Submitting a FAFSA

You must submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to apply for all federal student and parent loan programs, most need-based grants, and the Federal Work-study program. Several federal loans don't require financial need, but still require the FAFSA. Most scholarships don't require or consider FAFSA data, but a few need-based scholarships do require it.

Submit the 2025-2026 FAFSA for Fall 2025, Spring 2026, and Summer 2026 aid.

Submit the 2024-2025 FAFSA for Fall 2024, Spring 2025, and Summer 2025 aid.

Apply online now at fafsa.gov. TU's FAFSA Code is 002099.

FAFSA Help 

For FAFSA help, contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4FED-AID or Live Chat, or watch the help videos below. Their hours are Monday 8 am - 9 pm, Tuesday-Wednesday 8 am - 8 pm, and Thursday-Friday 8 am - 6pm.

If you need additional help, please contact us.

To apply for other types of aid, go to Applying for Aid.

FAFSA Eligibility Requirements

  • You must submit a new FAFSA every year.
  • Each FAFSA applies to one academic year (Fall-Spring-Summer).
  • You can submit it before you are admitted to TU.
  • FAFSA Applicants must meet all these Federal Eligibility Requirements.

Undocumented and DACA students can't submit a FAFSA, but if you qualify for in-state tuition status, you should submit a Maryland Higher Education Commission state aid form. See Undocumented Students.

FAFSA Submission Deadlines

For priority consideration for need-based grants from TU submit your FAFSA by these TU deadlines:

  • For freshman admission applicants and all current/returning TU students, we have extended our priority deadline to March 1, 2025.
  • March 1, 2025 for transfer admission applicants
The Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) offers many state grants and scholarships for Maryland residents. Their application deadlines vary and many of them require additional MHEC aid applications. Follow these state aid instructions. To apply for MHEC's GA and EA Grants, you must submit a 25-26 FAFSA by March 1, 2025. For more information, see GA Grants and EA Grants.
If you haven't submitted this FAFSA yet, please apply now. Late applicants can still apply for federal grants and loans. TU grants may still be available, but you have missed our TU Priority Deadlines.

FAFSA Instructions

1) Creating an FSA ID

If you are a first-time applicant, you (the student) and all your FAFSA Contributors must each create your own Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID.

For dependent students, at least one parent contributor must create an FSA ID. If your parents are separated or divorced (and not still living together), then you must provide data for one of your parents and their current spouse.

For divorced parents, use this interactive tool to determine which parent to report.

If your parent didn't file a joint federal tax return with their current spouse, then they must both create their own FSA IDs and both must complete their own FAFSA parent contributor sections. If you are an independent married student and you didn't file a joint federal tax return with your spouse, then your spouse must create their own FSA ID and must complete the FAFSA contributor section.

2) Submit your FAFSA

  • Apply online now at fafsa.gov.
  • TU's FAFSA Code is 002099.
  • If you already applied, but didn't list TU's code, return to fafsa.gov to add it.
  • Use the Help Services below.  

3) Check your FAFSA Status

If you already submitted a FAFSA, please check your status online. If your FAFSA was successfully "processed," you should still review the accuracy of all the data on your FAFSA Information Summary. If your FAFSA isn't complete, follow the instructions to correct it.

4) Correcting FAFSA Errors

If your submitted FAFSA isn't complete or has errors, follow these correction instructions.

5) Submit additional documents to TU

  • After we receive your FAFSA data, we may need to request additional documents from you. If we do, we will email you and add them to the To Dos list on your Towson Online Services Student Dashboard.
  • Please submit all requested documents within 2 to 3 weeks.
  • For new students, we can prepare a tentative aid offer before you submit your documentation, but these offers could change after we receive and process your documents.
  • For returning TU students, we can't offer you any aid until you submit all required documents.

6) What's next?

We use the FAFSA data to determine eligibility for need-based grants and federal loans. If we don't need any additional documents, you should receive your award notification by email within two weeks.

FAFSA Tips

  • The FAFSA will automatically retrieve most federal tax return data directly from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  
  • Students and all their FAFSA data contributors must consent to share IRS data even if they didn’t file a tax return.
  • All students and every FAFSA contributor must each create their own Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID and must use it to submit their data and their consent.
  • If one of your FAFSA data contributors (parents or spouse) doesn't have a social security number, carefully follow these instructions from the Department of Education. 
  • If a student's parents are separated or divorced, students must list the parent who provided the most financial support. If that parent is remarried, they must also include the stepparent's financial data.
  • The FAFSA calculates a Student Aid Index (SAI) value for each student, and we use it to determine eligibility for most need-based aid programs.
  • If your parents aren't legal U.S. residents, and you have questions about how their FAFSA parent contributor data can be used, read this guide.

FAFSA Help Services

For all FAFSA questions, contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center Monday - Friday 8 am to 10 pm or Saturday 11 am to 5 pm (ET) at 1-800-4FED-AID or Live Chat.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Follow these instructions to check your status online.

  • If your status is "Draft" or "Action Required," your application is not complete, and you must make corrections.
  • If your status is "In Progress" or "In Review," the U.S. Department of Education is still processing your application.  Check back in 3 to 5 days to confirm if it changes to "Processed" status.
  • If your status is "Processed," your FAFSA application is complete and has been fully processed.
If your status on the FAFSA web site is "Draft" or "Action Required", follow these correction instructions to complete your FAFSA online.

A FAFSA contributor is parent, stepparent, or spouse who must submit supporting data and consent to share their federal tax return data with the FAFSA processor.  When students complete the student section of the FAFSA, they must provide the names and contact information for their supporting contributors. Then, Federal Student Aid (FSA) will send an email to each contributor asking them to complete their sections. Each contributor must create their own FSA ID that they must use when they login to complete their section.

If you are dependent student and your biological or adoptive parents are still married to each other, list both of them on your FAFSA.  

If your parents are divorced or separated, you must list the parent who provided the most financial support. Compare the total financial support provided by each parent and count all child support payments with the parent who pays them. If your parents are unmarried but still living together, you must report both of their data. 

If the parent who meet the rules above is remarried, you must also list that stepparent's data.

For more information, review these federal guidelines.

The Student Aid Index (SAI) is a measure of financial need that we use to determine your eligibility for need-based financial aid programs. Starting with the 2024-2025 FAFSA, the SAI replaced the Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) which was used in a similar way during prior aid years. They also changed the formulas that calculate the SAI values.