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.

If you are eligible to skip these questions, but you choose to answer them on the Web or on paper, answering these questions will not affect your eligibility to receive Federal Student Aid, such as a Federal Pell Grant. 40. Total current balance of cash, savings, and checking accounts.

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.

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.

The FAFSA gives a parental asset protection allowance between about $30k and $50k. So, if your parents don't have more than that in assets, these resources won't be counted anyway. And above that threshold, it's only about 5-6% of the net value of the parental assets that count toward your EFC.

Parent Assets: These questions are about the student's parent(s). FAFSA Question #88. As of the day you first submitted the 2021-2022 FAFSA, what is your parents' total current balance of cash, savings, and checking accounts?

What is the average FAFSA check? ›

Average amounts are about $9,000, with less than half of that in the form of grants. This table shows the maximum and average amounts for various types of federal student aid for undergraduate students for 2020-2021. Average amounts have been rounded to the nearest multiple of $10.

Your Parents' Number of Family Members in 2023–24 (Household Size) This is question 69 on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA^®) PDF.

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.

On the “My FAFSA” page, select “Make Corrections.” Create a save key. Change your information. Submit your new information.