Awareness Month

Financial Aid Awareness Month

For the month of February, we will be posting a new topic daily on a portion of FAFSA process! Don't worry if you missed a topic, we will save them below!

Make sure you can log into your StudentAid.gov account—and remember your username and password that you used in 2025-2026 so you can access and submit the 2026–2027 FAFSA form.

If you or your parent need to create their FSA ID, please watch this video:

How to Create FSA ID

FA Awareness Month: Topic of the Day

For the month of February, we will be posting a new topic daily on a portion of FAFSA process! Don't worry if you missed a topic, we will save them below!

(Tuesday, February 17, 2026)

Managing your Student Loans. Want to start making early payments on your Federal Direct Loans? Click on the link to sign into your Federal Student Aid account and to find your Loan Servicer.  

Useful Link: https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/make-payment

PREVIOUS TOPICS

(Monday, February 16, 2026)

Award Offer Filed your FAFSA but haven’t received your financial aid award offer? Check your document portal for any outstanding financial aid requirements. 

Useful Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1EbAs2XpgE

(Friday, February 13, 2026)

FAFSA Submission Summary. After your FAFSA form is submitted and processed, you’ll receive an email with instructions on how to access an online copy of your FAFSA Submission Summary.

Useful Link: https://studentaid.gov/help/fafsa-submission-summary

(Thursday, February 12, 2026)

What is Consent and why is it important? Consent and approval are needed to retrieve and disclose federal tax information from each participant on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid FAFSA® form. With consent and approval, we can obtain your federal tax information automatically from the IRS to help complete the FAFSA form.

Useful Link: https://studentaid.gov/2526/help/consent-federal-tax-info

(Wednesday, February 11, 2026)

Don’t miss out on State Aid. Complete State Records in NJFAMS by March 1, 2026 or 30 days from initial notification. 

Useful Link: https://www.hesaa.org/Pages/StateDeadlinesCurrentAY.aspx

(Tuesday, February 10, 2026)

Who needs to create a StudentAid.gov account? Beginning with the 2025–26 FAFSA® form, each of your contributors, if you have any, will be able to create a StudentAid.gov account even if they don’t have an SSN.

Useful Link: https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch

(Monday, February 9, 2026)

Why do I need to provide consent and approval? Both you and your contributors must provide consent and approval to have the IRS transfer your federal tax information into the FAFSA form. Your contributors must provide consent and approval even if they don’t have a Social Security number SSN, didn’t file a tax return, or filed a tax return outside the U.S. If you or your contributors don’t provide consent and approval, you won’t be eligible for federal student aid.

Useful Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd21zLLR6yw

(Friday, February 6, 2026)

Who is a Contributor on the FAFSA? “Contributor” is a new term introduced on the 2025–26 FAFSA form. It refers to anyone you, your spouse, your biological or adoptive parent, or your parent’s spouse who’s asked to provide their information, consent and approval to have their federal tax information transferred automatically from the IRS into the FAFSA form more on that later, and signature on your FAFSA form.    

Useful Link: https://studentaid.gov/help/which-parent-contributor

(Thursday, February 5, 2026)

Understanding your SAI. The Student Aid Index SAI is an eligibility index number that your college’s or career school’s financial aid office uses to determine how much federal student aid you would receive if you attended the school.  

Useful Link: https://studentaid.gov/help-center/answers/article/how-sai-calculated

(Wednesday, February 4, 2026)

New Jersey Dreamers, you may still be eligible for State Aid! If you did not receive State Aid for fall or just started classes in spring, you still have time to file your 2025-2026 NJ Alternative Application by February 15th! 

Useful Link: https://www.hesaa.org/pages/njalternativeapplication.aspx

(Tuesday, February 3, 2026)

It’s time to file your 2026-2027 FAFSA! NJIT priority deadline for FAFSA filing is March 1st. Click on the link to file your FAFSA! Make sure to add our school code on your FAFSA before you submit your application or we will not receive it.  NJIT School Code 002621. If you haven’t added our school code, click the link below to do so today.

Useful Link: https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa

Financial Aid Services is hosting a number of events in honor of the financial aid awareness month. Please check them out on our events page!