More than 70 percent of all ASU students receive some form of financial assistance every year. Follow these steps to apply for financial aid and to stay on track to receive funds.
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Find out what college will cost by comparing financial aid offers against your cost of attendance, and then compare schools
Top Ten Myth Busters
There are lots of myths about financing a college education. You may be surprised to learn the truth.
If my family makes too much money, I won’t get financial aid.
Income is only part of the equation for determining financial aid, so the only way to know if you’ll get an award is to apply.
Filling out the FAFSA is just a waste of time.
In order to be considered for financial aid, including some scholarships, you must complete the FAFSA. To keep your financial aid options open, it’s always worth your time to file your FAFSA.
The FAFSA is complicated and difficult to complete.
The FAFSA is easier to complete than ever before. You can even fill it out online at www.fafsa.ed.gov.
There isn’t enough financial aid to go around.
ASU students received more than one billion dollars in financial aid during the 2012–2013 academic year. Some form of financial assistance is available for almost every student.
If financial aid doesn’t cover the cost of tuition, I won’t be able to go to college.
There are many types of financial aid, including a combination of financial aid programs and student employment. While not every student will be able to cover the cost of college through grants and scholarships, most students are able to finance their education with a combination of financial aid programs.
I need to complete my tax return before I submit my financial aid forms.
If you have not yet completed your tax return, you can still fill out your FAFSA using estimates derived from the previous year’s tax returns and other documentation.
It takes hours to fill out a FAFSA.
On average, it takes less than 30 minutes to complete your FAFSA.
The financial aid process doesn’t recognize my special circumstances.
While the FAFSA addresses a family’s basic financial circumstances, ASU has ways to address items not reflected on the FAFSA. Examples include income changes, health care expenses, educational expenses (tuition for K–12), educational loan payments and more.
I will receive a lot of financial aid my first year of college, but I won’t get it again after my freshman year.
While some colleges might use the “bait and switch” approach to award financial aid, this will not happen at ASU. What will affect your eligibility are things like an increase in income, a decrease in unusual expenses, a change in the number of people in your home or the number of people in your family enrolled in college. So unless your application changes or you miss application deadlines, your financial aid will remain comparable each year you’re in college.
Students are saddled with debt once they graduate.
Only 56.3% of 2010–2011 ASU students graduated with debt, while the nation’s average was 66%. The average debt of these students was $20,261, while the nation’s average was $26,600.
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