Financial Aid

To complete the FAFSA electronically:

• Go to https://fafsa.gov/

• Click on Start A New FAFSA.

• Enter your FSA ID.

• Make sure you’re completing for the correct year.

• Click on Start!

To obtain the printed version of the FAFSA, you may contact your high school guidance office, a college financial aid office, or the LSSU Financial Aid Office.

In order to be reviewed for federal student aid for each school year, you must complete a FAFSA. If you submitted a FAFSA last year and you are eligible to complete a Renewal FAFSA, you may choose to have most of the questions prf-filled with the information you previously provided. Simply updating the information for the new school year on a Renewal FAFSA may be faster. However, the Renewal FAFSA is available solely for your convenience. You will be asked to update the answers to income, asset, and tax questions. You must also update any information that has changed since last year. If you prefer to start fresh with a new FAFSA, you are free to do so.

To Reapply via FAFSA on the Web:

• Go to https://fafsa.gov/

• Click on Login.

• Enter your FSA ID.

• Click on FAFSA Renewal. (Make sure you have the correct aid year selected.)

Call 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243) if you have questions about what information you need to report on the FAFSA or if you are having issues with your FSA ID. You may also contact the LSSU Financial Aid Office at (906) 635-2231 ext. 2678.

Shortly after you submit your FAFSA, you will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) from the U.S. Department of Education. This report will show your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and your Federal Pell Grant eligibility. After reviewing these forms for accuracy, you may keep the SAR with your records. We will receive the same information electronically, determine your eligibility, and send you an award notification of what types of aid you are eligible to receive to attend LSSU, along with detailed information explaining the financial aid process at LSSU.

You can check the status of your FAFSA immediately after submitting it online. You can check the status of a paper FAFSA after it has been processed (roughly 7-10 days from the date mailed).

To check the status of your FAFSA:

• Go to the FAFSA on the Web home page and click Login, or

• Call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243).

If your FAFSA is still being processed, we recommend that you wait a few days before checking the status again.

If you need to make a correction to your FAFSA:

• Go to FAFSA on the Web and click on Login.

• Enter your FSA ID.

• Enter your “Save Key”

• Click on the link “Make FAFSA Corrections.“

• Make your updates and then sign and submit your FAFSA again.

Once your correction is submitted and you receive a confirmation number, the correction will be processed in 3-5 days.

LSSU School Code: 002293

• Be sure to file your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at https://fafsa.gov/ and NOT on any other site. Remember: Filing a FAFSA is FREE and if you are being charged a fee, then you are at the wrong site!

• For the most beneficial financial aid package, file your FAFSA by March 1st each year.

• We recommend that you use the IRS Data Retrieval process.

• FAFSA on the web requires you to electronically sign it with your FSA ID. If you are a dependent student, one of your parents will also need to electronically sign with his/her FSA ID. You can create an FSA ID here.

• Social Security numbers must be entered correctly and must match the name exactly as it is shown on your SSN card. If a Social Security number is incorrect, this will significantly slow down the process.

• If you are asked to report asset information, do not include the value of your home (or parents’ home) or retirement accounts. Your assets include all available cash on the day you file the FAFSA, as well as trust accounts, money market accounts and other investments.

• If your parents are divorced (for dependent students), you will only enter information on the FAFSA about the parent that you live with the most. If your parents share custody, you have to determine which parent provides you with the most support and use that parent’s household as yours on the FAFSA. If your parent is remarried, you must also enter the information for your stepparent and any children that reside in their home.

• If you are unsure how to answer a question, be sure to refer to the helpful hints on the FAFSA website or contact the Financial Aid Office with your question.

• If your parents’ income or health has changed dramatically from the year you reported on the FAFSA, you may be eligible for a Special Circumstance review.

• Don’t forget to file your FAFSA each year, prior to March 1st, for the best aid package!

