maintaining at least a 2.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale (i.e., at least a C average) and passing enough classes with progress toward a degree.

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.