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Understanding the FAFSA

This activity aims to give students an overview of what the FAFSA is, how to access the application, and what to expect after submitting the FAFSA.

Discuss

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA is an important resource when considering postsecondary education. Whether you’re planning to attend college, a vocational program, or another type of postsecondary education, you will need money to pay for things like tuition, books, housing, and other expenses. For the government or a school to decide if you are eligible for grants (free money you don’t have to pay back), work-study jobs (money you earn from jobs while in school), and loans (money you borrow to pay back later), you will need to fill out a FAFSA. It is free to fill out a FAFSA, it can have a lot of steps and requires you to work with your parent(s) or legal guardian(s)to complete it. While this may seem overwhelming, it’s better to learn more information so you are better prepared. Be sure when you are exploring education and training programs to check on how programs can be paid for, not all programs will accept FAFSA funding.

Watch

Applying for Financial Aid with the FAFSA Form (2:06) and What Happens After Your FAFSA Form Is Processed? (3:01).

[Note to Instructors: Feel free to pause and/or slow down the video as needed to help students process the information presented and take notes.]

Resource

Understanding the FAFSA is a notetaking form for students to use to help track information from the video.

[Note to Instructors: Feel free to pause and/or slow down the video as needed to help students process the information presented and take notes.]

Review

Review the students’ responses from their notetaking forms and help them to add information they may have missed. The Understanding the FAFSA – Answer Key is available to help check information.

Discuss

Based on what you just learned in these videos and in the previous activities, what do you think are the most important things to know about submitting a FAFSA? [Allow students time to share their answers. Highlight key considerations such as staying organized, using a calendar to plan for deadlines, asking for help from adults when needed, and checking email regularly after submitting the FAFSA to stay on top of next steps. Continue the discussion by asking students for their ideas about what methods and supports would work best for them.

  • What do you use to keep track of deadlines? (Calendar, planner, app, etc.?)
  • What should you do after submitting your FAFSA? (Check email regularly, review aid offers, accept aid, etc.)
  • Who can help you with the FAFSA process?

During the discussion, instruct and assist students to summarize their ideas in the space provided on the notetaking form. If a student answers “no” to any of the questions in the table, help them to determine how they could access missing resources and supports.

Reflect

Once students have shared their ideas and completed the form, wrap up the discussion by re-summarizing key takeaways:

  • The FAFSA is the primary way to apply for financial aid.
  • Most students need help to fill out the FAFSA, and it takes some time to complete. It’s important to identify an adult, ideally your parent or legal guardian, who can help you.
  • There are several different deadlines for the FAFSA, but the best way to think about when to complete it is to remember to submit it as early as you can for the best offers.
  • The FAFSA needs to be filled out online, and you will need an email account to receive your aid offers and complete next steps.
  • A new FAFSA needs to be completed for each year you need aid.