Financial aid information for parents
Welcome, Families!
Filing the FAFSA has likely changed since you were last in school—perhaps even since your first child’s college search process! So here are some resources we've compiled to help you help your student successfully submit their FAFSA in a timely fashion.
What's new?
In December 2020, Congress amended the Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education (FUTURE) Act, which included the FAFSA Simplification Act. This redesign was the first major update to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in over 40 years. The changes included updates to the form, need analysis, terminology, and policies and procedures for schools that participate in federal student aid programs.
What does that mean for me?
The process of completing the FAFSA is student initiated but may require the information of a parent, now referred to as contributor, before a student's FAFSA can be processed.
A contributor refers to anyone (the student, the student's spouse, the student's biological or adoptive parent, or the student's parent's spouse) who's required to provide information on the FAFSA form.
Student's will need to report parent information on their FAFSA form if they are a dependent student.
- If the student's parents are married (not separated) and filed taxes jointly, only one parent is required to be a contributor.
- If the student's parents are married (not separated) and didn’t file taxes jointly, both parents are contributors.
- If the student's parents are not married to each other and live together, both parents are contributors.
- If the student's parents are divorced, separated, or never married, and don’t live together, the parent who provided more financial support during the last 12 months is the contributor.
- If the student's parents are divorced, separated, or never married; don’t live together; and provided an equal amount of financial support or didn’t support you financially, the parent with the greater income and assets is the contributor.
- If the divorced parent is now married and didn’t file taxes jointly with their current spouse, the divorced parent’s current spouse is also a contributor.
Contributors are asked to provide personal and financial information, complete their sections, and then sign the FAFSA form. Don't forget to sign your portion!
Your student needs a few things from you to invite you to complete your portion of the FAFSA.
- Your name
- Date of birth
- Social Security number (if you have one)—please read more about how to create an account if you do not have an SSN
- Preferred email address
Contributors will need to log in to or create an account with studentaid.gov to provide their information. If you already have an account, please ensure that the information you are sharing with your student is exactly the same as your account information. Information in the invite must exactly match the information in the contributor's account.
- Tax returns
- Records of child support received
- Current balances of cash, savings, and checking accounts
- Net worth of investments, businesses, and farms
Every contributor must provide consent and approval for a student to be eligible for federal student aid. With consent and approval, the Department of Education can obtain a student's and their contributor’s federal tax information automatically from the IRS to help complete the FAFSA form. Learn about how they use the information they collect on your FAFSA form.
What else is important to know regarding the FAFSA?
In recent years, the FAFSA has undergone changes that have simplified the user experience but may leave some families wondering if they've checked all the boxes. So, take a moment to ensure you're up-to-date on the following items.
Consent and approval from each participant on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form are needed to retrieve and disclose federal tax information. With consent and approval, the U.S. Department of Education can obtain your federal tax information directly from the IRS to help complete the FAFSA form. If consent and approval are not provided by the student and all contributors on the FAFSA form, the student will not be eligible for federal student aid, including grants and loans. All participants must provide consent and approval even if they didn’t file a U.S. federal tax return or any tax return at all.
Remember the Federal Student Aid PIN? That was retired in May 2015 and was replaced by the Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID. Your StudentAid.gov account username and password combination, sometimes called your FSA ID, is a set of log-in credentials that you create in order to gain access to the U.S. Department of Education’s online systems. Your account credentials can also serve as your legal signature when completing electronic documents.
Your child will need to complete a FAFSA form every year they’re enrolled in school to receive student aid. Messiah will use your child’s FAFSA information to determine their eligibility for the need-based portions of their financial aid offer. Messiah's preferred deadline to submit the FAFSA, as a continuing student, is April 1 (i.e. April 1, 2027 for the 2027-2028 FAFSA).
States also use FAFSA information to award their own aid and each state has their own deadline for completing the FAFSA form. Many states have limited funds available, so completing the FAFSA form before your state’s deadline is the best way to ensure that your child is eligible for as much aid as possible for college, career school, or trade school.
When correcting your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form, you can make a correction in the following situations:
- You made a mistake in what you reported on your form.
- Your form is in “Action Required” status, and you need to make a required correction such as adding a missing signature or providing consent and approval.
- You want to add or remove schools from your form.
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Select your processed FAFSA submission from the “My Activity” section.
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If you have an action required, start a correction by selecting the action listed under “Errors Found in Your Application,” such as “Start Your Correction” or “Provide Signature.”
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If you’re starting a voluntary correction, select the “Actions” button, and then start a correction by selecting “Make a Correction.”
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Sign and submit your section of the form.
Completing the FAFSA Form: Steps for Parents
Additionally, the Department of Education has provided a resource to estimate what you may receive as a family prior to completing your FAFSA. Use this as an informational tool, but don't forget to file that FAFSA!
Looking for some additional assistance to determine who is the contributor for your student's FAFSA?