FAFSA FAQs

Yes. Most financial aid offices require you to apply for financial aid annually. If your financial circumstances change, you may qualify for more or less aid. After your first year, you will receive a “Renewal Application,” which includes prefilled information from the previous year’s FAFSA.

Yes. You must complete the FAFSA each year. If you receive a grant or scholarship from the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC), you must complete a TAP application every academic year to continue receiving financial aid.

If you are applying for aid using FAFSA-on-the-Web, you can link directly to the TAP-on-the-Web (TOTW) application through the FAFSA Confirmation page, provided you indicated that you are a New York resident and listed at least one New York State school. This process is streamlined, as your FAFSA information carries over to the TAP application.

If you exited the FAFSA before completing the TAP application but included your New York State address and a New York State school on your FAFSA, HESC will send you an email or postcard with instructions to complete the TAP application online.

The EFC was renamed the Student Aid Index (SAI) to better reflect its purpose as an indicator colleges use to determine a student’s financial need.

Young men aged 18 through 25 are required to register with the U.S. Selective Service to receive federal student aid, including Pell Grants, Federal Work-Study (FWS), and Stafford Loans. If you haven’t registered, you can do so on the FAFSA by selecting the “Register Me” box, which allows the U.S. Department of Education to submit your information to Selective Service. Learn more at sss.gov.

Visit Federal Student Aid’s help page for assistance.

Anyone completing forms or processes on StudentAid.gov needs an account. If you’re filling out the FAFSA, you may also need a parent or spouse to create an account. Use this parent wizard to see who else might need an account.

You’ll need to provide the following personal information when creating your account:

• Name (exactly as it appears on your Social Security card if you have one)
• Date of birth
• Email address
• Social Security number (if you have one)

Because your StudentAid.gov (FSA ID) account gives you access to legal forms, your identity will be verified when creating the account. If you have an SSN, this verification process can take up to three business days.

Find instructions for resolving this issue on StudentAid.gov.

Yes. You can update your username and password in the “Account Information” section of “Settings.” You can also log in with a verified phone number or email address. If you suspect your account security is compromised, change your password and challenge questions immediately.

Creating an account typically takes less than 10 minutes. However, identity verification, such as SSN validation, may take up to three business days. Once your account is created, you can immediately use it to complete and sign your FAFSA form.

Enter your name exactly as it appears on your Social Security card. If you have no middle name, leave the middle name field blank. For name changes, contact the Social Security Administration (SSA) at 1-800-772-1213 or visit ssa.gov.

If your SSN is already associated with an account, try logging in or resetting your password. If someone else (like a parent) created an account for you, check with them. If you’re sure no account exists, contact Federal Student Aid for assistance.

Use your current mailing address when creating the account. You can update it later if necessary.

If a parent’s identity cannot be verified online, they can contact Federal Student Aid and submit documentation to establish their identity. Parents who cannot create an account may still contribute to a student’s FAFSA, but the form won’t be fully processed until their identity is verified. If neither option works, the student and parent(s) must complete and mail a paper FAFSA form.

The online FAFSA allows space for up to 20 schools. If you need to send it to more than 10 schools:

• Wait until the FAFSA is processed (3–5 days after submission). 
• Log in to StudentAid.gov (FSA ID) and choose “Make FAFSA Corrections.”
• Navigate to the “School Selection” tab, remove some colleges, and add the new ones.

Note: Colleges listed on prior FAFSA submissions will retain a copy of your information. However, if you make corrections later, only the 10 schools listed at that time will receive the updated information. To share updates with additional colleges, provide them with your FAFSA Data Release Number (DRN), found on the FAFSA Confirmation page.

Visit StudentAid.gov (FSA ID) to check your FAFSA status.

If submitting the FAFSA online, you’ll sign it electronically during the process. To sign a previously submitted FAFSA: 

• Log in to StudentAid.gov (FSA ID).
• Go to your account Dashboard and locate the FAFSA marked “Action Required.”
• Select “Provide Signature” and submit.

