Financial Aid

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Completing the FAFSA

IMPORTANT: The 2023-2024 FAFSA will be available October 1, 2022. 

FAFSA priority filing deadlines:

  • Incoming 2023-2024 Freshman Students – February 1, 2023
  • Incoming 2023-2024 Transfer Students – April 1, 2023
  • All current continuing students – February 1, 2023

Here are some tips for completing an online FAFSA.

All undergraduate students that do NOT file the FAFSA by the priority filing date of Feb. 1 will continue to be eligible for Federal Direct Student Loans, and Federal Grants. Other funds (Virginia State Grants, scholarships, etc.) will not be available after that date.

FSA ID

  • Apply for an FSA ID, a username and password combination that allows you to sign your FAFSA electronically.
  • You can get your FSA ID as you fill out the FAFSA, but you also have the option to get it ahead of time.

Watch this video to learn how to create an FSA ID.

How to Fill Out the FAFSA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK0bbu0y5AM

Information Needed for the FAFSA

  • Student, parent and/or spouse Social Security Numbers
  • Student driver’s license
  •  Alien Registration number if you are not a U.S. citizen
  • Federal tax information or tax returns including IRS W-2 information, for you (and your spouse, if you are married), and for your parents if you are a dependent student:
    • IRS 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ
    • Foreign tax return and/or
    • Tax return for Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or Palau
  • Student, parent and/or spouse untaxed income, such as child support received, interest income, and veterans non-education benefits

Determining Dependency Status

  • The FAFSA asks a series of questions that determine whether you are a dependent or independent student for purposes of applying for federal student aid. If you are a dependent student, you must report parent information, as well as your own information, on your FAFSA.

Reporting Financial Information

  • Use two-year prior tax data. For instance, if you are filling out the 2023-24 FAFSA, use 2021 tax information, if you are filling out the 2022-23 FAFSA use 2020 tax information.
  • If eligible, use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT) –  The information transferred from the IRS will not be displayed when you use the IRS DRT.  Instead, you’ll see “Transferred from the IRS” in the appropriate fields.  This change was made to protect sensitive tax information.
      1. The IRS DRT will direct you to the IRS website
      2. Log in by providing your name and other information exactly as you provided it on your tax return.
      3. At the IRS site, preview your information before agreeing to have it transferred to your FAFSA.
      4. When you return to the FAFSA, you’ll see that questions populated with tax information marked “Transferred from the IRS.” Don’t make any changes to those answers (except where Individual Retirement Accounts or pension rollovers are involved), or you’ll invalidate the information you retrieved.

FAFSA: The Next Steps

  • Student Aid Report (SAR) will be sent to the email address provided by the student on the FAFSA approximately three days after submitting the FAFSA.
  • Review your SAR to make sure you didn’t make a mistake on your FAFSA.
  • The SAR will provide information to the financial aid office to determine your financial aid eligibility.
  • If your two years prior tax information has changed significantly due to income changes, change in number of family members in the household, etc. please contact the UMW Office of Financial Aid to determine if a change to your financial aid eligibility is needed.

The information on this page is found on the Federal Student Aid website, which is an excellent resource for all students using federal aid (Direct Loans, Plus Loans, Federal Pell Grant, etc), especially while filling out the FAFSA.