Applying for Financial Aid
The thought of filling out government financial aid forms probably seems daunting and confusing. Don’t worry – it’s easier than you think. And Arclabs is here to help.
FAFSA is an acronym for Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
No, the FAFSA is free when you use the official government site: studentaid.gov/fafsa.
It takes most students 30 minutes to complete and submit their application.
No, the process is surprisingly simple. But if you have questions during the process, you can click on question mark icons along the way and even live chat with support staff during regular business hours. Arclabs admission staff is available to help you with this process at 877.647.4111.
No, you can save the form in your account and come back to it later.
Every October 1 the FAFSA application opens for the next school year. The sooner you apply for aid, the more likely you are to receive the full amount you are eligible for.
| FAFSA Award Year | Dates for Federal Aid | Dates for SC AID |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-2020 | Oct. 1, 2018-June 30, 2020 | Oct. 1, 2018-June 30, 2020 |
| 2020-2021 | Oct. 1, 2019-June 30, 2021 | Oct. 1, 2019-June 30, 2021 |
Complete Your FAFSA in Five Steps
You’ll need:
- Your Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID
- If you do not have a Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID or you have forgotten it log on to studentaid.gov/fsaid to create your FSA ID or retrieve your forgotten FSA ID.
- If you are considered a dependent student, at least one of your parents will also need an FSA ID to electronically sign the FAFSA.
- Social Security Number or Alien Registration Number (for non-US citizens)
- Tax information from previous year
- Cash, savings and checking account balances, as well as records for any untaxed income
Go to studentaid.gov/fafsa and choose the FAFSA award year you’d like to complete.
- Students enrolling for classes at Arclabs should complete the FAFSA for both the current and following award years.
- There are both federal and state deadlines, so be sure you are submitting your FAFSA on time.
Remember, the FAFSA is not a one-time application. You must complete or renew your FAFSA each award year. Please talk to a Financial Aid Administrator for more information.
Personal:
- This includes your name, date of birth, social security number, etc.
- If you have completed the FAFSA in the past, a lot of your personal information will be pre-populated to save you time. Make sure you enter your personal information exactly as it appears on official government documents.
Financial:
You will need to answer questions about your taxes and your bank account balances for checking and savings.
- You should use 2021 tax information for the 2023-2024 FAFSA and 2022 tax information for the 2024-2025 FAFSA.
- If you have filed your taxes already, you may be able to automatically import your tax information into the FAFSA using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, which will greatly simplify this section of the application.
You can choose up to 10 schools in this section, even if you have not applied to the schools yet. Once your FAFSA is processed, the information will be sent to each school so they can calculate the amount of financial aid you are eligible to receive.
Arclabs school code: 042220
Sign the document with your FSA ID, which serves as your electronic signature.