Menu

Financial Aid

  1. Whitworth University
  2. Administration
  3. Financial Aid
  4. How to Complete the FAFSA

How to Complete the FAFSA

Don't miss out on money! File the FAFSA

Whitworth University encourages all students pursuing a degree to apply for financial aid with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Students who meet our FAFSA priority deadlines are eligible for early financial aid offers. Full financial aid funding remains available for later applicants.
A student's start term and intended degree level determines which FAFSA they should complete.

All students starting in Fall Term 2023 should complete a 2023-24 Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Students starting earlier should complete a 2023-24 FAFSA and may also need to submit an additional FAFSA. See below:

  • All students starting in Spring Term 2023 should complete a 2022-23 Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
  • Undergraduate students starting in Summer Term 2023 should complete a 2022-23 Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
  • Graduate students starting in Summer Term 2023 should consult with our financial aid counselor dedicated to graduate students, David Barnes (dbarnes@whitworth.edu or 509.777.4309).

Three steps to complete the FAFSA

  1. Click here to create your FSA ID. The parent/guardian you live with will need to do the same. An FSA ID is your electronic signature for all federal financial aid processes.
  2. Collect all of the documents that may be needed:
    • Your Social Security number (it's important that you enter it correctly on the FAFSA form!)
    • Your parents' Social Security numbers if you are a dependent student
    • Your driver's license number if you have one
    • Your Alien Registration number if you are not a U.S. citizen
    • Federal tax information, tax documents or tax returns, including IRS W-2 information, for you (and your spouse, if you are married), and for your parents if you are a dependent student. This may include:
      • IRS Form 1040
      • Foreign tax return or IRS Form 1040-NR
      • Tax return for Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia or Palau
    • Records of your untaxed income, such as child support received, interest income, and veterans noneducation benefits, for you, and for your parents if you are a dependent student
    • Information on cash; savings and checking account balances; investments, including stocks and bonds and real estate (but not including the home in which you live); and business and farm assets for you and for your parents if you are a dependent student
      Keep these records! You may need them again. Do not mail these supporting records to us.
  3. Log in to the Federal Student Aid website and complete a FAFSA. It's secure and confidential.With your FSA ID and a completed FAFSA Worksheet, you are ready to complete a FAFSA online. Make sure both you and your parent/guardian sign the FAFSA using your FSA IDs.

Print and complete the FAFSA Worksheet.

  • The worksheet will give you an overview of what the FAFSA is going to ask.

What's next?

Receive a Student Aid Report in your email after filing the FAFSA. Review for accuracy.
If you made an error on your FAFSA, don't worry! Just log back into your FAFSA on the Federal Student Aid website and correct it. Be sure you and your parent/guardian sign the FAFSA again using your FSA ID.
 
Receive financial aid offers from the schools where you have been admitted.
Whitworth will begin sending offers in mid-January to new incoming students who have submitted a 2023-24 FAFSA to Whitworth and have been admitted for fall 2023.

Follow these instructions to renew your FAFSA form

If you are a returning student or a new transfer student, you are able to renew your FAFSA form on fafsa.gov for your convenience. You can also choose to start a new FAFSA form. Here is how to renew your form:

  • Log in with your FSA ID username and password at fafsa.gov. Learn what to do if you forgot your FSA ID username or password.
  • Select "Renew my FAFSA Form."
  • Update any prefilled information that has changed and provide the requested financial information.
  • Sign and submit the FAFSA renewal.

The FAFSA does not tell the entire story...

Whitworth recognizes that students and parents may have expenses and/or loss of income that are not reflected on the FAFSA for the 2023-24 academic year. New incoming students should contact their admissions counselor for information related to submitting special circumstances. 

Continuing students can complete a form to be reviewed for Special Circumstances. These forms will be reviewed starting in late April.