Financial Aid

FAFSA - Free Application for Federal Student Aid

For students who are graduating from FCTS in the Spring of 202, and who are planning on entering college in the Fall of 202, you can fill out the FAFSA as early as October 1, 2022. Filing early is important, as funds are determined and awarded on a ‘first come first served' basis.

Applications can be submitted online through the Department of Education Website at FAFSA.gov (be aware of other websites with similar-looking addresses).

The official FAFSA application is free, and if you have gathered the information you need to file, it should take less than an hour to fill out the form.

Here is what you will probably need:

• Federal Student Aid ID

  • To create a FSA ID, go to FSA ID

  • You can create an FSA ID prior to October 1, 2021

• Federal Parent FSA ID

  • For students that are dependents (as most are), a parent or guardian will need an FSA account and ID to sign the FAFSA

  • To create a FSA ID go to FSA ID

• Federal Income Tax Return

  • You may use your most recent return

  • You may use your ‘prior prior’ year return, meaning for admission to college in the Spring of 2022, you can use your tax return from 2020

  • For any tax returns, you can use the FAFSA IRS Data Retrieval Tool. This is a confidential way to embed your tax information into the application. You can find information on the Data Retrieval Tool at https://www.irs.gov/individuals/irs-offers-help-to-students-families-to-get-tax-information-for-student-financial-aid-applications

• Your Parent’s or Custodian’s Federal Income Tax Return

• Any existing bank balance statements, including checking and savings accounts

• Information to report significant cash holdings

• Current investment records, such as real estate, stocks, bonds

• Records of untaxed income such as child support, interest, Veterans benefits

• Your Driver's License (if you have one)

• Your Social Security number

• For non-U.S. citizens an alien registration or permanent resident card

• A list of any colleges you are likely to apply to

  • FAFSA will send financial aid information to up to 10 schools (you can add more later). You can look up school Institutional Codes here:http://www.finaid.org/fafsa/tiv.phtml

  • You may include schools you might apply to, but are unsure

  • You should still file FAFSA even if you don’t know what schools you will apply to