What is the FAFSA?
The FAFSA external website is a free federal application students need to complete each year to determine federal student aid, such as federal grants, work study funds and loans. Completing and submitting the FAFSA form is free and it gives you access to the largest source of aid to help you pay for college.
Some students may assume that they won't qualify for financial aid because their grades are not good enough, they make too much money (or their parents do), or many other reasons. But, you won't know for sure unless you try, and applying is free!
Please remember, our Office of Student Financial Services can help you through this process whether you need assistance filing your FAFSA or have general financial aid questions.
Schedule a personalized financial aid visit
2024-25 FAFSA Soft Launch
Students and families are now able to complete and submit the 2024–25 FAFSA form external website online. The Department of Education is currently treating this time as a soft launch period external website, which will allow them to monitor and respond in real time to any potential issues impacting the applicant experience.
During this soft launch period, the Department will be monitoring site performance, conducting planned pauses for maintenance, and making updates to improve the user experience for students and families.
Important to Note:
- Federal Student Aid (FSA) will initiate planned pauses for site maintenance and to make updates as needed to create a better FAFSA experience for students and families. During these pauses, users who are already online will be able to complete their work, but other users may not be able to begin or resume work on the 2024-25 FAFSA form. Users who go on-line during a temporary pause should check back at a later time to complete the form.
- Applicants may experience a waiting room feature, which will help control website volumes to ensure optimal performance of the form
- If a student completes their FAFSA form, but a contributor cannot access the site during a period when the site is unavailable, the contributor can return to complete their portion of the form as soon as the site becomes available again. Any data entered in the form is still in the system and is secure.
- After all sections of the online FAFSA form are completed and submitted, the student will receive a confirmation email noting their submission date, their estimated Student Aid Index (SAI), and estimated Federal Pell Grant eligibility. However, the student will may receive a FAFSA Submission Summary until as early as March, or be able to make corrections to their FAFSA until April, after the FAFSA is processed.
- The schools they selected will begin to receive their FAFSA eligibility information mid/late March. Students will receive an email informing them when that information has been sent to the schools.
Changes to the 2024-2025 FAFSA
The FAFSA Simplification Act external website, passed by Congress in 2020, focuses on simplifying the FAFSA application process and bringing changes in calculating aid eligibility.
You can stay informed with updated from Federal Student Aid regarding FAFSA changes and receive up-to-date notifications and information. Wilkes is also here to help you understand these changes and as more details are announced, we will continually post updates on this page.
Filing the 2024-2025 FAFSA
If you are filing the FAFSA for the first time, both the student and contributor need to create individual accounts to obtain an FSA ID external website and password. You do not need to wait for the 2024-25 FAFSA to open before you complete an FSA ID.
To file the 2024-25 FAFSA, students and contributors will each need:
- FSA ID and password
- Social Security Number
- Current Banking/investment information
- 2022 IRS Tax Return
- Wilkes School Code: 003394
Consider any deadlines. Pennsylvania residents must complete the FAFSA by May 1 of each year in order to be considered for PA State Grant external website eligibility.
THE 2024-2025 FAFSA IS NOW AVAILABLE external website
Students who plan to enroll in classes at Wilkes in the fall 2024 and/or spring 2025 semester(s) can now complete the 2024-25 FAFSA external website. We encourage all to first reference the 2024-25 soft launch information.
The student will log into fafsa.gov external website with their student FSA ID to being filing.
Don't forget to add Wilkes to the college list with Wilkes' school code: 003394
Pennsylvania residents must complete the FAFSA by May 1 of each year in order to be considered for PA State Grant eligibility external website.
Eligible non-citizen students and their families can find additional information on our financial aid webpage.
In order for the FAFSA to access and include student Federal Tax Information (FTI), students will need to provide consent and approval within their FAFSA.
If a student does not provide consent and approval, the student will not be eligible for federal student aid - even if tax information is manually entered to the FAFSA form.
A student's dependency status and contributor(s) will be determined within the student portion of the FAFSA. At the end of the FAFSA, students will invite their contributor(s) to complete their portion of the student's FAFSA but the contributor's email on their FSA ID. A student cannot access the contributor's areas.
Students will sign and submit their section of the FAFSA; this will notify the contributor(s) by email to complete their portion.
Students will have 45 days to complete their student portion from the date in which they started it. If it is not completed within that time period, the entire FAFSA will be deleted and the student will need to start their FAFSA again.
Please note: If a parent does not have an social security number, the student will enter the parent(s) address instead.
Contributor(s) will receive an email invitation to complete their portion of the student's FAFSA and will have 45 days to complete their section from the date the invitation was sent. If it is not completed within that time period, the entire FAFSA will be deleted and the student will need to start their FAFSA again. A contributor cannot access their student's areas.
From the invitation, the contributor will log in with their (contributor) FSA ID and password to accept the student's invitation and continue filing with the contributor information. Consent for federal tax information will be requested by the contributor.
Contributor(s) will sign and submit at the end to full submit the entire student's FAFSA.
Contributors are required to provide their information, but participation does not indicate any financial responsibility.
