READ DESCRIPTION PLEASE! Can you skip a year of FAFSA?

Question

I have been in college for a year and I did not apply to FAFSA this year because I am taking a semester off to be able to afford college, and I'm considering taking a full year off. I did not know you had to apply for FAFSA in March because I thought you could do it in September if you were taking time off. Will I be able to apply in September? If not, will I be able to apply for it next March? Will I ever be illegible for it again?

Update:

Oops.. yes I had meant to type eligible! Thank you!

nancy · Accepted Answer

You can apply for federal student aid (FAFSA) at any time during the award year and the school must process your application and award any federal aid that you qualify for.  The March deadline usually refers to the school's priority deadline.  Schools set a deadline of their own to ensure that there is time to process your application and complete any verification that needs to be done before the fall semester starts.  Also, a typical financial aid package often includes aid from sources other than federal student aid, such as state aid or aid from the school's own resources.  These types of aid can have deadlines of their own, or a limited pool of funds.  If you submit your application by the school's priority deadline, you're guaranteed to have your aid in time to start in the fall, and you get first crack at any institutional aid available.  If you missed the deadline, your aid might not be ready before your fall payment is due, or you might receive less aid because some sources of funds have already been awarded to on-time students.   So, yes, you can apply in September and you will eventually receive your federal student aid (for whichever semesters you are enrolled for). You will have to contact your school to find out how other types of aid would be affected.   You can also apply again for each year.  Incidentally, the FAFSA for 2020/21 becomes available on October 1, so it's a good idea to submit it well in advance of your school's March 1 deadline.

Anonymous · Answer

You can apply for FAFSA the year you plan on going back to school. As long as the deadline hasn’t passed of the year you’re applying to. For example the deadline for 2019-2020 has passed. So right now you’d be preparing for the 2020-2021 school year and so forth. The link provided gives the dates of deadlines for FAFSA according to states.

Hopefully this answered your question or at least helped someone else.

Pearl L · Answer

i dont see why you couldnt reapply, i would talk to sorneone in financial aids about it

Pearl · Answer

i dont see why you couldnt apply again

? · Answer

Best way to know would be to call the school's financial aid office directly and ASK them.
I think the answers are NO for September, but YES for March, and YES for elligibility.

PS- "illegible" means it's not readable; you meant elligible.

READ DESCRIPTION PLEASE! Can you skip a year of FAFSA?

5 Answers