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Financial Aid

Financial Aid Information- 

Financial aid applications are filled out your SENIOR YEAR.

FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).
***Financial Aid application for students who have a social security number.
 
Application opens December 2023 and the priority deadline is April 2nd
 
Regardless of which college, university, or technical school you plan to attend, the FAFSA is the form that you must fill out to determine your eligibility and apply for all federal grants, work-study, student loans & some need-based scholarships.

This form is used to determine the amount of money a family is expected to contribute to the price of attending a post-secondary institution. The results of the FAFSA are used in determining student grants, work study, and loan amounts.

Students must be a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident (have a social security card or green card) in order to submit a FAFSA. If your parent or legal guardian is undocumented, you are eligible to submit a FAFSA.

To apply for FAFSA or learn more click on the following link: https://fafsa.ed.gov/
 
 
California Dream Act Application (CADAA)- 
CADAA is for students that do not have a social security number
 
Application opens December 2023 and the priority deadline is April 2nd
 
The California Dream Act Application allows students interested in attending eligible California Colleges, Universities, and Career Education Programs to apply for state financial aid. This application is unrelated to the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
 

To complete your California Dream Act Application, click here https://dream.csac.ca.gov/

Additional CADAA resources available here through the California Student Aid Commission.

FAFSA & CADAA helpful worksheets

At the very bottom of this page is a word document named "FAFSA & Dream Act workshop worksheets". This will let you know all the information you will need for either the FAFSA or the CADAA. Please print the form you need and fill it out completely, this will make filling out the application much easier!!!

 

FSA ID (Only for students completing the FAFSA)

  1. You and your parent should go to https://fsaid.ed.gov/npas/index.htm and create your FAFSA ID today!
  2. You must have a FAFSA ID and ONE parent must have ID so that you and your parent can e-sign the FAFSA for faster processing.
  3. If your parent or legal guardian is undocumented, he or she will not apply for an FSA ID. Instead, you will print the FAFSA parent signature page, have your parent sign it, and mail it to the processing center. The address will be on that page.
Go to https://fafsa.ed.gov/ and complete the FAFSA worksheet so that you have all necessary information when the FAFSA becomes available on October 1st.
 

Dependency

  • Most high school students are dependent students.
  • Your dependency status is determined through a series of questions on the FAFSA.
    • If you are a ward of the court
    • a foster child
    • an orphan or if you are homeless you will be considered independent.
      • In that case only you will need an FSA ID .
  • The Student Aid Commission considers that parents or legal guardian are responsible for their children’s education till the student’s 24th birthday. Till then you must used your parents’ income information when you complete the FAFSA each year that you are in college.

FAFSA/CADAA Deadlines

To apply for most financial aid, you must submit the FAFSA OR CADAA between December 2023 and April 2nd.

Some colleges have early deadlines. Check the financial aid deadlines for each college to which you are applying.

Remember: You must renew or resubmit your FAFSA each year that you are in college. So don’t forget your FAFSA ID number, user name, and password!
 

CSS/ Financial Aid Profile for private colleges

Many private colleges and universities such as USC, Stanford, Occidental College and many others require that students and their parents file a CSS/Profile in addition to the FAFSA.
 
Please check the financial aid documents you must submit and the deadlines for each college to which you apply. Go to:
 

Students with visas:

If you have a visa that is not permanent resident you MUST check with the college’s financial aid office to see if you qualify to apply for financial aid with the FAFSA. Do not submit a FAFSA without confirming that your visa qualifies you for federal aid.
 

AB540 Students:

If you, the student, are undocumented, you will NOT submit a FAFSA, but you should submit the California Dream Act application form if you qualify as an AB540 student; for more information click on the AB540 tab.

Go to www.csac.ca.gov/dream_act.asp and complete this form between October 1st and March 2 of your senior year.
 

Cal Grant

LAUSD will electronically submit the Cal Grant GPA verification to the California Student Aid Commission for all seniors enrolled in an LAUSD high school in December of your 12th grade.

The student only needs to submit the FAFSA or the CADAA BEFORE April 2nd .

In order to be considered for a Cal Grant. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that both their FAFSA and their Cal Grant GPA are submitted by the April 2.

Go to: https://www.csac.ca.gov/cal-grants for more information on Cal Grants
 

IMPORTANT!!!!

If you qualify for and are awarded a Cal Grant, you must go to https://mygrantinfo.csac.ca.gov/ to view and confirm your award.
  1. Confirm all your information is correct on the site
  2. Confirm your college/university of attendance for Fall 
  3. Confirm you're a high school graduate
On the first day of the month that graduate (June) you will be able to log onto webgrants and confirm you are a high school graduate. You must verify that you graduated on this same web site before your Cal Grant can be released to the college/university you will be attending. Don’t forget! You could lose a lot of money because you forgot to verify that you graduated.
 
I will be sending how to videos through Instagram and Schoology in spring!
 

For information about GRANTS:

Federal Pell Grant: go to: www.studentaid.ed.gov

Federal TEACH Grants: www.studentaid.ed.gov

California Chafee Grant for Foster Youth go to: www.chafee.csac.ca.gov

Students with disabilities go to: www.dor.ca.gov

Military and their dependents go to: www.gibill.va.gov

Much of the information on this page was taken form published materials from the California Student Aid Commission and the EdFund. For more information go to www.csac.ca.gov or www.edfund.org
 

For Scholarship information

Go to the “Scholarships page” of this website to find links of a variety of scholarships.