FAFSA and Financial Aid | Minnesota MyHigherEd

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

The FAFSA may seem intimidating, but over the years the application process has become more streamlined. On average it takes approximately 20-25 minutes to complete online if you have the necessary information and paperwork on hand.

Have the following financial records on hand to ensure the process goes as quickly and smoothly as possible:

Tax returns
Your social security number
W-2 Forms from the prior-prior year
Current bank statements
Records of untaxed income from the prior-prior year
Current business and farm records
If you are a dependent student, your parent’s tax return, and all of the above
If you are married (and your spouse filed a separate form), your spouse’s return, and all of the above.

Your FAFSA will be reviewed, and an electronic report will be sent to the colleges you mark on your FAFSA. This report will confirm the information you provided on the FAFSA and will contain your Expected Family Contribution (EFC).

NOTE: Applying for financial aid does not cost anything. By applying, you do not commit yourself to attend any college.

The 2024-2025 FAFSA

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) simplified form, effective for the 2024-2025 school year and beyond, is shorter and easier to complete for most students and families.

What is new?

The new FAFSA:

Changes the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) measurement to the Student Aid Index (SAI). A student's SAI can be as low as negative $1,500, which can increase the amount of financial aid some students will qualify for the formula uses less factors than the EFC, requiring fewer FAFSA questions.
Requires that all parties providing information (such as the student and parents) must create a Federal Student Aid account (FSA ID) and authorize the IRS to provide tax and related information to be used on the FAFSA. This step is mandatory, no longer voluntary. If a person does not give consent to the transfer of tax-related information, this will result in an inability to access federal and state financial aid.
Qualifies students for financial aid based on Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), so some students automatically qualify to receive a Pell grant. The AGI threshold is either 175% or 225% of federal poverty guidelines, depending on the student’s dependency status and marital status.
Replaces “Room and Board” with “Food and Housing” calculation in a student’s annual college Cost of Attendance (COA) calculation, which includes the cost of 21 meals per week. A family’s COA minus SAI will equal their financial need.
- Introduces changes to family size determination, asset calculation, income protection allowances, and excludable income:
- Eliminates the provision that divides the expected contribution by the number of family members enrolled in college.
- Requires more small businesses/family farms to report as assets (previously businesses/family farms with less than 100 employees were excluded).
- Uses tax forms to determine household size.
- Eliminates the prohibitions on eligibility for incarcerated students and students with drug-related offenses or who fail to register for Selective Service.
- Pell Grant amount will be reduced proportional to actual enrollment if less than full time.

Important Considerations

If your parents are divorced or separated parents, you will report information on your parent who provides the greater portion of your financial support. This parent should be either the one you have lived lived with longer during the past 12 months or, if you have lived with both of your parents equally, the one who provided the most financial support in the past 12 months, which is the one with higher income. If this parent is remarried, your stepparent must also provide tax information, unless they filed a joint tax return.

For students who do not come from a two-parent household, all parties providing information must create a Federal Student Aid account(FSA ID) and authorize the IRS to provide tax and related information to be used on the FAFSA. This step is mandatory, no longer voluntary. If a person does not give consent to the transfer of tax-related information, this will result in an inability to access federal and state financial aid.
If your family owns farms and/or small businesses, you should be prepared to provide the estimated worth of these assets.
Remember, the final version of the upcoming FAFSA has not yet been published, so some guidance may change or more information may become available closer to the launch of the new FAFSA.

Other Fast Facts

The new FAFSA, along with resources and translation services, is available in the (11) most commonly spoken languages in the United States.
You may select up to 20 colleges to share their FAFSA with, up from the previous 10 colleges limit.
Once you begin completing the FAFSA, your parent has 45 days to complete their portion.

What does the FAFSA data delay mean for Minnesota students and families?

On Jan. 30, the U.S. Department of Education (US DOE) announced that colleges and universities will receive 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) applicant data beginning in the first half of March. This new timeline will cause an additional delay for college-bound students and families to receive financial aid offers, which will likely occur in early to mid-April. Read more about the additional delay in the US DOE press release.

