The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is a form completed by current and prospective college students to determine eligibility for student financial aid.
FAFSA Step by Step
Be FAFSA Form Ready: Create your StudentAid.gov account now! You and a parent need StudentAid.gov accounts to be FAFSA® form ready.
Submitting the FAFSA form is the first step to getting federal student grants, scholarships, work-study opportunities, and student loans. Who is eligible for federal student aid?
Make your form submission as easy as possible by doing two things.
First, create your StudentAid.gov account now. Second, if you’re under 24 years old, have your parent create their account before December 1 as well.
1. Create your StudentAid.gov account or make sure you can access your existing account by signing in to StudentAid.gov.
2. If you’re under 24, get a parent to create their account. Check this chart to confirm whether a parent or spouse also needs to have an account before you can submit your FAFSA form.
Having trouble? Get answers to common questions about creating a StudentAid.gov account.
What do I need to create a StudentAid.gov account?
- Name (exactly as it appears on your Social Security card if you have one)
- Date of birth
- Personal email address
- Social Security number (if you have one)
Remember: You’ll have only one StudentAid.gov account to use for the rest of your life, so make sure to use an email address that you’ll have access to even after you graduate from school or change jobs.
How do I know if a parent or spouse also need to create an account?
Check this chart to see whether any other contributors, like a parent or spouse, also need to create an account before you can submit your FAFSA form.
What if I don’t have a Social Security number (SSN) or my parent doesn’t have an SSN?
- If you have an SSN, you must provide it when creating an account.
- All students must have an SSN to create a StudentAid.gov account unless you are from the Freely Associated States (Micronesia, Marshall Islands, or Palau). Check eligibility here.
- If you are a parent or spouse who does not have an SSN, you can still create a StudentAid.gov account to contribute to a student’s FAFSA form. When creating your account, leave the SSN field blank and select “What if I don’t have a Social Security number?”
- If only one parent has an SSN, that parent is the one who should create an account and join the student's FAFSA form as a contributor.
Note: if you get a message saying the SSN you entered is already in use when you try to create a StudentAid.gov account, make sure you entered the SSN correctly. If you entered the SSN correctly, then it’s likely you created an account previously or someone else (such as a parent) created an account for you. Try logging in rather than creating a new account. If you have trouble logging in, try resetting your password or using another email address. You can also check with a parent to see if a StudentAid.gov account already exists for you. If you’re sure an account has not already been created, contact the office of Federal Student Aid for more help. Do not attempt to use an ITIN or other value in place of an SSN for online account creation.
Learn more about the FAFSA form at fafsa.gov.
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