Kent State University freshman Gracie Ford remembers well sitting with her laptop in the bedroom of her North Canton, Ohio, home to begin the important task of filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.
Ford, a 2022 graduate of Hoover High School who is majoring in digital media production, said the experience was daunting.
“I kept worrying, what if I messed up?” Ford recalled, “I’d be lying to the federal government.”
Mateo Martin, a senior from Austintown, Ohio, also recalls sitting down with his dad to fill out his first FAFSA application four years ago, when he was just entering college.
A public relations major in the College of Communication and Information, Martin said the application process took them about an hour, but over the years it has gotten easier.
His best advice for anyone filling out the form is to make sure that you accurately represent yourself and your family’s financial situation because obtaining federal assistance helps to make college more affordable.
“I am happy with the aid I have gotten,” Martin said.
Ford, whose parents had no experience with the application, fortunately was able to get help from her older brother, who previously had been through the application process.
Brenda Burke, associate vice president for enrollment management within the Office of Student Financial Aid, knows that the application process can be intimidating, but offered helpful tips to make sure the experience goes smoothly.
1. Apply Early
Oct. 1 is the first day applications can be filed for the upcoming 2023-24 academic year. It is always best to file on Oct. 1 or as close as possible. Some financial aid, Burke said, is distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, so the sooner an application is filed, the better the chances of the best aid package.
2. Be Prepared
With a few exceptions, most students under the age of 25, even those who are paying their own way through college, will still have to provide information on their parents’ income to fill out the FAFSA form, Burke said.
It is a good idea to gather information such as parents' and students’ Social Security numbers ahead of time. Students often make the mistake of thinking their driver’s license number is their Social Security number: It is not.
W-2 forms for the students and parents, as well as federal tax returns also are needed.
Burke said the application offers a link to a helpful Internal Revenue Service retrieval tool for pulling in income information; she suggests using the IRS tool to save time and to ensure that the information being filed on FAFSA exactly matches what the IRS has on file.
Once the paperwork is gathered, set aside an hour or so of uninterrupted time to fill out the application.
3. Mind the Details
When filling out the FAFSA form, the details are important, Burke said.
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Never leave any spaces blank, Burke advises. Leaving blank fields will often result in an application being rejected. She tells applicants to fill in a space with all zeros, rather than leaving it blank.
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Do not use commas or decimal points in figures. Write 5,000 as 5000 on the application.
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Answer every question as truthfully and honestly as possible.
4. File Every Year
Students need to file a new federal aid application every year they are in school. New federal financial aid dollars are disbursed every year, and the application for aid must be filed annually to reflect changes to the life circumstances and financial situations of students and their parents.
5. Ask for Help
Kent State offers plenty of help for current students and high school seniors with filling out the application.
“We are here to help steer them through the process and eliminate the barriers of filling out the form,” Burke said.
Kent State’s Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid offers a vast amount of financial aid and scholarship information on its website, including links to the FAFSA and helpful videos.
Current students and incoming freshmen can make a “FAFSA in a Flash” appointment here at One Stop for Student Services to get help filling out the federal form.
More information also is available on the federal student aid website.
As Ford learned during her own FAFSA process, “You aren’t going through it alone.”