​If this is your first time going through the college application process, the FAFSA (or the Free Application for Federal Student Aid) can seem really intimidating—but it doesn’t have to be. The best way to make completing the FAFSA easier is to make sure you have everything you need to fill it out. Here’s a cheat sheet of the 5 things you’ll want to make sure you have before sitting down to complete your FAFSA.

1.

Your FSA ID

Your FSA ID is like your digital signature for certain U.S. Department of Education websites. It’s important to create an FSA ID for the student, and another one for the parent/guardian. IMPORTANT: Don’t create an FSA ID on behalf of someone else. It can cause login issues and lead to financial aid delays. Additionally, in some situations, you may have to wait up to three days to use your FSA ID after creating it. So complete this step as soon as possible.

Create FSA ID

2.

Your Social Security Number
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If you have your social security number memorized, good for you! You’re good to go! If you don’t, ask your parent to find your social security card. If you are not a U.S. citizen, but meet Federal Student Aid’s basic eligibility requirements, you’ll need your Alien Registration Number.

3.

Your Driver’s License Number (If you have one)
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If you have a driver’s license, make sure you have it handy. If you don’t that’s okay!

4.

Your 2017 Tax Records
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You will probably need your parent’s help for this step. They will fill out the FAFSA using their 2017 income information, so they will need to have their tax records close by. Additionally, they will want to have records of their 2017 untaxed income as well records of their current assets (savings, checking, and investments.)

Pro-Tip: Using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool once you get to this section can save you a lot of time during the process. It will automatically pull in your tax return data from the previous year. Using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool can also help quicken the process in the future if you are selected for FAFSA verification.

5.

The FAFSA codes of the Schools you are interested in attending.

Finally, you will want to have the FAFSA codes of all the institutions you are interested in attending. This will ensure the colleges’ financial aid departments get your FAFSA information. You can list of up to 10 schools on your FAFSA form. Make sure you add York College. Our FAFSA code is 002567.

Questions? Give us a call at 402-363-5627 or send us an email at enroll@york.edu.