FAFSA & CADAA
Financial Aid Applications
Table of Contents
Financial Aid Subpages
Opt-out Form
Seniors who are not applying for financial aid must submit the Opt-Out form by May 23!
FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid
For U.S. Citizens and Eligible Non-Citizens
CADAA: California Dream Act Application
For Undocumented Students / AB540 students
FAFSA / CADAA Walk Through
WHO SHOULD COMPLETE FAFSA / CADAA? ALL SENIORS!
By filling out FAFSA/CADAA, students may be eligible for Grants, scholarships Work Study, or Interest Free Loans!
In addition, many colleges require the application to be submitted before they can receive grants or scholarships from the institution.
Even if the family's income is too high for need-based aid, the student may qualify for scholarships, work study, or low interest loans. Other factors are considered when determining financial aid, including the number of children enrolled in college and age of parents. For community college, all students are eligible for first year free regardless of family income - student must submit FAFSA/CADAA.
Opt-out form must be submitted if you will not submit FAFSA/CADAA
Submit to the College and Career Center
WHEN SHOULD YOU SUBMIT FAFSA / CADAA?
The Cal Grant eligibility deadline is May 2. Submit by this date!
What do you need to submit FAFSA/CADAA?
Track your log in information for financial aid applications! Here is a tracking sheet you can use.
The Process
Gather Information you will need
Social Security Number (if you have one) or Alien registration number
Financial information (Savings, Tax info, W-2, Investments, etc.)
Parent/Guardian Financial Information
Create an Account
For FAFSA, this includes creating an FSA ID.
Student and Parent/Guardian must each create their own FSA ID.
Use an email that you will still have beyond this school year. Do not use your school email.
Fill out the FAFSA or CADAA.
Student and parent/guardian much each submit electronic signature if you are able to. If parent/guardian is not able to sign electronically, you will need to print, sign and mail in the signature page.
Receive SAR (Student Aid Report).
Make changes if needed (including adding more schools).
To submit more than 10 schools, you will need to go back and make changes. You will delete some schools and add others. As long as you already received your SAR, the school received your information. (Keep in mind that if you go back later and make actual changes to your information you will need to resubmit to all schools.)
6. Create an account and check Cal Grant status at https://mygrantinfo.csac.ca.gov/.
https://understandingfafsa.org/ - Guides available in multiple languages
USF's Step-by-step help video below!
Next Steps After Submitting FAFSA/CADAA
Check your Cal Grant status
Click Create an Account.
Fill out the information - this is different from FAFSA/CA Dream Act Application so create a new username.
You will receive an email (at the email address you listed on FAFSA or CA Dream Act Application). Follow the instructions in the email to activate your account.
Once you log in, you will select the tab for the appropriate Academic Year. You will be able to see your application status, the planned school of attendance (to be changed later), and amount of award and remaining eligibility.
Click on Show Details to view application status and any follow up items.
If it shows that your GPA did not match your financial aid application, contact Ms. Zuckerbrow in the College & Career Center at azuckerbrow@cv.k12.ca.us.
Review your Financial Aid Award Letter
Compare the financial aid award letters from each school. If you have questions or concerns, contact the financial aid office at the college(s).
Apply for Scholarships!
Check the financial aid office website for each school you applied to. Do they have additional scholarships you can apply to?
Apply for CVEF Scholarships.
Check the Scholarships page.
Confirm your Cal Grant (Once you know what school you will be attending):
Confirm your graduation date and school of attendance and submit the information to CSAC.
Log-into your WebGrants 4 Students at https://mygrantinfo.csac.ca.gov/.
Once you are logged into the WG4S account, scroll down to the “Cal Grant” section.
Select the school of attendance card and click on the “School Change” Button.
Once you have selected your California Cal Grant eligible school, submit it to receive a confirmation message.
What you can Qualify for with FAFSA/CADAA
Federal Aid (FAFSA applicants only):
Federal Pell Grant
Federal Loans (Subsidized, Unsubsidized, Parent Plus)
Work Study
https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types
California Aid (For students attending a college/university in California):
Cal Grant
Middle Class Scholarship
Chafee Grant (for Foster Youth) - Additional Application required
https://www.csac.ca.gov/financial-aid-programs
Institutional Aid:
Grants and Scholarships from the universities / colleges
Estimate your Aid
Use the FAFSA 4 Caster to estimate the amount of aid you may receive. https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/estimate
Use the Net Price Calculator on any college or university website to estimate the amount you may receive for that school.
Tips & FAQs
Scams: Be aware of scam copies – A company purchased this website àcom they will charge you for the FAFSA – it is a FREE application. http://www.FAFSA.ed.gov
ID: Get you FAFSA ID ahead of time. You get a username and a password. If you are considered a dependent student, you need your separate ID. It can take a few weeks to get your ID. There can be a backlog at the last minute. Do not share your ID with others. This information you are putting on your FAFSA is sensitive information. Store it in Lastpass.com (you can get a free account) or a paid account is $20 per year and it keeps you ID safe.
Date October 1 on your senior year. Many states will run out of money early. You can put in ten colleges when you are filling out your FAFSA. You use your prior-prior taxes or two years before you apply for the loan. You need pull that out and bring out the information. If you have had a decrease in income from 2015 to now – that can be adjusted as well – addendum needs to be filled out with each college.
Deadlines: To maximize your scholarship opportunities fill it out by October 1 – Each school and state will set their deadlines. October 1 is the FIRST day you can apply – deadlines are months later, but why wait?
Which ID? Do not use your ID (parents) when you start our your FAFSA – they will give you an option to enter the student information. USE the student ID – it will automatically add your personal information.
Knowing the lingo on the FAFSA helps – certain questions that you automatically know, but you may make mistakes –
Legal guardianship – Students will answer yes here. You are not considered a legal guardian of yourself! So the answer is NO
NUMBER: The number of family household members – specific definition. Many students put the wrong number down. It has no bearing on who claims the parents in a divorce situation. How many are in your household – that is in your entire family. Siblings. Read instructions carefully.
The number of family members who are in college and private school. If you are thinking about just your siblings. Don’t forget to include yourself. You are also going to college.
Common Mistakes:
If it says You or YOUR – it means the student.
Put in your full name as it appears on your social security card – no nicknames. It will bring you delays if you are not accurate.
Double check your social security number.’
Income Information:
How much income tax – not your AGI (adjusted gross income) – IRS data retrieval tool that will tell you how to fill it out.
Be sure to see if they are asking for your income vs. your parent’s income. Do not get them confused.
Parent section is color coded – you can fill out the parent information. (Even if you live on your own. It still can help you.)
Add More Colleges: Students may only be considering only one or two colleges. You have up to ten schools you can list. Take advantage of this tool and the other colleges cannot see the schools you are sending this to. You can always remove and add more schools.
Sign It! Don’t forget to sign your FAFSA this will cause an incomplete FAFSA. You sign it with your ID number. You can mail a signature page if you want. It is not necessary. You can check the status of your application at any time.
Resources
https://studentaid.gov/resources - FAFSA resources
https://www.collegecovered.com/paying-for-college/fafsa-101-your-financial-aid-faqs-answered/ - FAFSA 101 from College Covered
https://www.goingmerry.com/blog/how-to-apply-for-fafsa/ - How to Apply for FAFSA from Going Merry
https://www.goingmerry.com/blog/fafsa-questions/ - The 7 Trickiest Questions and How to Approach Them from Going Merry
Which parent/guardian do you list?
