After you submit your FAFSA you will receive an email from them with instructions to access your Student Aid Report. There may be additional steps to complete before financial aid may be awarded or disbursed.
Follow these steps after filing
Check your FAFSA
After you file, you’ll be prompted to review your application and make any necessary corrections. Here are some of the most common mistakes you’ll want to avoid:
- Switching two numbers (for example, “$1,200” instead of “$2,100”)
- Adding too many or too few zeroes to a number
- Listing your parents’ income as yours (and the other way around)
- Forgetting to have your parent electronically sign the application with his or her FSA ID
Your FAFSA will be processed with the information you provide, so make sure everything is correct. We’ll notify you if we get your FAFSA but it can’t be processed.
(Note that you do not need to update your FAFSA based on changes to the amount of money in your bank account. We know that updating your FAFSA every time you write a check or make a deposit would be nearly impossible.)
Verification
You may be asked to verify the information you provided on your FAFSA before you can be declared eligible to receive financial aid. We’ll contact you by email if you’re selected for verification. And check your One.IU To Do List—we’ll notify you there, too.
If you are selected, you can find most forms in our
Statement of Living Forms
Verify citizenship
Please by uploading documentation. Documentation may include US birth certificate, US Passport, Certificate of Citizenship, or Certificate of Naturalization. When uploading documentation, include a signed, dated statement saying it is a true and exact copy.
Verify eligible non-citizenship
Please by uploading documentation. Documentation may include permanent resident card; form I-551, I-94, or I-94A. When uploading documentation include a signed dated statement saying it is a true and exact copy.
What happens next
You’ll get a financial aid notification email from us as soon as we’ve put together an award package for you. If you receive more funding after your award package has been put together, and that funding causes your aid total to exceed your cost of attendance (COA), your award package may change. Remember, you can never be awarded more than your COA—and your aid can change even if it doesn’t exceed your COA.
Change of Status
If your circumstances have drastically changed and are not accurately reflected on the FAFSA, please contact us at sesc@iu.edu. A Special Circumstance Appeal may be an option.