Every student planning on going to college is required to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to determine whether or not they qualify for financial aid. The process can be complicated to understand without guidance.

The first step in the FAFSA process is to create an account. After creating an ID and password, you have to create four forgotten password questions for retrieval, as well as one important date that can be used for password retrieval over the phone. At this point, you will need to know your Social Security Number. After you have finished creating your account, you will have to wait for an email from the FAFSA website, as they must verify your Social Security Number with the Social Security Administration.

To log back into your FAFSA account, you must create a six character save key. At this point you will enter student demographics, such as citizenship and contact information. Then, choose the schools that you have been accepted to or hope to be accepted to so they will be able to see what amount of financial aid you qualify for; you can either enter their school code or find them through a search.

You will then answer questions about your dependency status. If deemed as an independent student you will be able to skip the parent information of the FAFSA, but the majority of students will be dependent students. With special circumstances, dependent students can proceed without providing documentation, but you will have to follow up with your future school’s financial aid office to prove your special circumstance.

If a dependent student, you will provide parent demographics at this point. If your parents are divorced and live separately, the parent you have lived with the most in the past year is responsible for your FAFSA. If that parent is remarried, then your step parent must also provide their information. You may not know all the information asked of you so have your parents nearby.

Now you will be entering your financial information, so you and your parents will need a copy of your Federal Income Tax Returns. If you haven’t filed them yet, you can estimate them and update them at a later time. At this point, many students have their parents complete the FAFSA for them.

All that’s left is to sign and submit the FAFSA. If you have any questions or need help filling out your FAFSA, there is an easy to follow tutorial available at https://www.edvisors.com/fafsa/forms/tutorial/.