The State of Minnesota is fortunate to have a filing deadline of June 30 of the school year in question, allowing for more time for students to complete the FAFSA and receive primary sources of federal and state-based aid, specifically the Federal Pell Grant and Minnesota State Grant. For the upcoming 2024-25 academic year, a student has a deadline of June 30th, 2025.

We anticipate that the Minnesota Dream Act Application will be available by mid-February 2024. The filing deadline of the Dream Act aligns with FAFSA, June 30.

This most recent FAFSA data delay means:

Colleges and universities across the country will not have the information they need to calculate eligibility for need-based federal, state and university-based financial aid until after they receive this information in the first half of March.
Students will receive financial aid offers much later than anticipated, which compresses the timeframe that students and families can weigh options and make informed decisions with aid offer information.
The traditional May 1st commitment deadline will need to be flexible. National College Decision Day traditionally lands on the first day of May each year. Students should check the website of the institutions they are interested in, as some deadlines may have shifted.
Students should still complete the FAFSA or Minnesota Dream Act as soon as possible. More than 3.1 million FAFSA forms have been submitted since the form opened on Dec. 30. US DOE is continuing to work to ensure students and families are able to access and complete the stable and secure form. Use these tips to successfully complete your FAFSA form.
There continue to be issues for populations of students who are unable to file the 2024-2025 FAFSA. Contributors without a Social Security Number cannot access or complete the FAFSA.
Corrections to the FAFSA, by the student or the school, will not be able to be made until sometime after the FAFSA data has been sent out.

Need Assistance?

The Federal Student Aid Information Center’s number is 1-800-433-3243 (1-800-4-FED AID) has extended service hours for January through April:

Monday-Friday 7:00am-9:00pm CT
Saturday 10:00am-4:00pm CT
Closed Sundays and Federal Holidays

Additionally, Minnesota Office of Higher Education Financial Aid staff can help answer questions about the application or process. The number to call is 651-642-0567. Select option 2. The line is answered Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm.

Ready, Set, FAFSA!

If you have questions about the FAFSA, we invite you to watch these financial aid webinars created specifically for students and families to help them prepare for the college-going process. All sessions are approximately one hour long with a short presentation from financial aid experts, followed by questions from the audience.

Session #1: Create Your FSA ID
Session #2: Apply for Financial Aid: FAFSA
Session #3: Apply for Financial Aid: MN Dream Act
Session #4: Understand Your Offer Letter

Visit the Minnesota Goes to College website to learn more about this series and access previous webinar recordings and resources.

Ready, Set, FAFSA!

This free webinar series will help you prepare for college and access financial aid available to you.

Watch Series

The FAFSA form is also available on the myStudentAid app.

When do I apply for financial aid?

Deadlines vary among financial aid programs. The earliest you can submit the FAFSA to apply for state and federal need-based aid is October 1 for the following academic year. You must reapply for financial aid each year.

Application Deadlines:

Minnesota State Grant: The end of the academic year (June 30).
Federal Pell Grant: The end of the academic year (June 30).
Institutional Scholarships: Deadlines vary, check with your school (many colleges have March 1 or April 1 deadlines).
Other Scholarships and Grants: Deadlines vary, check with the scholarship.

Eligibility for Financial Aid

Dependent or Independent Status

All students are considered either dependent or independent when applying for financial aid. Dependent students must submit financial information about their parents on the FAFSA. This information is required even if the parents do not intend to help pay for the student’s education.

You are automatically considered an Independent Student for the 2021-22 school year if you are 24 or older as of December 31, 2020. If you are under 24, you will be considered an independent student if you are any one of the following:

A graduate or professional student;
Married;
A student with children or other dependents;
On active duty military service;
A veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces;
An orphan or ward of the court;
In foster care at any time, age 13 or older;
In legal guardianship or emancipated minor status as of the data of application (or 18th birthday if a Minnesota resident); or
Determined to be an unaccompanied homeless youth.

Appeals: If you think you should be considered independent because of unusual circumstances, talk to the financial aid administrator at your college about a “dependency override.” The aid administrator may use their professional judgment to change your status to independent based on your family situation.

Citizenship Requirements

To complete the FAFSA, you must be a citizen or eligible non-citizen. However, undocumented students in Minnesota may qualify for state financial aid under the Minnesota Prosperity Act commonly known as the Minnesota Dream Act.

