FAFSA Requirements

Students planning to file or renew a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, for the 2024-25 financial aid year will have the opportunity to do so beginning in December 2023. Although the FAFSA typically opens October 1st, this year the form is delayed due to a significant overhaul of the application. High school seniors, current college students, and adults (re) entering college are all encouraged to file the FAFSA as soon as possible once it becomes available. Some financial aid is first-come, first-served, and students will have a shorter window of time to meet priority deadlines, due to this year’s delay. Any student filing the 2024-25 FAFSA will use tax information from 2022 for themselves and their parent(s) if necessary. The FAFSA can be filed at https://studentaid.gov.

The first step in preparation is for the student and their parent(s) to create a Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID, which is a username and password. Any individual who is required to provide information on a FAFSA will be known as a contributor and each contributor will be required to have an FSA ID. Contributors can include the student, their parent, other parent, or spouse. These IDs are used to access Federal Student Aid’s website securely and are used by individuals to provide approval of use of their federal tax information (FTI) on a FAFSA and serve as a legally binding electronic signature. Please see our FSA ID recommendations as you begin this process. FSA IDs can be created here.

Necessary Documents and Information

Students and families will need to have information on hand when they sit down to complete the FAFSA. The following list is intended to be comprehensive of what may be required; if something does not apply to you or your circumstances, please disregard.

  • Student FSA ID
  • Parent(s) FSA ID
  • Student SSN
  • Parent(s) SSN(s) or Parent(s) ITIN(s)
  • Student Full Legal Name
  • Parent(s) Full Legal Name
  • Student Date of Birth
  • Parent(s) Date(s) of Birth
  • Student Federal 2022 Taxes
  • Parent(s) Federal 2022 Taxes
  • Parent(s) Marriage and/or Divorce/Separation/Widow Date(s)
  • Student 2022 W2(s) and/or 1099(s)
  • Parent(s) 2022 W2(s) and/or 1099(s)
  • Student cash/checking/savings account balances
  • Parent(s) cash/checking/savings account balances
  • Net worth of investments, if applicable
  • Net worth of farms, small businesses, if applicable

*Students considered dependent are required to include parent(s) information on their FAFSA. Students may review dependency questions HERE to determine dependency status.

Additional Information

It may also be necessary to know whether you and/or your parent(s) receive any of the following:

  • Free or Reduced Price Lunch
  • Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
  • Supplemental Social Security (SSI)
  • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
  • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

If you have any questions or wish to schedule a 1:1 appointment with a Student Advisor for help with the FAFSA, please contact our offices at (314) 725-7990 or info@sfstl.org.