• Student Aid Index (SAI): calculated by FAFSA data and will determine student aid eligibility. This replaces the EFC that was used in previous years.
• Contributor: a parent, step-parent, student, or spouse of student who is providing information to the FAFSA.
• Consent: required from all contributors in order for the IRS to share tax data directly to the FAFSA. Not providing consent will automatically make the student ineligible for aid.
• Direct Data Exchange (DDX): previously known as IRS Data Retrieval; this tool imports tax data directly from the IRS to your FAFSA.
• FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS): a summary of your completed FAFSA information. This replaces the Student Aid Report (SAR) that was used in previous years

• The 2024-25 FAFSA will open in December 2023 instead of the usual October 1
• Streamlined and more user-friendly FAFSA now with fewer questions
• Students invite their contributors via email to complete their portion of the FAFSA
• Expanded aid eligibility due to larger income protection allowances
• IRS Direct Data Exchange (DDX) makes entering tax information easier and will be required for students, spouses, and parent to transfer their 2022 tax information or non-filing status
• Number in college will no longer factor into the FAFSA calculation
• Untaxed items such as payments to tax-deferred retirement or pension plans, veteran’s non-educational benefits, worker’s compensation will no longer be required
• Parent assets will now include net worth of all businesses and net worth of a family farm, if applicable
• Divorced or separated parent changes the parent who provided the most financial support to the student will need to provide their information. Previously, the parent who the student lived with the most provided their information.
• Family size replaces “household size”. IRS uses the definition of dependents on tax return. FAFSA contributor (student and/or parent) is given opportunity to manually update family size. We suggest everyone manually enter the number of people in their household.
• Everyone who is a contributor (student and parent(s)/step-parent or spouse, if applicable) on the FAFSA must consent to the IRS sharing tax information, even if they didn’t file federal taxes, in order for the FAFSA to be processed

• FSA ID A Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID is required for all contributors including the student. Apply for your FSA ID
• Determine your contributors, if applicable. The FAFSA will also offer assistance when filing. The student is a contributor. A contributor may also be a:
  • Parent
  • Step-parent
  • Spouse of student
• 2022 Federal tax Information and W-2’sAll contributors will need this information, if applicable
• LSSU Federal School Code: 002293

The U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday, January 30, 2024 that schools will not be receiving any 2024-25 FAFSA information until the first half of March 2024. Once the FAFSA information is received into our system, we then begin processing the information and awarding students the financial aid that they are eligible for.

• Current students enrolled at LSSU can expect a delay in receiving their 2024-25 financial aid package.
• Incoming new students may not receive a financial aid package before April 2024.

The US Department of Education has not determined an exact date, but announced that it will become available sometime in December 2023.

Students that need to make any changes or updates to their 2024-25 FAFSA application will be able to do so through studentaid.gov in mid-March 2024.

Yes, all contributors must have an FSA ID.

Yes, if your parents are married but filed taxes separately they both must sign using their own FSA IDs.

The parent who provides the most financial support to the student should be considered the contributor on the FAFSA.

Yes. Invitations to be a contributor will be deleted when they have been inactive for 45 days. Any previously entered information will be deleted and the process will need to start over.

An independent student is one of the following: born before Jan, 1, 2001, married(and not separated), a graduate or professional student, a veteran, a member of the armed forces, an orphan, a ward of the court,  a person with legal dependents other than a spouse, an emancipated minor, a person who is unaccompanied and homeless or self-supporting and at risk of being homeless.

If you filed your taxes separately during the FAFSA filing year you will need to both sign using your own FSA IDs.

Consent is required of all contributors to the FAFSA. Consent is allowing the IRS to provide Federal Tax Information (FTI) via a direct data share to Federal Student Aid. If there is no tax information on file for a contributor, that is the information the IRS will share with Federal Student Aid. If one or more contributors do not consent to the data share, the FAFSA will be rejected.

Now that the 2024-25 FAFSA is available, we recommend that you complete it as soon as possible to receive your financial aid package for the 2024-2025 school year.

Please note: The FAFSA must be completed by July 1, 2024 to be considered for any State of Michigan awards that you may be eligible for.