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FAFSA Priority Date

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (commonly referred to as the FAFSA) is the key to determining whether you are eligible for federal, state, and institutional financial aid such as grants, scholarships, work-study, and loans. You will need to complete a new FAFSA each year.

Students seeking financial aid from Ball State should complete the FAFSA before April 15 each year in order to be considered for the maximum financial aid available. Students completing the FAFSA for the 2025-26 academic year should do so before April 15, 2025.  Even if you think you may not qualify for grants, the information you provide on the FAFSA often helps determine your eligibility for other aid.

Complete Your FAFSA

FAFSA Submission for 2025-26

The 2025-26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now available for all eligible students at studentaid.gov. If you haven’t already, filing a new FAFSA early each year ensures that you’ll be considered for the maximum financial aid available!

Need help? Contact Cardinal Central by email at cardinalcentral@bsu.edu, by phone at (765) 285-2222, or by scheduling a virtual appointment with one of our specialists.

Preparing for FAFSA Completion

Prior to completing the 2025-26 FAFSA, you will need to gather your information and prepare those contributing to the process.

You can prepare by doing the following:

If you have not previously completed a FAFSA, create an FSA ID on the Federal Student Aid website and assist contributors, such as your parent(s) or spouse, in creating an FSA ID.
            - An FSA ID is an account and password that gives you access to the Federal Student Aid’s online system and serves as your electronic signature.
            - With the FSA ID, you can complete the FAFSA, sign your Master Promissory Note (MPN), apply for repayment plans, complete loan counseling, and use the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Help Tool.

Short Videos to Help You Prepare for FAFSA Completion

 

FAFSA Question and Answers

To check the status of a 2025–26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form, log in to StudentAid.gov. You can find your application status in the Status Center under “My Activity,” which displays after you log in if you have already started or completed a FAFSA form.

NOTE: Colleges have started receiving the FAFSA output; however, there are issues with the data received and we are not able to generate award offers at this time. We hope the data issues will be resolved by the U. S. Department of Education by the end of April and we can begin to make award offers.  

 

Yes. Students seeking financial aid from Ball State should complete the FAFSA before April 15 each year in order to be considered for the maximum financial aid available. Students completing the FAFSA for the 2025-26 academic year should do so before April 15.  Even if you think you may not qualify for grants, the information you provide on the FAFSA often helps determine your eligibility for other aid.
The U.S. Department of Education is working on the implementation of a new FAFSA process and it has been delayed.  The ability to make corrections to FAFSA data is expected to become available sometime during the week of April 15.

Ball State University hopes to begin making award offers near the end of February or early March.

With a Federal Student Aid ID (FSA ID) you can complete the FAFSA, sign your Master Promissory Note (MPN), apply for repayment plans, complete loan counseling, and use the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Help Tool.

If you have an FSA ID but don't remember your username, select "Forgot Username."  Note: If you verified your email address or mobile phone number during account creation, you can enter your email address or mobile phone number instead of your username. If you have an FSA ID but don't remember your password, select "Forgot Password."

Prior to completing the 2025-26 FAFSA, you will need to gather your information and prepare those contributing to the process. You can prepare by doing the following:

  • Create an FSA ID on the Federal Student Aid website and assist contributors, such as your parent(s) or spouse, in creating an FSA ID.

Visit studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/dependency to see if any of the circumstances qualifying independent status apply to you. See more: https://studentaid.gov/sites/default/files/fafsa-dependency.pdf 

It depends. Most foreign citizens are not eligible for federal student aid from the U.S. Department of Education. There are, however, some instances in which noncitizens may be eligible for financial aid from the U.S. federal government. Visit studentAid.gov/understand-aid/eligibility/requirements/non-us-citizens to review the eligibility requirements for non-U.S. citizens. See more: https://studentaid.gov/sites/default/files/international-students.pdf

The FAFSA is introducing the new term contributor, which refers to anyone who is required to provide information on a student’s FAFSA form, including the student, the student’s spouse, a biological or adopted parent, or the parent’s spouse. Students will need the contributor’s name, date of birth, Social Security Number (SSN), and email address to invite them to complete the required portion of the FAFSA.

Contributors will need to provide personal and financial information on their section of the FAFSA. All Contributors–student, student's spouse (if married), and student's parents(s) (if a dependent student)–must provide consent to have tax data transferred directly from the IRS to the FAFSA. If consent is not provided by all parties, the student will not be eligible for federal financial aid. In previous years, transferring IRS data was optional. It is now required.

No. Being a contributor on your student's FAFSA does not obligate you to pay for your student's education.

If your parents are divorced or separated, the contributing parent(s) is the parent (and their spouse, if remarried) who provided the greater portion of your financial support during the 12 months immediately prior to filing the FAFSA. It is not automatically the parent you primarily lived with during the past 12 months.

No. The new FAFSA does not consider how many dependents are attending college at one time within the household when calculating the Student Aid Index (SAI).

Small businesses and family farms are now considered assets.
The Student Aid Report (SAR) will now be referred to as the FAFSA Submission Summary. This is the summary submission document you receive after completing the FAFSA.

The need analysis formula to determine financial aid is changing. The result, formally known as the Expected Family Contribution (EFC), will now be referred to as the Student Aid Index (SAI).