You’ve probably heard of the FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. You MUST submit a FAFSA if you want to receive federal or state grants, loans or work-study.
Filling it out isn’t as hard as you may have heard. We’ll walk you through step by step. If you get stuck, call Rocket Solution Central. Our expert staff can help.
FAFSA Tips
What do you need to know?
- The FAFSA is required for almost all forms of financial aid, including loans.
- Even if you think you won’t qualify for federal aid, fill it out. Many scholarships require it. And you don’t want to leave money on the table. You might be surprised by what you qualify for.
Once you submit a FAFSA, UToledo’s Office of Student Financial Aid reviews the application, determines what aid you are eligible for and creates your financial aid offer. Your financial aid offer is posted in myUT in April. We mail you an Aid Offer notification letter a week or two later.
FAFSA Timeline
January: FAFSA opens for next award year
March: FAFSA results sent to UToledo by the federal processor
Early May: Begin sending financial aid offers to and continuing students
May 31: Extended application deadline for new freshman merit scholarships. Must have completed
an admission application including all required documents for consideration.
March through July: Summer Financial Aid application available
UToledo Federal School Code:
003131
You must include this on your FAFSA so we get your info.
SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND THE APPEAL PROCESS
If you or your family’s financial circumstances change after you file your FAFSA, you may file a Special Circumstances Application. Student Financial Aid will reevaluate your aid eligibility to determine if you are eligible for additional aid.
VERIFICATION
After submitting your FAFSA, you may be selected for a process called verification. In verification, we compare the information you reported on your FAFSA with additional documents we ask you to provide.
You will be notified through your Rocket email and by mail if you are chosen for verification and will be provided next steps.
Why was I chosen for verification?
- A certain percentage of students are chosen randomly by the federal FAFSA processor for verification.
- You may have conflicting information on the FAFSA that needs to be cleared up.
What do I need to do?
If your application is selected for verification we will request documents from you, which may include:
- The Verification Worksheet (There are versions of the form for independent and dependent students.)
- Signed copies of your federal tax return or non-filer certification if you didn’t file a tax return
- Your parents’ signed tax return or non-filer certification (if you are a dependent student)
We will list all verification requirements in myUT:
Go to myUT → Student tab → My Financial Aid → Check Eligibility Status
We can’t create your financial aid offer until verification is complete.
Review detailed verification instructions
SUMMER FINANCIAL AID
If you need financial aid for the summer term, you need to fill out a summer aid application.
You must have a FAFSA on file to receive federal or state aid. The summer term is officially the beginning of the new academic year. So if you filed a FAFSA to receive aid for the upcoming academic year, you don’t need to file again.