Class Load

Increases and decreases in your number of credits per term may affect how much financial aid you are eligible to receive. Check with your financial aid office for more details.

School Transfers

Financial aid does not automatically transfer with students to a new college. You’ll need to contact the financial aid office at the new college to determine what actions should be taken to receive aid. Students must be sure to have an electronic version of the FAFSA sent to the new institution.

In closing, the FAFSA can be complicated. If you have additional questions about the application or process reach out to the financial aid office at your prospective college, a high school career counselor or keep an eye out for possible financial aid informational sessions at your school.

Minnesota Dream Act

While undocumented students are not eligible to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), other financial support and resources may be available.

The Minnesota Dream Act is the state's financial aid application for students with undocumented status. College-bound students who plan to attend college or career school during the 2024-25 school year should complete the 2024-25 MN Dream Act. Like the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the application must be completed each academic year that the student is enrolled in college.

To be eligible for the MN Dream Act, undocumented students must meet the following criteria:

Attended a Minnesota high school for at least 3 years; and
Graduated from a Minnesota high school or earned a GED in Minnesota; and
Registered with the U.S. Selective Service (applies only to males 18 to 25 years old); and
Provide documentation to show they have applied for lawful immigration status but only if a federal process exists for a student to do so (does not include applying for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). There is currently not a federal process in place, so this documentation is not currently required.

Students who complete the MN Dream Act are eligible for state-based financial aid, including the Minnesota State Grant and North Star Promise Scholarship, if they meet state residency requirements. Students can also receive in-state resident tuition rates and privately funded financial aid at Minnesota public colleges and universities.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Eligibility

Minnesota students granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) may also be eligible for these benefits. DACA students will qualify for benefits if they meet the criteria for the MN Dream Act.

NOTE: DACA students who don't meet the MN Dream Act criteria may still be eligible for state financial aid if they can meet at least one of the criteria in the state residency law used for financial aid after they have been granted DACA.

Eligible DACA students with work authorization and Social Security numbers can be considered for State Work Study funding, which allows the student to earn money working on campus. Eligible MN Dream Act students can also apply for a Postsecondary Child Care Grant, which is a need-based grant to students with children in child care while they attend school.

Frequently asked questions

How do MN Dream Act and/or qualifying DACA students apply for benefits?

Undocumented students can apply for state financial aid by accessing the online MN Dream Act - State Financial Aid application. To be eligible for the MN State Grant, the application must be submitted no later than the 30th day of the term. The results of the application can also be used to qualify for in-state tuition rates at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and Duluth campuses. Students attending Minnesota State campuses should also use this application to apply for state financial aid, but should apply for in-state tuition rates directly with the Minnesota State campus.

The MN Dream Act application should be submitted once for each academic year the student is enrolled in college.

What documentation will be needed?

After the student submits the MN Dream Act application, the student will receive an email letting the student know the following information will need to be submitted to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education to prove the student meets the requirements in the law. This information will only need to be provided the FIRST year the student applies.

MN high school transcripts showing attendance at a MN high school for at least 3 years (do NOT have to be certified copies)
MN high school diploma (or transcript showing the student graduated) or copy of GED earned in MN (does NOT have to be certified copy)
Copy of Selective Service card showing the student registered with the U.S. Selective Service (applies only to males 18 to 25 years old). If the student has not yet registered with Selective Service, the student should do so now. If the student has a Social Security number, the student can register online at www.sss.gov. Confirmation of registration will be sent to the student within two weeks. If the student does not have a Social Security number, the student should download the form here and submit it, along with all other documentation, to the MN Office of Higher Education. The paper Selective Service System Registration Form must be completed in black ink and in capital letters only. The document cannot be emailed or faxed to the MN Office of Higher Education; the original form must be mailed to:

MN Office of Higher Education
State Grant Unit
1450 Energy Park Drive, Suite 350
St. Paul, MN 55108.

The Minnesota Office of Higher Education will make a copy of the form and mail the original to the Selective Service System on behalf of the student.

