Created in 1992 as a part of the Higher Education Act, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) has provided trillions of dollars towards helping students across the nation pay for college.
Providing over $100 billion of student aid in just 2024 alone, the program greatly aids students. While the exact amount of money each student receives is different as it is mainly based on one’s family income, the maximum Federal Pell Grant is $7,395. This money is provided in the form of a grant, meaning it never has to be paid back and is “gift money.”
Even if a student is not eligible for a Federal Pell Grant, many institutions offer need-based and merit-based aid based on one’s Student Aid Index, the score received after filing the FAFSA.
For example, schools like Harvard are known to be very generous with their need-based financial aid. While the institution is known to be very expensive, if one’s household income is $200,000 and their family holds “typical assets,” the student can expect to have their entire tuition waived and paid for by the institution.
Starting with the class of 2024, every single student in Indiana is required to file the FAFSA their senior year of high school. If they do not wish to file the FAFSA, they must sign an Opt-Out form through their high school counselor. The point behind this mandate is to allow students who may not even know they are eligible for free student aid from the government or an institution to receive that aid.
“For students to receive funding towards college, whether that be federally funded or from an institution offering scholarship, they need to have a FAFSA on file,” CPHS guidance counselor Ami Marcinek said. “To even be considered for some merit-based scholarships that do not have to do with financial need, the FAFSA needs to be on file as well.”
Filing the FAFSA is completely digital and most people take about 30 minutes. In most cases, a student will need to enter certain personal information including their social security number, and they will also need their parents to fill out similar information about themselves. Parents should also have their tax documents from two years ago prepared, so that they can input the necessary information the FAFSA asks for.
In order to file the FAFSA for the first time, head to https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa and start a new form for the upcoming school year.
