This webinar provide information and clarity on the entire college financial aid application process. Learn about financial aid applications and types of financial aid, the factors that determine your aid eligibility, how colleges determine the amount of aid to offer, and the details of financial aid offers.

This webinar provides valuable guidance for high school seniors on understanding financial aid offers (which should start arriving in April) and different methods to pay for college costs. Topics include an overview of different types of financial aid, an explanation of how to calculate the balance due at each college, ways to pay the college bill, and how to make the college decision.

Although the 2024-25 FAFSA will be delayed until December 2023, there are steps that students and families should take this fall to ensure they are ready to apply for financial aid once the FAFSA becomes available. One of the most important steps will be creating FSA IDs (usernames and passwords) for family members who need to contribute information on the new FAFSA.

MEFA's Associate Director of College Planning Jonathan Hughes explains how to create your FSA ID, who needs to create an FSA ID, and what your FSA ID will be used for even after college.

The new 2024-25 FAFSA is open, but some families have experienced difficulty navigating the application process. In this webinar for students and families, we review known issues, technical bugs, and workarounds (when available) of the new FAFSA. We also discuss the impact of the delayed FAFSA launch on financial aid deadlines and the release of financial aid offers, as well as the process of updating and correcting FAFSA data.

This webinar provides a detailed overview of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the main application for college financial aid. Learn step-by-step instructions on completing the application, helpful tips on answering questions correctly, and important next steps.

If you’re filing the FAFSA, you’ll need to have an FSA ID. All students will need to create an FSA ID, and for most traditional undergraduate students, at least one parent, possibly two, will need to create an FSA ID. Learn how to determine which parents should create an FSA ID in our short video. If you’re filing the FAFSA, you’ll need to have an FSA ID. All students will need to create an FSA ID, and for most traditional undergraduate students, at least one parent, possibly two, will need to create an FSA ID. Learn how to determine which parents should create an FSA ID in our short video.

The Student Aid Index, or SAI, is a number that represents your family’s financial strength and ability to pay for college, and helps to determine how much financial aid you’re eligible to receive.

Do 529 accounts owned by a grandparent affect financial aid? Do families receive less financial aid if they saved in a 529 account? Get the answers to these questions and others in our short video. And learn more in our blog post, College Savings Accounts and Financial Aid.

This webinar introduces the nuts and bolts of the CSS Profile^®, a financial aid application required by roughly 200 colleges, universities, and scholarship agencies across the country. Topics include tips on completing the Profile, specific financial and household data collected, and how colleges and universities use the application information.