In this module, you will find financial information specific to your situation as an Oregon resident or non-resident student who is eligible to complete the FAFSA.

FAFSA
Your Award Letter
Additional Resources
Optional Worksheet

FAFSA

The FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. When you complete the FAFSA application, you can potentially be awarded federal financial aid. Additionally, there are state funded programs and institutional (OSU) specific funds that can be awarded through the FAFSA, too.

If you want to be considered for these programs, you need to complete a FAFSA every year to get access to financial aid programs for the following academic year. So, mark your calendar for October 1st, every year - and fill out the FAFSA as soon as it becomes available.

Learn all about the FAFSA by watching this CAFE Presentation.

All FAFSA information can be found at studentaid.gov

Eligibility

U.S. Citizen
Eligible Non-Citizen
U.S. national, natives of American Samoa or Swains Island, U.S. permanent resident who has an I-151, I-551, or I-551C, or an individual who has an Arrival-Departure Record (I-94) from U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services showing: Refugee, Asylum Granted, Cuban-Haitian Entrant, Conditional Entrant, Victims of Human Trafficking (T-Visa 2, 3, or 4), Parolee into the U.S. for at least 1 year and you must be able to provide evidence that you are in the U.S. for other than a temporary purpose and you intend to become a citizen or permanent resident)

Create a StudentAid.gov Account

Every “contributor” Needs to Create an Account
Anyone required to provide information on the FAFSA: student, spouse, biological or adoptive parent, and/or parent’s spouse. Parent’s without a social security number can set this up as well.
Access Account Via FSA ID
Account username and password
Be Careful
Enter name and social security number exactly as they appear on your social security card.
“Start New Form”
Once accounts created, this is what you will click on to start a new FAFSA. You will indicate your role (student, parent)

Gathering Documents

Contributor(s) social security number
If required to put a contributor(s) on the FAFSA.
Tax returns
From two tax seasons ago – example: if you complete the 2024-2025 FAFSA, you need the 2022 tax documents.
Records of child support received
Current balances of cash, savings, and checking accounts

Filing Options

Log in at fafsa.gov to apply
Most common, online and secure portal
FAFSA PDF
You must print out and mail the FSA PDF for processin
Request a print-out of the FAFSA PDF
Call 1-800-4-FED-AID; then fill it out and mail it..

Listing Schools

Any school you might attend, add them
You can list up to 20 on FAFSA via online option and 10 for paper option.
You may need to list state schools first
Find out if that is true in your state. In Oregon, the order doesn’t matter.

Dependency Status

Doesn’t matter how you file taxes
FAFSA has their own rules.
Answer questions to see if you are required to put parent information on the FAFSA
If yes, “dependent” and if no, “independent”
Find out your dependency status here

Which Parent Do I Put on The FAFSA?

If married, both!
If not married, but live together, both!
If parents are divorced or separated, the parent who provided the most financial support in the last calendar year will now complete FAFSA.
If this parent is re-married, you need to included the stepparent.
Find out what's true for your situation, here

Reporting Spouse Information

If married (not separated) & filed taxes jointly
Report spouses information, though they are not a contributor.
If you’re married (not separated) & did not file jointly

Providing Financial Information

2024-25 FAFSA
2022 tax information
2025-26 FAFSA
2023 tax information
Changes in financial situation?
If changed significantly from what is reflected in federal income tax return (lost job or drop in income), may be eligible for aid to be adjusted. Complete FAFSA as instructed, submit FAFSA form, then contact the school to discuss your updated situation (OSU has a Special Conditions Appeals Process)

Parent Marital Status Change

- FAFSA asks marital status “as of today”
  The day it is filled out, what is true?
- Examples
  - If the parent was unmarried in the tax year reported and now married, the parent would select married and the spouse's information will need to be added.
  - If the parent was married and now separated/divorced, the tax information will need to be separated out.
  - If the parent was married to someone else and has a new spouse, the spouse from before would need to be separated out and the new spouse added.

Transferring Tax Information

Financial Aid Direct Data Exchange
Transfers contributors’ federal tax information from the IRS directly to the FAFSA form.
Consent and approval must be given (part of the FAFSA) to:
- Disclose personally identifiable information (match IRS data to FAFSA);
- Obtain federal tax information from IRS;
- Allow U.S. Dept. of Ed. To use their federal tax info to determine student’s eligibility;
- All Dept. of Ed. to share fed tax info with the colleges, career/trade schools, etc. (the agency awarding financial aid); and
- Allow Dept. of Ed. to reuse federal tax info on another FAFSA applicant’s form (if parent has multiple dependents, for example).

Will not be eligible for federal student aid without the consent.

