Applying for Financial Aid - University of Charleston

While the financial aid process can seem daunting, please remember that we are here to help you through the process. Please don’t hesitate to contact us should you have any questions or concerns.

The first step is to create your Federal Student Aid ID (FSA ID) – your username and password for most federal financial aid websites. It is important that students set up their own FSA ID to prevent potential issues in the future – and because individuals are not authorized to create an FSA ID on behalf of someone else, including a family member. You should try to set this up no later than one week prior to when you intend to start your FAFSA to allow sufficient time for processing. Please click on the following link to create your FSA ID https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch.

Beginning with the 2024-2025 FAFSA, all contributors must have an FSA ID to complete the FAFSA. A contributor is anyone — the student, the student’s spouse, a biological or adoptive parent, or the parent’s spouse (such a stepparent) — who is required to provide information on the FAFSA. Each contributor should set up their own FSA ID with their own individual email account. Parents are not authorized to set up an FSA ID on behalf of their student, and students are not authorized to set up their parents’ FSA ID(s). All contributors must sign the FAFSA with their FSA ID or the FAFSA will be invalid and an SAI will not be calculated.

Contributors of dependent students who may need to create an FSA ID:

Biological or adoptive parents who are married, living together, and filed taxes separately must each have an FSA ID.
Biological or adoptive parents who are married and filed taxes jointly need at least one parent to have an FSA ID.
Biological or adoptive parents who are not married, living together, and filed taxes separately must each have an FSA ID.
Remarried parent who filed taxes separately, both parent and stepparent must each have an FSA ID.
Divorced parent who provided more than 50% of the financial support for the past 12 months must have their own FSA ID.
- If this parent is remarried and filed separately, both the parent and stepparent must each have an FSA ID.
- If this parent is remarried and filed jointly, at least one parent must have an FSA ID.
Single parent of a dependent student must have their own FSA ID.

Contributors of independent students who may need to create an FSA ID:

Spouses of independent students who filed taxes separately must have their own FSA ID.

Students and other contributors will use their FSA IDs throughout the student’s time in college and after college to access federal aid information systems, so it’s important to remember your FSA ID and password.

The next step is to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which becomes available on October 1^st. Be sure to complete the FAFSA as soon as possible online at https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa. The University of Charleston federal school code is 003818. University of Charleston has a priorit deadline of March 1^st. You will need the following information to submit your FAFSA

our Social Security number (or Alien Registration number if not a U.S. citizen).
Your driver’s license number if you have one.
Your federal income tax returns, W-2s, and other records of money earned for the specific financial year required by the FAFSA.
- Beginning with the 2024-2025 FAFSA, all contributors must consent to an IRS information transfer using the Direct Data Exchange, regardless of whether they filed 2022 taxes in the United States. If consent is not provided by all contributors, the FAFSA will be invalid. If your information is not available for the IRS to transfer, you will be able to add it manually. All contributors must provide consent or the FAFSA will be considered invalid.
Bank statements (information on cash, savings, and checking account balances) and records of investments (if applicable) – including stocks, bonds, real estate (not including the home in which you live), and business and farm assets.
Records of untaxed income (if applicable), such as child support received, interest income, and veterans noneducation benefits for the specific financial year required by the FAFSA.

You will also need the information above for your parent(s) if you are a dependent student for federal aid purposes.

After submitting your FAFSA there will be additional steps to the financial aid is a process. Students receive a FAFSA Submission Summary to the email listed on your FAFSA application from the U.S. Department of Education. You may need to make corrections, submit additional documentation, or simply accept/decline your financial aid after it is offered. It does not tell you how much aid you will receive, but it does list if you may need to make corrections to your FAFSA or if you have been selected for verification of data you provided on your FAFSA. University of Charleston contracts with KHEAA Verify to complete all our verifications.

For our new/incoming students, if a FAFSA is received and you have been accepted by our Admissions Office then our office will begin reviewing you for financial aid eligibility in November and mailing notifications of financial aid offers begin in December for the following academic year. For current/continuing students, financial aid offers will begin once the spring semester is over for the upcoming academic year. Students will be notified via your UC email address when your Financial Aid Checklist is available for you to review on your MyUC portal.