Please note: If a student's required contributor does not provide consent and approval, the student will not be eligible for federal student aid – even if tax information is manually entered into the FAFSA form.
A contributor has two opportunities to provide consent and approval prior to submitting the FAFSA
The process may seem overwhelming, but the FAFSA offers helpful tips while you complete the application, instructional videos external website, pro tips for the 2024-25 FAFSA external website, and a Help Center external website. Plus, the Wilkes financial aid team is always here to help!
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the Office of Student Financial Services. Our staff are available to help students and their contributor(s) with completing their personal FSA ID and filing their portion of the FAFSA. We can schedule personalized in-person and virtual visits with students and their families whenever convenient for you.
New incoming students: Please visit our Admissions visit page to watch for any upcoming FAFSA filing-related events for new students or schedule a personalized visit with financial aid.
After You File
Once the status of your FAFSA application states "processed", the student will receive an FSS. Students should review their FSS in order to determine any errors made on the FAFSA. The FSS will also contain the student's Student Aid Index (SAI).
If corrections are needed, a student can log back into their FAFSA to make necessary changes. For the 2024-2025 FAFSA, students and their contributor(s) will able to make corrections to their FAFSA in April, 2024.
Please note: During the soft launch period, the student will receive a confirmation email noting their submission date, their estimated Student Aid Index (SAI), and estimated Federal Pell Grant eligibility. The student will not receive a FAFSA Submission Summary until FSA processes the FAFSA, estimated in March.
You must log back into your FAFSA to make corrections if:
- your FAFSA application status states "Action Required"
- you determined any errors after reviewing your FAFSA Submission Summary
- you have any updates to make at a later date
2024-25 FAFSA Corrections Update
Announcement by Federal Student Aid, Apr. 9, 2024: "Timeline for student corrections: Our goal is to make student corrections broadly available early next week. Once they are able to do so, students who need to make corrections or who choose to make additions or changes to their FAFSA forms should return to StudentAid.gov to complete those updates. We will communicate publicly that students needing to make corrections, such as adding schools, providing a signature, and allowing for IRS data to be shared can do so by logging into their account. For most applicants and contributors, this process should only take a few minutes. Schools and states should typically receive a new ISIR transaction, and students should typically be able to review their updated FAFSA Submission Summary, within 1 to 3 days of the applicant’s submission of a correction."
Common Correction Examples
- The student and/or their contributor(s) made a mistake with any information entered
- Add or remove a school
- The student's and/or their contributor's signature(s) are missing
- Contributor’s consent and approval is missing
- An incorrect social security number was used
As long as a FAFSA was successfully submitted and Wilkes was listed in the school list, we will receive the student's FAFSA information. If we need any additional information to determine aid eligibility from the FAFSA, we will reach out to the student directly by phone and/or email.
- New Incoming Students: We plan to begin sending aid offers to incoming fall admitted first year and transfer students in April.
- Returning students: Returning students will be able to view their following year's aid eligibility in their Wilkes Student Portal in June.
There may be instances where a family's prior year tax information no longer accurately reflects their current financial status due to an unforeseen extenuating circumstance.
Situations may include (but are not limited to):
- loss of employment or income for a period of at least 10 weeks
- loss of untaxed income for a period of at least 10 weeks extenuating uncovered medical or dental expenses
- parent separation or divorce after the FAFSA has been processed
- a recent parent or spouse death or disability
- a family situation which may affect a student's dependency status
If you feel you have any circumstance(s) that might affect your financial aid, please contact our Office of Student Financial Services.
Wilkes University uses standards recommended by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
Wilkes University accepts qualifying private scholarships that a student may receive through outside organizations.
Private scholarships are outside scholarships that are not awarded by Wilkes University. We encourage all students to search for and apply to private scholarships. There is no guaranteed a student will receive a scholarship, but the more scholarships you apply to, the greater the opportunities.
Helpful Tip: Avoid scholarship search sites that charge a fee to participate.
The process may seem overwhelming, but the FAFSA offers helpful tips while you complete the application, instructional videos external website, pro tips for the 2024-25 FAFSA external website, and a Help Center external website. Plus, the Wilkes financial aid team is always here to help!
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the Office of Student Financial Services. We can schedule personalized in-person and virtual visits with students and their families whenever convenient for you.
New incoming students: Please visit our Admissions visit page to watch for any upcoming FAFSA filing-related events for new students or schedule a personalized visit with financial aid.
Additional FAFSA Help & Resources
Students and families can visit the below studentaid.gov pages for resources about completing the 2024-25 FAFSA form.
FILLING OUT THE FAFSA external website
PRO TIPS FOR THE 2024-2025 FAFSA FORM external website
Below are some helpful instructional videos provided by Federal Student Aid (FSA):
- What Is FAFSA®? external website
- How do I prepare for the 2024-25 FAFSA Form®? external website
- What's Changed for the 2024-25 FAFSA Form®? external website
- Who Is A Contributor on the 2024-25 FAFSA Form®? external website
- Why Do My Contributors and I Need Our Own StudentAid.gov Accounts for the 2024-25 FAFSA Form® external website
- What Does It Mean To Provide Consent and Approval on the 2024-25 FAFSA® Form? external website