Tips and Tricks for the FAFSA

On your mark, get set, let’s FAFSA! What is FAFSA, you may ask? Great question! 

FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Once you input your family’s tax information from the year 2022, the FAFSA will calculate a personalized Expected Family Contribution, also referred to as your EFC. This is an index number that colleges use to help calculate financial need. And it’s the number colleges and universities use to help determine what kind of financial aid you will be able to receive.  

Write your sticky note, put it on your holiday to-do list, make Siri set that reminder: FAFSA opens sometime in December! The sooner you complete and submit your FAFSA the better, because some federal and state-based financial aid is available on a first-come, first-served basis. It's also beneficial because once your FAFSA form is complete and sent to us, George Fox will be able to package your aid with any other eligible federal, state and institutional funds.  

Even if you don’t think your family will qualify for any financial aid, submit it and find out for sure (especially your first year!). Just because you may not qualify for any federal financial aid doesn’t mean that you won’t qualify for school-based aid. We would hate for you to miss out on the opportunity for tuiton money!

The FAFSA sometimes gets a bad rap for being complicated or time-consuming. But fear not! We have some great tips to help make the process smoother. On top of that, we have a whole financial aid office dedicated to helping you through the process. Whether you’ve been submitting the FAFSA for the last three years, or this is your very first time, there are people here to help! 

Just like you would probably prepare for an exam before taking it, do some FAFSA prep too! Before getting started, gather and organize the following materials to have on hand:  

• Your Social Security Number
• Your Alien Registration Number (if you are not a U.S. citizen)
• Your federal income tax returns, W-2s, and other records of money earned. (Note: You may be able to transfer your federal tax return information into your FAFSA using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool.)
• Bank statements and records of investments (if applicable)
• Records of untaxed income (if applicable)
• George Fox University's code (003194) 
• A Federal Student Aid ID (FSA ID) to sign electronically (both students and parents will need one)
• If you are a dependent student, then you will also need most of the above information for your parent(s) as well.