Sign & Submit

Acknowledge terms and conditions
Electronically sign
Not considered complete until all required contributors have done their part & signed
Once complete, submitted for processing
Confirmation page email
Completion date, data release number, next steps, estimated Student Aid Index, estimated Pell Grant eligibility, information about other federal student aid programs for which you may be eligible

FAFSA Calculation

When you complete the FAFSA, every piece of information, including your parents’ age to the tax information, that is put into the FAFSA is part of the calculation that measures what, based on the FAFSA calculation. This measurement from the FAFSA is called the Student Aid Index (SAI). To be clear, the SAI is not an amount you have to pay; instead, it is an index that is used to calculate your financial aid, which is explained below. Here is a visual that can bring this to life!

Learn more, here.

SAI and COA

OSU’s Financial Aid Office (and any other school you list on your FAFSA) receive your SAI information. The Financial Aid Office creates a budget that includes tuition and fees, books, course materials, supplies and equipment, living expenses, transportation, personal and misc. This budget is called the Cost of Attendance, or COA. They then subtract the SAI from the COA and that equals a student’s financial need. 

- As needed, here is more information from OSU’s Financial Aid Office: 
- SAI, COA, and Financial Need
- OSU’s Estimated Cost of Attendance (COA)

Awarding Process

Finally, in early spring, OSU’s Financial Aid Office begins to “award” students. They pull from the federal, state, and OSU programs to create a financial aid package for students. What students end up being awarded depends on whether or not they are eligible for the different funding programs, is usually based on financial need, and whether or not there is still funding available.  

Review important Office of Financial Aid dates. 

When to Apply

Every year a new FAFSA becomes available October 1st for the following academic year. It is recommended that you complete a FAFSA during the month of October, when it becomes available, for maximum consideration of financial aid programs. There are funds, such as FSEOG Grant and the Oregon Opportunity Grant, that are limited and first come, first serve, so the earlier you fill it out, the better. Remember, you can complete the FAFSA through the later part of the academic year for which you are applying. For example, if a student needed a student loan for this current academic year, they could fill out a FAFSA in spring as long as they were enrolled and eligible. 

Also note that the FAFSA is good for one academic year at a time so you must complete a FAFSA every year.  

Why this Matters

There are awards that have limited funding, as in, once the funds run out, they are out – first come, first serve. For example, below are some need-based funding programs that have limited funding that you may see on your financial aid award:

- Work Study

- FSEOG Grant

- Oregon Opportunity Grant 
- ...

In addition, some scholarship opportunities, such as the OSU and COB Scholarship Applications on ScholarDollars, as well as the OSAC Scholarship Application, may require you to have a FAFSA on file, especially if the awarding of the scholarship is based on financial need. It is important to complete your FAFSA when it is available in October, and to do so every year. 

FAFSA Resource
FAFSA

Links to an external site. is available online in a secure web application. Other important resources are:

- OSU’s Office of Financial Aid - for financial aid related concerns, questions, etc.
- Studentaid.ed.gov

- Links to an external site. - for all the updated information around federal student aid. You can also log-in and access all of your pell grant and federal student loan information (who is your servicer, how much you have borrowed, interest rates on current and past loans, sign a Master Promissory Note, plan ahead for repayment, and much more)

Your Award Letter

It is so important that you understand the financial aid system and your scholarship terms and conditions so you can maximize all of the possible awards available to you. In addition, you want to be sure you understand any renewal requirements and know how long you have access to each award. For example, if you depend on the Pell Grant as a resource, how long do you have before you can no longer use it? 
 
In this section, you will be given some basics on the different financial programs along with links for more information. This will be useful to better understand your long-term financial plan moving forward.  

 
Below are the different sources of aid and the types of aid they provide: 

Federal (in and out of state residents):
- - - Loans: Money you have to pay back
      Post-Bacc students may be eligible for student loans, only.
      Learn about each federal loan program.
    - Grants: Free money
    - Work Study: Money you earn

State (Oregon residents only):

- Grants: Free money
- Scholarship Consideration: Free money

Your institution - find out the offerings there. Likely will include:

- Grants: Free money

- Scholarship Consideration: Free money

Here are some examples:

Federal
FAFSA only

State
FAFSA and ORSAA

Your Institution
TBD, check with your institution

•Subsidized Loan

•Unsubsidized Loan

•Parent/Graduate Plus Loan

•Pell Grant

•Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)

•Federal Work Study

•Oregon Opportunity Grant

•OSAC Scholarships

•Unique applications (w/FAFSA/ORSAA):

•Oregon Student Access and Completion (OSAC)
Scholarships

•Oregon Promise if going to Community College in Oregon (must complete additional application)

•Oregon National Guard State Tuition Assistance

•Oregon State Childcare Grant
Chafee Education & Training
Grant (for former foster youth)

•Oregon Tribal Student Grant
oregonstudentaid.gov/grants.aspx

Note, usually award letters are emailed to all new and continuing students in the spring before the new academic year. Students will be directed to their Financial Aid Portal to review details and declare decisions on the programs they have been offered. Programs can change year-to-year.

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