Start hereAsk: Financial aid officeThe FAFSA, start to finish
Course 1 · 6 lessons · 18 min to read
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6 courses
Start hereAsk: Financial aid office
Ask: Financial aid officeReading your aid offer
Course 2 · 6 lessons · 18 min to read
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Ask: Scholarship officeScholarships, found and finished
Course 3 · 6 lessons · 18 min to read
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Ask: Financial aid officeBorrowing with care
Course 4 · 6 lessons · 18 min to read
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Ask: Bursar or student accountsMoney in your first year
Course 5 · 6 lessons · 18 min to read
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Ask: Career centerWorking while you study
Course 6 · 6 lessons · 18 min to read
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Every lesson, in order
All 36 lessons, grouped by course. Searching filters this list as you type.
- ApplyingThe FAFSA, start to finish
- 1.1Why the FAFSA comes firstWhat the FAFSA opens up, who reads your answers, and why your real deadlines come from states and schools.3 min
- 1.2Making your StudentAid.gov accountSet up the login you will use to sign the FAFSA, and help each parent or spouse on your form set up one of their own.3 min
- 1.3Who the FAFSA counts as familyHow the form decides whose information belongs on your FAFSA, and what to do when your family does not fit its boxes.3 min
- 1.4The form, one screen at a timeA walk through the online FAFSA in the order you meet it, from your own answers to the moment the last signature goes in.3 min
- 1.5Your FAFSA Submission Summary, explainedWhat arrives after your FAFSA is processed, what the Student Aid Index means, and which lines deserve a second read.3 min
- 1.6Verification and fixing mistakesAnswer a school's request to confirm your FAFSA, correct mistakes yourself, and know when a change belongs with the aid office.3 min
- Aid offersReading your aid offer
- 2.1What an aid offer is made ofThe parts of a school's aid offer, what each one tells you, and the details printed in smaller type.3 min
- 2.2Cost of attendance, line by lineWhat each cost on an aid offer covers, which ones appear on your bill and which ones you pay on your own.3 min
- 2.3Aid you keep and aid you repaySorting grants, scholarships, work-study and loans so you know which money stays yours and which comes back as a bill.3 min
- 2.4Working out your own shareA step-by-step way to find the part of the year's cost that falls to you and plan how to cover it.3 min
- 2.5Laying two offers side by sideHow to put offers from different schools into the same rows so you compare what each year will really cost.3 min
- 2.6Requesting a review of your aidWhen and how to ask a financial aid office for a second look, and what to send with your request.3 min
- ScholarshipsScholarships, found and finished
- 3.1Where scholarship money comes fromThe main sources of scholarships, how each one decides, and which office answers questions about an award.3 min
- 3.2Searching close to homeLocal scholarships draw fewer applicants. Find them nearby and keep every deadline in one simple tracker.3 min
- 3.3Writing an essay that answers the promptHow to break a prompt into its parts, choose one specific story and revise until every paragraph answers the question.3 min
- 3.4Lining up recommendation lettersWho to ask for a letter, when to ask, and what to hand them so the letter they write is specific and on time.3 min
- 3.5How an outside award changes your packageWhy you report every outside scholarship to your aid office, and how the school may adjust your other aid in return.3 min
- 3.6Scholarship offers that ask you for moneyThe warning signs of a scholarship scam, how to check a sponsor, and where to report an offer that wants payment.3 min
- LoansBorrowing with care
- 4.1Federal loans and private loansHow a federal student loan differs from a bank loan, and why the order you borrow in matters.3 min
- 4.2How loan interest adds upPrincipal, daily interest, loan fees and capitalization, and how small choices in school change what you repay.3 min
- 4.3Subsidized, unsubsidized and PLUS loansThe three Direct Loan types side by side: who borrows each, how interest works, and where yearly limits are published.3 min
- 4.4Accepting only part of a loanHow to take a smaller loan than your offer lists, size it to a real budget, and change the amount later in the year.3 min
- 4.5Entrance counseling and the promissory noteThe two steps every first-time federal borrower finishes on studentaid.gov, what each one asks, and what to keep.3 min
- 4.6Repayment after you leave schoolThe grace period, exit counseling, your servicer, the kinds of repayment plan, and where to turn if payments get hard.3 min
- Everyday moneyMoney in your first year
- 5.1A spending plan for one termAdd up what arrives and what leaves over one term, then turn it into a weekly amount you can follow.3 min
- 5.2Opening a bank account as a studentPick an account that fits a student budget, bring the right documents and ask about fees before you sign.3 min
- 5.3When your school sends you a refundLearn why a school sends money back to you, how much of it may be borrowed and how to make it last.3 min
- 5.4Course materials for lessConfirm what each class requires, then compare renting, used copies, the library and open textbooks.3 min
- 5.5Your first credit cardHow a card works, what the law asks of applicants under 21 and the habits that build a credit history.3 min
- 5.6Short on money in the middle of a termWhere to turn when money runs short before the term ends, and the order to try each option in.3 min
- WorkWorking while you study
- 6.1How Federal Work-Study worksWhat the work-study line on your aid offer means, how that money reaches you, and who sets your hours.3 min
- 6.2Landing a job on campusWhere campus jobs are posted, how to apply around your classes, and the paperwork for your first week.3 min
- 6.3Internships, paid and unpaidHow paid internships and stipends work, when an unpaid role is allowed, and how to count what one would cost you.3 min
- 6.4The W-4 and your first paycheckHow to fill in Form W-4 so withholding fits what you owe, and how to read each line of your first pay stub.3 min
- 6.5Filing your first tax returnDeciding whether to file, the papers to gather, how dependents and education credits work, and free ways to file.3 min
- 6.6How this year's pay shows up on next year's FAFSAWhich tax year the FAFSA reads, how student pay and work-study are counted, and what to do when income has changed.3 min
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