It's as easy as 1, 2, 3

Watch these videos on the left hand side below to learn all about the 2025-2026 Free Application for Federal Student Aid. It truly is as easy as 1, 2, 3.


The FAFSA Process

What is the FAFSA?


Starting the FAFSA


What happens after submitting your FAFSA form?


Preparing to do the FAFSA

Create and access your StudentAid.gov account

 


How to gather information required to complete the FAFSA


Understand and prepare FAFSA Contributors



New Students

Lynn University understands that financial planning for attending the institution of your choice can seem like a monumental challenge. Navigating the world of scholarships, financial aid and how to pay for your student account can often seem complex. Try not to panic! We are here to assist you.

We are excited to share a financial resource with you that can help estimate your overall financial award from Lynn - the Net Price Calculator. While this tool will only provide an estimate, and you will still need to complete the FAFSA if you have not already done so, it will provide a broad roadmap to allow you to begin your financial planning for fall 2025.
Click here to access the Net Price Calculator.  (2025-2026 Net Price Calculator Coming Soon)


FAFSA News

The new FAFSA for 2025-2026 is live. Through completing the FAFSA, you can develop a financial roadmap and plan for the 2025-2026 academic year. Not only can the FAFSA help to determine what financial aid you may be eligible for from the Federal government, but also what need-based aid you may qualify for from Lynn University. You can complete the FAFSA at www.studentaid.gov. Lynn's code is 001505.

Once Lynn receives your FAFSA from the government, we will be able to build your personalized financial award package. 


Filling out the FAFSA 

Filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form can be a straightforward and easy process. Below are some tips to help you along the way.


Creating a StudentAid.gov Account

We strongly recommend you create your StudentAid.gov account before starting your FAFSA form. When you create your account, be careful to enter your name and Social Security number (SSN) exactly as they appear on your Social Security card.


2025–26 FAFSA® Form

On the 2025–26 FAFSA form, every contributor—anyone (you, your spouse, a biological or adoptive parent, or your parent's spouse) who's required to provide information on the FAFSA form—needs a StudentAid.gov account before accessing and completing their section of the online form. Contributors can access their StudentAid.gov account by using their FSA ID (account username and password).

Note: Contributors without an SSN can create a StudentAid.gov account to fill out their portion of your 2025–26 FAFSA form online.

To start the online 2025–26 FAFSA form, select “Start New Form.” You’ll be taken to the “Log In” page to enter your account username and password. After logging in, you’ll be given the option to select your applicable role to fill out the FAFSA form: “Student” or “Parent.” You (the student) should select “Student.” If a parent wants to start their dependent child’s FAFSA form, they should select the “Parent” option.


Gathering the Documents Needed To Apply

You might need the following information or documents as you fill out the 2025–26 FAFSA form:

  • Your parents’ SSNs if you’re a dependent student

  • Tax returns

  • Records of child support received

  • Current balances of cash, savings, and checking accounts

  • Net worth of investments, businesses, and farm

Keep these records! You may need them again.


Providing Financial Information

The FAFSA form asks for financial information, including information from tax forms and balances of savings and checking accounts.

  • The 2025–26 FAFSA form asks for 2023 tax information.

Note: If your or your family’s financial situation has changed significantly from what is reflected on your federal income tax return (for example, if you’ve lost a job or otherwise experienced a drop in income), you may be eligible to have your financial aid adjusted. Complete the FAFSA questions as instructed on the application (including the transfer of federal tax return and income information), submit your FAFSA form, then contact the school you plan to attend to discuss how your current financial situation has changed. Note that the school's decision is final and cannot be appealed to the U.S. Department of Education.


Automatically Transferring Your Tax Information

The Financial Aid Direct Data Exchange, replacing the IRS Data Retrieval Tool starting with the 2025–26 FAFSA form, will transfer contributors' federal tax information from the IRS directly into your FAFSA form.

All contributors must provide consent and approval to

  • disclose their personally identifiable information provided on the FAFSA form to the IRS for matching purposes;

  • obtain their federal tax information from the IRS via direct data exchange;

  • allow the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to use their federal tax information to determine the student's eligibility and amount of federal student aid;

  • allow ED to share their federal tax information with colleges, career/trade schools, and state higher education agencies for use in awarding and administering financial aid; and

  • allow ED to reuse their federal tax information on another FAFSA applicant's form (e.g., if a parent has multiple dependent students or a parent's own FAFSA form).

NOTE: Even if contributors don't have an SSN, didn't file taxes, or filed taxes outside of the U.S., they will still need to provide consent and approval.

IMPORTANT: If a required contributor doesn't provide consent and approval to have their federal tax information transferred into the FAFSA form, you (the student) will not be eligible for federal student aid—even if the contributor manually enters tax information into the FAFSA form.

To ensure the information is secure, the federal tax information won't display on the FAFSA site or the FAFSA Submission Summary.


Signing and Submitting the FAFSA® Form

After you complete your required section of the FAFSA form online, you’ll acknowledge the terms and conditions of the form and electronically sign your section. You can then submit your section of the FAFSA form. However, your FAFSA form won’t be considered complete until all required contributors provide their information on the FAFSA form, give their consent and approval to transfer federal tax information into the form, and provide their signatures.

After you and your parent (and/or any other required contributor) sign and submit the FAFSA form, the form will be considered complete and will be submitted for processing.

If you submit the FAFSA form, you’ll see a confirmation page that displays your completion date, data release number, and next steps. You’ll also see your estimated Student Aid Index (a number used by college and career/trade schools to determine your eligibility for federal student aid), estimated Federal Pell Grant eligibility, and information about other federal student aid for which you may be eligible. This confirmation page is emailed automatically to you for your records.

Note: The Student Aid Index on the confirmation page is only an estimate. The official Student Aid Index will appear on the FAFSA Submission Summary.


The information on this page is provided by studentaid.gov 

  • No labels