FAFSA
FAFSA for 2026-2027 school year is now open!
CLICK HERE to Register to join us for our FAFSA Completion Nights at Hart on Dec. 18th, Pentwater on Jan. 9th, Shelby on Jan. 13th from 6-8pm.
What is the FAFSA?
FAFSA = Free Application for Federal Student Aid
The FAFSA is an online form for students to fill out in their senior year. The FAFSA is an essential part of the college process because it makes students eligible for government aid (grants, scholarships, and loans) and aid from the college (merit based scholarships).
The form walks you through each step, and it takes most people less than 30 minutes to complete it.
Completing the FAFSA is important because most colleges, states, and scholarship programs use it to decide how much financial support a student can receive. Without it, students may miss out on thousands of dollars that could help pay for school.
Note to Parents
- Michigan’s class of 2023 left $110 million dollars on the table because they did not fill out the FAFSA. It is estimated that 70% of Michigan seniors will be eligible for some financial aid. This year, there is a new FAFSA process that is taking many people less time to submit. However, we know there have been some setbacks. Despite this, we know that filing the FAFSA is the most important step to getting money for your student’s education. This includes many trades programs, community colleges and four-year institutions. Contact a counselor or staff member to set up time to help you. Also, Michigan Achievement Scholarship offers money if you qualify (this is not an academic scholarship) – check by filing the FAFSA! This checklist will help you prepare for filing the FAFSA. We are here to help you and your student(s).
- If you have already filed, please make sure your student checks their status online. They should be receiving financial aid information from colleges later this month. Please continue to check your email and monitor the college’s social media for timeline updates. You may also use the college cost calculator on most college’s websites to estimate cost prior to getting your financial aid package. We know this has been challenging and slow-going, but we are here to support.
FAFSA can help you unlock:
- Federal grants (free money)
- State aid
- College scholarships
- Work-study jobs
- Federal student loans
- Some private scholarships
Who can fill out the FAFSA?
- Every student planning to attend college or career training, regardless of income.
- Students and Parents need their own account to fill out their portion of the FAFSA.
How long does it take?
- Under 30 minutes
- Online form
- You can always save your progress and return to your form later.
What you need:
- A personal email address
- Student and parent social security numbers
- Student and parent “prior-prior year” taxes and untaxed income records (if applicable)
- Current student and parent bank statement(s) and investments (if applicable)
- Current business records for parent or student (if applicable)
- List of colleges the student has applied to or plans on applying to.
Submitting the FAFSA:
FAFSA opens in October, many colleges give aid on a first-come, first serve basis. Apply early!
Create StudentAid.gov Account
- This is your username and password to access the FAFSA form.
- Both student and parent will need to create an account.
- Students, make sure you use a personal email address.
- Keep your username, password, and security questions someplace you will remember. You will need this information in the future.
FAFSA Form
To begin the FAFSA select Start a New Form
- Sign in using your StudentAid.gov Account username and password.
- If you are a parent and your student already began a form, click Accept an Invitation
Determining your Dependency Status
- The form will ask you questions to determine if you are a dependent or independent student.
- If you are a dependent student, you must report parent information as well.
- Click here to find if you’re a dependent or independent student.
Reporting Parent’s Information
- If you are a dependent student visit this page on reporting parent information to find out who counts as your parent or what to do if you don’t have access to your parents information
- Is my parent a contributor when I fill out my FAFSA form? – For dependent students to help determine which parent’s info to include in the form.
Providing Financial Information
- The FAFSA uses “prior-prior year” tax information. Meaning it asks for tax data from two years before the academic year starts.
- The 2026-27 FAFSA Form asks for 2024 tax information
- NOTE: If your or your families situation has changes significantly (lost a job/drop in income) you may be eligible to have your financial aid adjusted, find out more here.
- Automatically transfer your tax information from the IRS data retrieval tool here.
- If the IRA retrieval tools does not work, you can input data manually.
List Colleges/Career Schools
- Enter colleges you have applied to or want to apply to.
- You can add up to 20 colleges online.
- Use the School Search tool to find the schools.
- For federal aid, order of list does not matter
- For state aid, list colleges MI colleges/universities to ensure state aid programs consider you promptly.
- You can always add or remove schools later!
- Add any school you’re applying to or think of applying to.
Sign & Submit
- Both student and parents need to sign.
- You should receive an email confirming you FAFSA was submitted.
I’ve Submitted my FAFSA, Now What?
What happens after I submit my FAFSA?
- Watch for an email letting you know your FAFSA has been processed
- Log back into your FAFSA account to view your Submission Summary and complete Verification if necessary.
- The summary will also give you a Student Aid Index (SAI), this number is not a dollar amount. Colleges use this to build financial aid packages.
- College Award Letters will being to start arriving from college you listed on your FAFSA.
- To add colleges or update your FAFSA click here.
- For more FAFSA topics, click the resources below, or call Oceana CAN! at 231-301-2577 for help.
If you need any extra help, visit the Federal Student Aid FAFSA website here.
What Is "College"?
College is all post-secondary education including certificate programs, trade schools, community colleges and 4 year colleges and universities. Learn More