Students will need to submit copies of signed student and parent (if dependent for financial aid) federal 1040 income tax returns for the prior-prior tax year (tax year 2018 for the 2020-2021 academic year). If the taxes were professionally prepared, a signature is not necessary. Schedules 1, 2, and 3, if filed: How do I know if I filed a Schedule 1? How do I know if I filed Schedule 2? How do I know if I filed Schedule 3? W2 forms are not required for tax filers unless there has been a change in marital status since the federal return was filed. If the student's and/or parents' income was so low they were not required to file a federal tax return, they should submit a signed statement indicating they were not required to file a federal tax return, along with any W2 statements. These documents will be required each year the student applies and will be used to verify the family income provided on the application.
Applicants who have attended college for three or more years prior to the academic year for which they are applying must also submit a copy of a college transcript from each college they have attended. Student copies are acceptable if they are up-to-date.
Eventually, documentation from federal immigration authorities verifying the student has applied for lawful immigrations status. The MN Dream Act states students will have to provide this document only if there is a federal process in place for them to apply for permanent legal status, which does not currently exist. So, documentation will not be required at this point.

With the exception of the paper Selective Service Registration Form, MN Dream Act Application materials should be email to MNDreamAct.OHE@state.mn.us or faxed to (651) 797-1637.

Do Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students qualify for the MN Dream Act benefits?

DACA students will qualify for benefits if they meet the criteria for the MN Dream Act. DACA students who don't meet the MN Dream Act criteria may still be eligible for state financial aid if they can meet at least one of the criteria in the state residency law used for financial aid after they have been granted DACA. For example, one of the criteria in the state residency definition is graduating from a Minnesota high school while residing in Minnesota, so the student would need to prove DACA was granted prior to high school graduation. DACA students will be required to submit proof of DACA. DACA students who do NOT meet any of the MN Dream Act or state residency criteria will NOT be eligible for state financial aid.

How much will I receive from MN State Grant? Will it cover my tuition and fees at my college?

Probably not. The MN State Grant award will vary based upon the student's financial situation, enrollment level and the price of the college attended. It is meant to be a supplement to the Federal Pell Grant, which is the main federal need-based grant program. Even though undocumented students cannot receive a Federal Pell Grant, the amount of Federal Pell Grant for which the student would have qualified must be factored into the MN State Grant award calculation. This means the MN State Grant might be fairly low for students from low-income families who would qualify for Federal Pell Grants. The MN State Grant award notice you receive from the MN Office of Higher Education will display the amount of your MN State Grant for each credit level. Here are sample State Grant annual (two semesters or three quarters) awards [.pptx] at different types of colleges for a student from a very low-income family.

Will MN Dream Act or DACA students be eligible for any other type of state financial aid?

Eligible DACA students with work authorization and Social Security numbers can be considered for State Work Study funding, which allows the student to earn money working on campus. Eligible MN Dream Act students can also apply for a Postsecondary Child Care Grant, which is a need-based grant to students with children in child care while they attend school. These programs have limited funding and are administered by campus financial aid offices, so students should contact the financial aid office at the college they attend after completing the online state financial aid application to complete further paperwork for those programs. MN Dream Act students will also be eligible for tuition reciprocity benefits to attend a public college or university in North Dakota, South Dakota or Wisconsin. Any DACAmented or undocumented student can currently apply for a state SELF loan, which does not require the student borrower to have legal status, but does require a co-signer who is a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen.

Are there deadlines for applying for state financial aid?

To be eligible for a MN State Grant, the student must submit the online state financial aid application no later than the 30th day of the term. Deadlines for other state financial aid programs administered on campus are determined by the college the student is attending.

Does meeting MN Dream Act criteria or establishing MN residency after receiving DACA mean I am guaranteed state financial aid?

No. Financial aid programs have other requirements all applicants must meet, such as demonstrating financial need. It simply means these students are eligible to apply for and receive state financial aid on the same basis as documented students.

Will MN Dream Act or DACA students be eligible for federal financial aid?

No. The MN Dream Act is a state law that provides state benefits to Minnesota residents regardless of federal immigration status. Federal financial aid programs require students to be U.S. citizens or eligible non-citizens to apply for and receive federal financial aid.