Every year Congress sets aside money to be given to students in the form of financial aid. To receive this aid students need to fill out more forms to determine their eligibility. Student aid can be a loan, a grant, a gift, or a scholarship. Most people prefer to get grants since these do not have to be paid back.

In order for the government to decide how the money will be distributed more forms will need to be filled out. The first form you will need to fill out is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). You can fill this form out on paper, or online. This form calculates the need of each student by gathering information about their household, demographic, and financial information.

If you are a freshman you will also be required to fill out a CSS Profile Application as well. This is also available to other students to fill out because it is another way for the government to obtain the needed information to reward the grant money.

Once this information is gathered it is compiled and it comes up with your EFC number. Your EFC number is how much the government thinks you should be able to contribute towards you education based on your state of residence, household size, number in college and student and parent income and asset information.

Next you will need to know your COA or cost of attendance. Each school figures their own COA based on tuition, room and board, fees and estimated expenses for miscellaneous costs, such as books, supplies, personal, etc. The amount varies from school to school.

After you know your EFC and your COA you can now find out how much financial aid you can possibly receive from the government. First you take your COA and subtract your EFC to get the amount of financial aid you will need. Once this number is known the financial aid office will try and help with as much as they can. Not everyone will get all the money they need, so it is recommended that you apply for student loans, gifts, and scholarships to help you with your school costs. There is just not enough money for everyone to get all the money they need to further their education.