Financial Aid Process Information

Seniors should be completing financial aid forms during the next few weeks. The process may be unique to some schools, but the primarily the steps outlined below should be followed (steps do not have to be followed in consecutive order). Note: No one should assume they will not qualify for financial aid! Scholarships and university programs consider a wide range of factors when awarding money for education. The forms below capture this information for these organizations, not just financial information.

Complete the Federal Financial Aid Form (FAFSA). This form takes some time, requires information about income, and is required by many schools in addition to their forms. The form is FREE and the website has a lot of information regarding the different types of financial aid. This form can help determine scholarships, grants, work study, and many other types of aid eligibility. For more information, click https://fafsa.ed.gov/ 

Complete the Florida Financial Aid Application (http://www.floridastudentfinancialaid.org/SSFAD/bf/bfmain.htm) This is the Florida Bright Futures Application! Once submitted, this application is reviewed by over twenty other state-level scholarship award programs for eligibility. The application is a bit easier than the FAFSA, but will certainly take time and careful attention to detail.

Complete the Institution's Financial Aid application. This will be unique to every school, as each school will  have it's own process for awarding their Foundation money. Everyone should check out their school's financial aid process, because this application process usually includes reviews for multiple awards.
Once a student has submitted an application to a college/university, check out that school's Financial Aid website.

If you have questions, comments, or concerns about any of these forms, please contact your school counselor. We will do our best to answer your question or find someone who can!