FAFSA.
In plain English
FAFSA stands for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. It is the single free form, filed at studentaid.gov, that determines your eligibility for federal financial aid: grants like the Pell Grant, federal student loans, and federal work-study. Most states and colleges also use your FAFSA to decide their own grants and scholarships, so one form feeds many aid sources. It asks about your (and often your parents') income and household, and uses that to calculate your Student Aid Index, the number schools plug into their aid formula. You file it for each school year you want aid, and filing early helps because some aid is first-come, first-served.
01Why it matters
Skipping the FAFSA can mean leaving real grant money and low-cost federal loans on the table, money you never have to repay in the case of grants. It is the gate to almost all federal aid.
02The math, step by step
A first-year student files the FAFSA at studentaid.gov, listing the colleges they applied to. Each listed school receives the results and uses the Student Aid Index it produces to build a financial aid offer. The application itself is always free, so any site charging a fee to file it is not the official one.
03What this is NOT
The FAFSA is not a loan and not a charge. It is a free eligibility form. Filing it does not commit you to borrowing anything; it just tells schools and the government what aid you can receive.
04Receipts
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Plain-English answers from our glossary. Receipts included. Never advice.
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