Nine Easy Steps to Filling out the FAFSA for Parents
By: Cat Tatu
24/7 College Counseling Superstar
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The college application process is something that doesn’t just involve your child but instead involves the whole family.
As your kids prepare to tackle their application, there is a critical piece for the parents to fill out. Parents with university-bound teens may or may not have heard of the FAFSA. In order to apply for student aid, such as grants, work-studies, or loans, parents must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or the FAFSA. If you don’t need financial aid in any way, the FAFSA is still an important document to fill out for two reasons: first, many universities require it in order for your child to be admitted; and second, it is also required to qualify your child for merit aid, which, rather than being based on your families financial situation, it based on your child’s performance as a student. The FAFSA is a quintessential piece of the college application process, and it’s up to you to complete it. The FAFSA opens every year on October 1st, and there is no benefit to wasting time. Completing the FAFSA earlier will ease the stress of college applications
cause your child to feel, as well as knock your piece of the college application
process out as soon as possible.
So, you might be wondering, how exactly do I complete the FAFSA? Well, to say it’s
relatively simple would be a lie, but that’s all the more reason to begin early.
Step 1: You Create a Federal Student Aid ID
Both you and your student will create FSA ID, which is like any username and password used to get into an account. In order to create and FSA ID visit the Federal Student Aid website (https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch). You’ll need your Social Security Number, full name, and date of birth. Then, you can create a password and complete a few challenge questions in order to retrieve your account information if you forget it. You’ll input either or email or mobile phone number (or both).
Your student’s FSA ID will be your username a password. Creating a student FSA ID will take approximately 10 minutes, and once you’ve created it they will need to sign the FAFSA form online. Your FSA ID is up to you to create, there’s no wait time, and once you have it, you will
use it to sign into your child’s FAFSA form online.
Step 2: Start the FAFSA
Once you have the ID, there’s no reason to wait. You’ll find the FAFSA form at fafsa.gov, once you get to the website you should select “I am a parent filling out a FAFSA form for a student.” Once selecting the parent role, you will need to provide your child’s full name, date of birth, and their Social Security number. Then, you choose which FSA form you want to complete, the FAFSA form you’ll be completing with be the range in which your child will be attending college the next year. If your child is attending college in 2024, select the option for 2023-2024 FAFSA form.
Step 3: Create a Save Key
A save key is a fancy little tool FAFSA provides that will allow you and your child to pass around the FAFSA form. It also allows you to save the FAFSA form so you may return to it later.
Step 4: Fill Out Student Demographics
The student demographics section is all information about your child. It will ask for your child’s name, date of birth, etc. Make sure to entire all your personal information exactly how it is on your Social Security card. Also remember that the FAFSA form is the student’s application, and while it will say “you” or “your” in the questions, it is referring to the student unless noted otherwise. Pay attention to whose information the questions are asking for.
Step 5: List the Schools
The School Selection section is where you add every school you’re thinking about, even if you haven’t sent in your application or received an acceptance letter. It never hurts to add more schools, school officials will not be able to
see your other schools. You don’t have to remove schools either if you decide not to apply or attend. If you don’t apply, the school will just disregard your FAFSA. Keep in mind that you can only have up to 10 schools on your FAFSA at a time, but can resubmit the FAFSA multiple times if your student wishes to apply to more than 10 schools.
Step 6: Answer Dependency Stat Questions
The dependency status section is where you respond to a series of questions to find out whether your student is dependent or independent. If you are filling out these questions, it should be rather simple since you are a parent filling out the FAFSA, meaning your student is dependent. If you are an
independent student filling out the FAFSA make sure to pay special attention to these questions so your schools can know that about you.
Step 7: Parent Demographic Section
If you are an independent student, ignore this section. This section is where you’ll need to provide your most basic information as a parent. Even if your child doesn’t live with you, remember to provide information about them still. This section will be similar to the Student Demographic Section.
Step 8: Financial Information
Now is the important part, the part that some might feel uncomfortable with, you need to report your financial information. This step is extremely simple if you use the IRS Date Retrieval Tool or the DRT. The IRS DRT allows you to import your tax information with just a few simple clicks. Using this tool can also reduce the amount of paperwork you’ll need to provide the schools. If you’re not comfortable using the DRT, reporting financial will not be inherently difficult, and it’s complete possible to do so by hand. Keep in mind that reporting your financial information is the most essential part of the FAFSA and will only detriment your student if you don’t.
Step 9: Sign the Form
Congratulations, you’ve finished the FAFSA form for this year. Now, you’re only step is to sign it. You and your child will have to sign the form, and it’s a relatively easy process. The best way to sign it is to sign your form with your FSA ID. Note for all students filling out the FAFSA form, it you are logged in using your FSA ID you will not have to provide it again on this page since you have already logged in with it. Your parent will still need to sign the form.
The FAFSA is essential to furthering your kid’s education, and submitting is earlier than later does not have any consequences. At certain schools, the funds for aid can run out and your child, even if you qualify, may not get any because of your late submission. Make sure to get it in early, and help your kids out in that small way.
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