Note: FAFSA forms missing required contributor signatures will not calculate a Student Aid Index and cannot award federal aid until all signatures are submitted

Contributors are required to have their own StudentAid.gov (FSA ID) account. 

If the contributor starts an application for a student or is invited to contribute to an application by the student, they will need to sign the application when they complete their portion. If the contributor has left their portion in a saved status they can complete it by logging in their StudentAid.gov Account,  locating the FAFSA under “My Activity,” opening the “Details” page and selecting “Provide Signatures.”

Students can make corrections once the initial FAFSA Submission Summaries are distributed. During this time, students can also add or update colleges/universities.

Generally, you are an eligible noncitizen if you are one of the following: 

• U.S. permanent resident with a Permanent Resident Card (formerly known as an Alien Registration Receipt Card or "Green Card") 
• Conditional permanent resident (I-551C) 
• Other eligible noncitizen with an Arrival-Departure Record (I-94) from the Department of Homeland Security showing any one of the following designations: "Refugee," "Asylum Granted," "Indefinite Parole," "Humanitarian Parole," or "Cuban-Haitian Entrant." 
• Citizen of the Republic of Palau (PW), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (MH), or the Federated States of Micronesia (FM). 

You can receive federal student aid if you are an eligible noncitizen. You must enter your eight or nine-digit Alien Registration Number (ARN) on the FAFSA.

Federal Regulations define an eligible non-citizen as someone "able to provide evidence from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that he or she is in the U.S. for other than a temporary purpose with the intention of becoming a citizen or permanent resident." In other words, regulations require that the Department of Education rely upon the determination made by DHS. When a student files a FAFSA, an automatic check is run with DHS to determine whether they are a citizen or an eligible noncitizen. If the data match indicates that the student's information did not match with DHS, the college is then required to request documentation from the student to show his or her eligible status. Remember, a DHS-provided status can be revoked; therefore, the results of a non-match must be appropriately resolved. 

Undocumented students and students in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program are not considered "eligible noncitizens" for purposes of the FAFSA and will not qualify for any federal student aid programs. These students should speak to the financial aid office at their prospective college to discuss options for financial assistance and the application process.

If you are a single parent who provides more than half of the financial support to your child, then you can be recognized as an independent student on the FAFSA. If you are younger than 24 years old and your parent is providing the majority of financial support to both you and your child, then you are still considered a dependent student, and you will need to provide your parent's information on the FAFSA.

If your grandmother is your court-appointed legal guardian, then you qualify to file as an independent student. If your grandmother does not have court documentation to meet the requirement of legal guardianship and you are unable to get financial information from your father, complete the student portion of the FAFSA and indicate you are unable to provide parent information on the 'Dependent Status Summary' section. The following pages of the FAFSA will let you notify your schools that you may have a special circumstance they need to review. Then, FAFSA will allow you to skip the parent information and financial sections and you can sign the FAFSA and submit it. Although your application will be incomplete, the colleges listed will still receive your data. You should contact the financial aid offices at your selected colleges for further instructions. A grandparent, or anyone else,  who is the student's court-appointed legal guardian is not considered a parent on the FAFSA.

As a youth-in-care or a former youth-in-care, you qualify to apply as an independent student. This status may apply to you if you are an orphan (both parents deceased), a ward of the court, or in foster care on or after your 13th birthday, even if you have subsequently been adopted or 'aged out' of the system. This may also apply to youth in kinship guardianship. If you are considered independent, your custodial parents' financial information is not required on the FAFSA. The U.S. Department of Education's webpage has a complete list of the criteria that determine dependency. On your FAFSA, be sure to answer YES to the appropriate Dependency Status question so you can receive all the aid for which you're eligible. You may need to show proof of your independent status at the college financial aid office; if so, ask your caseworker for a letter stating your status as a youth in foster care on agency letterhead.

Yes. The college will inform them of the required documentation for an independent override request.