www.fafsa.ed.gov is the web site of Federal Student Aid, an office operated by the Department of Education. One of its primary roles is to give financial assistance to students who wish to have an education beyond high school. Partnerships have been made with most post-secondary schools and other financial institutions to best assist both students and their families in providing further education.

The website for Federal Student Aid has extensive information of categorized into three areas
1) Before Beginning a FAFSA
2) Filing Out a FAFSA, and
3) FAFSA Follow Up
Each of these categories are broken down in an attempt to simplify the application process. Read below for a summary of the key steps.

Fafsa.ed.gov lists all the documents needed in order to file the FAFSA. Some of the important documents included in that list are Social Security Number, driver's license, your most current W-2 form and current bank statements. Students are also advised to apply for a PIN when completing an application for FAFSA on the Web. Applications for PIN can be made on the Federal Student Aid PIN Website www.pin.ed.gov. Your PIN is a 4-digit number that will be a your unique identifier when processing your FAFSA.

Before filling out the FAFSA, students are also suggested to print and complete a Web Worksheet provided by the website. This worksheet allows students, especially first time applicants, to read through the questions and ensure complete answers before submitting the application online. Students have the option of printing the Web Worksheet or simply download it on their computer for easy access.

When submitting the FAFSA online, students are required to use their PIN to electronically sign their application. After submitting the FAFSA, a confirmation page will be shown that serves as proof that the application has been submitted. A confirmation number will be provided that will include the following information: Social Security Number, first two letters of your last name, the date the application was submitted (or in case a correction was made, the date of the correction is used). It is advised that the confirmation page should be printed for the purpose of keeping records.

After successfully completing and submitting the FAFSA, applicants will receive either through the mail or email a SAR or a Student Aid Report. This report will contain the information regarding EFC, or Expected Family Contribution. It is generally considered that the lower the EFC, the higher the financial aid will be. For more information regarding financial aid programs, or the procedures on how and when you will receive the financial aid, other government websites are also provided like studentaid.ed.gov

FAFSA or Free Application for Federal Student Aid is the first step in applying for a federal student loans, grants, or work-study programs. Some benefits included in this program are Pell grants and Stafford loans. Besides the site at fafsa.ed.gov other useful resources regarding specific federal aid are studentaid.ed.gov, www.pin.ed.gov, www.students.gov, local libraries, or your high school counselor's office.