The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, is your first step in applying for financial aid. This is your application for federal grants, federal student loans, and work-study funds. It is also used to determine eligibility for the WV Higher Educations Grant and required for other state aid programs, such as the Promise Scholarship and WV Invests Grant. Many institutions also use the FAFSA to determine eligibility for institutional financial aid.
You can learn more about and complete the FAFSA at StudentAid.gov!
Make sure you complete the correct year FAFSA for the academic year you are attending college during.
- The 2023-2024 FAFSA for the 2023-2024 academic year is currently available.
- The 2024-2025 FAFSA For the 2024-2025 academic year will open in December 2023.
Before completing the FAFSA, you will need an account at StudentAid.gov. We also call this the Federal Student Aid ID, or FSA ID.
The FSA ID is a username and password combination you use to log in to U.S. Department of Education (ED) online systems, such as the FAFSA. The FSA ID is your legal signature and shouldn’t be created or used by anyone other than you—not even your parent, your child, a school official, or a loan company representative.
You must create an account at StudentAid.gov, which becomes your FSA ID, at least 3-5 days before you complete your first FAFSA. All contributors (others whose income information will be required on your FAFSA) to your FAFSA will also need an FSA ID in advance.
