Financial Aid: FAFSA

FAFSA-Free Application for Federal Student Aid

The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is an online application that students must fill out each year to be considered for Federal student aid. The FAFSA can be filled out at studentaid.gov. The FAFSA is available on October 1st of each year.

Students and parents (if applicable) must create an FSA ID (Federal Student Aid ID) to sign the FAFSA. Students and parents can create the FSA ID online at http://studentaid.gov.

The FAFSA calculates the student’s SAI (Student Aid Index) number which is used to determine financial need. Financial need is determined by comparing the student’s SAI to the student’s COA (cost of attendance) at Iowa Central Community College. If the student’s COA is greater than their SAI, the student may qualify for need based aid. If the student’s COA is less than their SAI, the student may only qualify for non-need based aid.

Iowa Central Community College determines students with a 0 EFC to be the highest need students.

FAFSA priority deadline at Iowa Central for 2025-2026 is May 1st due to the delayed FAFSA.