FAFSA is short for Free Application for Student Aid and is a form that students must fill out to receive financial aid or assistance from the United States Federal Government. FAFSA comes under the purview of the U. S. Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid, which provides more than $ 120 billion in financial aid to students each year to help fund their college or career school.
FAFSA collects personal and financial information from students and parents and, based on the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and other criteria, awards financial aid to the applicant-student. Typically, the FAFSA form for the following academic year is made available every October and must be submitted before the stipulated deadline, which is determined based on the state where the applicant resides.
A Student applying at a FAFSA graduate school seeking financial assistance from the Federal Government should use FAFSA to determine their eligibility to secure student loans, grants, scholarships, and federal work-study programs.
Grants are akin to scholarships but have a few distinct variations. While scholarships are primarily awarded on merit by rewarding exemplary academic achievements or other aspects of a student’s life (such as sports or community service), grants are generally need-based and seldom have anything to do with academic or extracurricular performance.
Most grants tend to factor in ethnicity, community, socio-economic status, gender, and student background. For example, grants could be awarded to only African American students, Female students, students from military families, or those from a particular community. Some grants are even specific to a college or university.
Grants are considered “free money” since they do not have to be paid back and can be used for any educational expense a student has to bear.
A plethora of grants are available from various sources. Therefore, it is always advisable to first check with the university one is applying to and understand what grants, scholarships, loans, or other forms of aid may be offered. A FAFSA graduate school application presents an excellent way to determine what aid a student qualifies for.
FAFSA for graduate school is for those students applying for financial aid to fund their graduate studies. Aspiring students must apply for FAFSA to qualify for federal student loans, grants, or scholarships. In most cases, a student applying for FAFSA for graduate school will be applying as an individual and are typically eligible for Federal Direct Stafford Loans and Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loans, in addition to Work-Study Programs.
Stafford Loans, better known as Direct Unsubsidized Loans) are available at a fixed interest rate of 7.05% (2023-24 school year)to students without the requirement to show financial need[1].
With Direct PLUS Loans, a student can borrow an amount equal to the school’s Cost Of Attendance (COA), which includes tuition and fees, boarding, books, stationery, transportation, etc., less any other financial aid received. Grad PLUS Loans attract a fixed interest rate of 8.05% (2023-24 school year)[1].
One must note that the FAFSA is not a loan application but a system to determine what sort of financial aid a student qualifies and is eligible for, such as scholarships, grants, or loans.
While essentially the same, there are two prominent differences between FAFSA for Undergraduate School and FAFSA for graduate school. The foremost dissimilarity is that a student applying for FAFSA graduate school is likely to be considered independent (from parents) and is therefore required to submit their financial information when applying. FAFSA Undergraduate applicants are usually dependent on their parents and must consequently disclose their parents’ financial information in addition to their own.
The second dissimilarity is that FAFSA graduate school applicants are not eligible for subsidized loans. A subsidized loan starts accumulating interest only after the beneficiary of such a loan has ceased to be a full-time student, a benefit that FAFSA Undergraduate applicants enjoy.
In addition to these two broader differences, FAFSA graduate school applicants can take out more loans than Undergrad applicants, but usually at higher interest rates than what Undergrads have to pay.
It must also be noted that grants for graduate school do not include the Pell Grant and the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant.
Undergraduate and Graduate Students must follow the same process while applying for FAFSA; the eligibility criteria and other requirements are almost identical.
To qualify for federal student aid, including grants, work-study, or loans, an applicant must meet some basic eligibility criteria. To fulfill these criteria, the student must:
Additional eligibility criteria may apply to non-citizen students and students who fall outside the ‘general’ category of applicants.
In addition to U.S. Citizens who are eligible to apply for financial aid, the following types of applicants may also apply but will have to fulfill additional criteria to do so:
For specific or more information, visit the Eligibility Requirements page[2] of studentaid.gov to understand each type of application and associated eligibility criteria.
A common question students have is, “How much does FAFSA cover graduate school?”.
If the student applying for FAFSA has met all basic eligibility criteria, the application is processed by the financial aid office at the applicant’s college or career school. It is this office that will determine how much aid the student is eligible to receive, generally based on:
Students who wish to apply for financial aid to help pay for college must complete and submit a Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) form. This form is available online at studentaid.gov[3] and must be filled up on the same portal. Alternatively, a printed form is also available and can usually be picked up from the financial aid office of a FAFSA graduate school or downloaded from studentaid.gov (for the school year 2023-2024)[4]. If one gathers all the required information well before starting the application process, completing the FAFSA form in no time will be easier. To fill it out completely, here are a few things that are needed:
Note: The FAFSA form for 2023-2024 has been available since October 1, 2022. Depending on the state of legal residence, the submission deadline varies, but for students of most states, the submission deadline is June 30, 2024. It is advisable to apply early as many awards are given on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Once the required information is made available and ready, the application in itself is pretty much straightforward, broken down into a few steps/sections:
Once the form is submitted, FAFSA will start processing it, and the applicant can monitor its progress by logging into studentaid.gov[5] with their FSA ID. Schools selected by the applicant will automatically receive information from FAFSA and, if selected for admission, will tailor a financial aid package for the applicant.
Important: FAFSA application must be done every year, not only at the time of seeking admission.
While the FAFSA graduate school form is quite simple, there is always a chance of overlooking something important and complicating things in the bargain. Thousands of FAFSA applications are made each year, and it is essential to keep the finger on the ball, focus, and assiduously enter information on the FAFSA form. These few tips should help one stay on top:
Completing and submitting the FAFSA graduate school form is only the beginning. There are a few more steps to take before a student receives the aid in their hands.
Note: The U.S. Department of Education does not distribute financial aid directly to the student. It is the student’s college that passes it on.
Yes, FAFSA covers graduate schools. The student applying for FAFSA has to enter a list of preferred schools in the FAFSA form, even if they have not yet applied or been admitted to those schools.
Seeking financial aid can be tricky business. There are more than a few options to explore and hundreds of sites that claim to offer scholarships and awards, most of which eventually turn out to be fake. Here are some genuinely good resources for students to use and find information on a FAFSA for graduate school, as well as other funding options for graduate studies:
There are a few other resources to consider if one must look beyond FAFSA. After all, there are various ways and means of securing scholarships, grants, and loans, and some of the sites listed below will enable you to explore multiple options for funding: