EXCITING NEWS! The 2026 versions of the How to Win College Scholarships ebooks are now available!
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The FAFSA and Scholarships
The FAFSA and scholarships often rely on each other! The FAFSA is an important part of getting financial aid for college AND for winning scholarship money.
Why should all students file the FAFSA?
It is extremely important to become familiar with the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and file it in a timely matter in order to get as much federal and state financial aid as possible for college.
In addition to this aid, many scholarship applications include a box to check to ask whether the student has submitted a FAFSA and applied for government aid.
Scholarship providers want to know that the student is doing everything possible to get financial help in paying for college, and filling out the FAFSA is a very important step in the process.
This scholarship judge shares,
“I’m a member of several scholarship committees, most won’t even consider your application without the FAFSA. Even if you do not qualify, they want to know you sought out every opportunity. It’s fast and free to do.” JR Miller, Scholarship Judge
The FAFSA and scholarships go hand-in-hand.
Even if a family thinks they make too much money to receive federal aid, the FAFSA still should be submitted, as it may qualify them for low-interest loans and show scholarship providers they are serious about finding money to help pay for school.
Also, you never know when a family’s financial situation may change with the loss of a job, the death of a parent, or any unforeseen medical expenses or emergencies.
Filing the FAFSA is just plain smart!
It normally opens each year on October 1st, but in 2023, it opened in late December because of updates to the form, and in 2024 it opened in late November. In 2025, it opened early in late September. The FAFSA should be filed from the senior year in high school and all the way through college.
NOTE: Don’t think you need to file as soon as it is open; it is good to wait a few weeks to let the bugs and glitches that occur each year work themselves out.
Trust me on this one!
Give yourself a deadline, such as a few weeks after it opens, to get your form filed.
Never assume a family makes too much money and ignore the FAFSA, just do it!
Watch this short video straight from the official site to learn more about filing the FAFSA.
Open to High School Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors! APPLY NOW HERE
This is the official link to get to the FAFSA website:
Highly recommended scholarship listing book that is the perfect companion to the How to Win College Scholarships ebooks for parents and their students:
Monica Matthews is the author of How to Win College Scholarships. She helped her own son win over $100,000 in college scholarships and now shares her expertise with other parents and their students. She truly has “been there, done that” in regard to helping parents and students navigate the scholarship process.
Her method of helping students in finding college scholarships, writing unique and compelling scholarship essays, creating amazing scholarship application packets, and more have taught desperate parents to help their own students win thousands of scholarship dollars. She teaches them how to apply S.M.A.R.T. with outstanding results.
Monica’s scholarship tips have been featured on many prominent websites, and she has been dubbed the “Go-To” expert on college scholarships.
The FAFSA is so much easier to complete now than it was when I was in college! Since it is online, the first time only took about 30 minutes, much less the following years. Our daughter received many merit scholarships from her school, but even those couldn’t be awarded without submitting the FAFSA. Fortunately, it’s not the dreaded day long process anymore!
I totally agree, Wendy! Thanks so much for sharing your FAFSA experience. So many parents are fearful about submitting it, but it really has become streamlined and easy. Congrats to your daughter for winning her merit scholarships!
I bet a lot of people would not think of this but it makes so much sense!
Thank you!
It’s great that this is now online!
Thanks, Rachael! 🙂
I just heard on the radio today that people can now fill out a FAFSS for the 2029-2020 school year. A definite must no matter what your income is!
You mean 2019-2020?
I can just imagine how much easier this must be now, with everything online, vs. back in the day! Thanks so much for making us aware of the fact that the FAFSA is useful in so many ways for winning scholarships too, not just federal aid!
I’m so happy to help, Flossie! 🙂
I’ll be passing on this information to my nieces and start them looking for their college funds.
Wonderful, I’m glad to hear it, Trudy! Let me know if I can help in any way. 🙂
Wow, this is a great capability now.
Yes, and now there is even a FAFSA app!