Education
What to have in front of you before starting the application
Gathering the documents first turns the form into a quiet afternoon rather than a scramble against a deadline.
The usual list: identity documents, prior-year tax information for each person whose details are required, records of untaxed income and benefits, current balances for savings and investments where asked, and the list of schools the information should go to.
Account credentials come first in practice, because each contributor to the application generally needs their own, and creating one can take a day or two to verify. Leaving that to the evening of the deadline is the most common avoidable failure.
Tools now exist to import tax information directly rather than transcribing it, which removes a whole category of error and is worth using where offered.
Keep a copy of everything submitted, and note the date. If a question arises months later about what was filed, having the submission rather than a memory of it settles it immediately.
What to do next. Create every required account at least a week before the deadline, and keep a dated copy of what you submit.
studentaid.gov outranks this page. Rules, figures and dates change
between academic years. This is written to help you read the official sources, not to
stand in front of them. Start there.
Nothing here is a determination. We cannot tell you what you qualify
for, and no website can. The programme and the office that runs it decide that, after
you apply.
Still have a question?
Describe what you are trying to work out and a member of the team will answer, or direct you to the office that makes the decision.