1. Scholarships and grants
   Make sure you understand the conditions you must meet (for instance, you might have to maintain a certain grade-point average in order to continue receiving a scholarship, or your TEACH Grant might turn into a loan if you don’t teach for a certain number of years under specific circumstances).
2. Work-study
   You don’t have to pay the money back, but you do have to work for it, so take into account that that’ll mean less time for studying. However, research has shown that students who work part-time jobs manage their time better than those who don’t!
3. Federal student loans
   You’ll have to repay the money with interest. Subsidized loans don’t start accruing (accumulating) interest until you leave school, so accept a subsidized loan before an unsubsidized loan.
4. Loans from your state government or your college
   You’ll have to repay the money with interest, and the terms of the loan might not be as good as those of a federal student loan. Be sure to read all the fine print before you borrow.
5. Private loans
   You’ll have to repay the money with interest, and the terms and conditions of the loan almost certainly will not be as good as those of a federal student loan.

NO NO NO NO NO. If you had to pay to submit, IT WAS A SCAM!

Yes. Schools require it. You cannot receive a scholarship without it. You cannot receive a loan or grant without it. Even if you plan to pay for college on your own or think your income level will be too high, you may be able to receive loans that you don’t have to pay back. 

The most popular is the “TEXAS: Be on Time Loan.” Many students receive it, and the only criterion is that you go to school in Texas and graduate in 4 years. How awesome is that?

FILL OUT THE FAFSA.

FAFSA is available online at The Official FAFSA Website.

The form becomes available each year on October 1st. 

Priority Deadline: January 15

 
You may complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) between October 1 and midnight Central Time, June 30.

It is on a FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVE basis. Note: Most schools have a January 15 priority deadline. 

• Get an FSA ID. Get a U.S. Department of Education personal identification number (PIN) by filling out the short FSA ID Application. Write this down somewhere you will remember.
• Your Social Security Number
• Your Alien Registration Number (if you are not a U.S. citizen)
• Your most recent federal income tax returns, W-2s, and other records of money earned. Note: You may be able to transfer your federal tax return information into your FAFSA using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool.
• Bank statements and records of investments (if applicable)
• Records of untaxed income (if applicable)
• Most of the above information can be obtained from your parent(s) and/or guardian(s).

An FSA ID is a username and password that gives you access to Federal Student Aid’s online systems and can serve as your legal signature.

You may sign your online FAFSA with it, but nothing else.

Navigate to the Federal Student Aid: Account Creation page and provide a few pieces of information such as your name, date of birth, Social Security number, and address.

• For help, go to the free government website Completing the FAFSA. It has a detailed question-by-question guide to filling out the FAFSA.
• More free help can be found at FAFSA Frequently Asked Questions 
• You can also call:
  Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC)
  800-4-FED-AID (433-3243) / TTY 800-730-8913
  Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to midnight Eastern Time
  Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time

When you file your taxes, your information will become available through FAFSA TWO WEEKS AFTER you file. This tool used in the form will transfer your income tax data directly from the IRS to your online FAFSA.

If you are eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool and choose to do so, you’ll be transferred from the online FAFSA to the IRS website, which will guide you through the transfer of your tax information. When you’re done, you’ll be sent back to your FAFSA.

Expected Family Contribution (EFC):
On the front page of the SAR, you'll find a figure called the expected family contribution (EFC). Your EFC is an indicator of your family’s financial strength. It is sent to your state scholarship agency as well as to the colleges you listed on the FAFSA. They use this number to determine your financial aid award. Learn more about the EFC.

You can check the status of your FAFSA immediately after submitting it online.

• Option 1: Go to the Official FAFSA Website and click Start Here to log in.
• Option 2: Contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center.

If your FAFSA is still being processed, wait a few days before checking the status again.

Your FAFSA information is shared with the colleges and/or career schools you list on the application. The financial aid office at a school uses your information to figure out how much federal student aid you may receive at that school. If the school has its own funds to use for financial aid, it might use your FAFSA information to determine your eligibility for that aid as well. (The school might also have other forms it wants you to fill out to get school aid, so check with the financial aid office to be sure.) 

Your information also goes to your state higher education agency, as well as to agencies of the states where your chosen schools are located. Many states have financial aid funds that they give out based on FAFSA information.

So, your FAFSA helps you apply for federal, state, and school financial aid. Not bad for a form that takes students an average of less than half an hour to complete!

The office of Federal Student Aid at the U.S. Department of Education will send you a Student Aid Report (SAR), which is a summary of the FAFSA data you submitted. You’ll get your SAR within three days to three weeks after you submit your FAFSA. Be sure to look over your SAR to make sure you didn’t make a mistake on your FAFSA. Find out more about the Student Aid Report, its purpose, how the type of FAFSA you file determines when you’ll get the SAR, and what you should do with it.

The SAR won’t tell you how much financial aid you’ll get. Instead, if you applied for admission to a college or career school and have been accepted, and you listed that school on your FAFSA, the school will calculate your aid and will send you an electronic or paper aid offer, sometimes called an award letter, telling you how much aid you’re eligible for at the school. The timing of the aid offer varies from school to school and could be as early as springtime (awarding for the fall) or as late as immediately before you start school. It depends on when you apply and how the school prefers to schedule awarding of aid.

You’ll need to understand the aid that’s being offered (for instance, is it free money such as a grant, or is it a loan that you’ll have to pay back?), decide what aid you really need, and then respond to the school’s award letter within the deadline set by the school.