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06/23/2025
6 min read
06/23/2025
5 min read
06/23/2025
5 min read
If you’re like many families with a high school graduate exploring their college options, the high price tag of college can be stressful and discouraging. Help your child pursue financial aid, starting with FAFSA. Filing FAFSA can help mitigate the overwhelming costs of college tuition and fees—and subsequently reduce the burden of steep student loan debt. Here’s an overview for what you need to know.
FAFSA stands for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. This form is like a ticket to federal money and scholarships to help pay for college. Filling out and submitting the form serves as an application for federal grants, loans and work-study funds to financially support your student’s college education.
FAFSA is also a requirement for many colleges. Colleges may use it to help determine students who are eligible to receive financial aid packages based on need or merit. For example, at Grand Canyon University, information contained in the FAFSA helps determine eligibility for institutional scholarships and grants, including financial aid. (Reminder, enter GCU’s school code “001074” on the FAFSA.)
Student debt averages near $30,000 per student, which can be a major financial setback for a graduate entering adult life and seeking an entry-level job. Completing this government form is an opportunity to help streamline the college financial aid process, qualify for assistance and reduce the burden of student loan debt post-graduation.
Administered by the U.S. Department of Education, FAFSA provides more than $150 billion in student aid annually. Can your student afford to be excluded from this group of recipients?
Your student must be a U.S. citizen and have a high school diploma or GED. You can estimate the amount of financial aid your student may be eligible for by taking the cost of your school’s attendance for your student and subtracting your expected family contribution (EFC) (determined by FAFSA). The total is the amount of financial aid your student needs and may receive.
Remember, your FAFSA-calculated EFC amount may not be exactly what your family has to pay for college. Colleges use different calculations to determine financial aid. The amount needed to pay may be less, and amount needed isn’t guaranteed to be provided.
Many students don’t bother to fill out FAFSA because it’s more than 100 questions; it’s a time-consuming and complex process to complete. Other students avoid FAFSA because they believe their parents make too much money or they won’t quality because of academic performance. Federal Student Aid encourages all students to apply to FAFSA. Check out these common misconceptions about financial aid.
Remember, most universities require a FAFSA form on file in order to award a student either need-based or merit-based financial aid. Your student may quality to receive financial aid that’s based strictly on merit, such as academic achievement, ACT/SAT scores and athletics (not financial need). But you must complete the FAFSA form.
Time Money’s College Planner also offers this financial tip for families: “filing a FAFSA automatically qualifies you for low-cost federal student loans of at least $5,500 a year.”
In September 2015, President Obama instated the following significant changes to FAFSA:
See the Federal Student Aid’s announcement FAFSA Changes for 2017–18 for a summary of key dates and fact sheets for students and the general public.
To learn more about tuition and financing at GCU, visit our website or contact us today by pushing the Request More Information button at the top of the page!
