CICU’s One Stop Shop: FAFSA Support Page
The road to college has so many exciting stops! Financial aid is one of the first and most important steps along the way to finding the right college. Independent Sector colleges and universities want to ensure students and their families can benefit from the financial assistance programs available to them.
The office of Federal Student Aid provides approximately $112 billion in funds each year to help pay for college. The process for applying for and receiving aid from these programs is known as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form, or FAFSA. Without filling out the FAFSA form, students are leaving millions of dollars unused each year.
Colleges and career schools use the FAFSA form to determine how much financial aid a student is eligible to receive, including grants, scholarships, work-study funds, and loans. This is a crucially important step to determining what the actual cost to the student is. In many cases, the student will pay less than advertised by colleges and universities.
Learn more about why you should complete the FAFSA even if you don't think you qualify for student aid:
Filling out the FAFSA is completely free and should be stress free too!
CICU member schools encourage all student, regardless of income, who wants to be considered for federal, state, and school financial aid programs to complete the FAFSA. There are numerous resources to assist students and their families. Here are a few:
There are also numerous resources for schools and college advisors to assist students and their families. Here are a few: