The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), developed by the U.S. Department of Education, should be completed and submitted after October 1st prior to the year in which you are applying for financial aid. This will assure receipt by the processing center before March 1 for first round consideration for federal and state grants, work-study and loans.
Be sure to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool when providing requested tax information. If you cannot access your tax information through the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, be sure to have a copy of your completed taxes on hand in order to provide the requested tax information. Tax information requested will be from 2 years prior to the application year, for example, 2023-2024 FAFSA requires 2021 federal tax information.
Fairmont State University's School Code number is 003812.
Using the Department of Education’s FAFSA ON THE WEB worksheet will help to insure the FAFSA is completed with fewer or no errors. There is not cost to complete this application.
In order to electronically sign the FAFSA, you must have set up a FSA ID. If you are a dependent student according to the Department of Education, one of your parents must also set up a FSA ID. If you do not have a FSA ID, you (and your parent) can apply for one now by going to FSA ID.
Once you have submitted the FAFSA, the Department of Education processing center will calculate a figure that represents the expected family contribution (EFC) toward meeting your college expenses. You will receive an e-mail from the processing center when your FAFSA has been processed. Review the data carefully and if corrections are required, please make them accordingly at the FAFSA website or contact the Financial Aid Office for assistance.
To insure the majority of FAFSAs are completed correctly, some applications are selected by the Department of Education for a process called "verification." If selected, the Financial Aid Office is required to collect certain documentation to insure the information provided on the FAFSA is accurate. Students and/or parents can use the IRS DATA RETRIEVAL PROCESS to transfer tax data to the FAFSA which simplifies the completion of the FAFSA and also reduces paperwork to be submitted for verification. To verify the financial amounts submitted, the Financial Aid Office will request certain documentation including an IRS Tax Return Transcript if the IRS DATA Retreival process was not used, a completed verification worksheet, and other items as needed according to the requirements of the Departmen of Education. Make certain to sign and date all documentation, put your student ID or F number on each document and submit to the Financial Aid Office as soon as possible.
