U.S. citizens or eligible non-citizens should only follow the steps below to apply for Stockton scholarships, file the FAFSA and view their eligibility for state financial aid programs.

New Jersey Dreamer students should only follow the steps below to apply for Stockton scholarships and complete the New Jersey Alternative Application. Please note, all other undocumented students should only follow the steps to apply for Stockton scholarships. Learn more about applying for aid as an Undocumented student here.

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Apply for Stockton Scholarships

Stockton University offers incoming students the opportunity to apply for institutional scholarships based on academic and extracurricular achievement.

Accepted transfer students are considered for scholarships based on previous college performance.

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File the FAFSA

• Create an FSA ID
• Complete the Application

How Long Will It Take?

• 15 Minutes

What Is An FSA ID?

Your FSA ID is used to confirm your identity when accessing your financial aid information, transfering your Federal tax Information into the FAFSA and electronically signing the FAFSA.

Who Needs an FSA ID?

Students: You’ll need one in order to log in to and electronically sign your FAFSA and to fill out a Renewal FAFSA each year. Students also need an FSA ID to complete loan requirements on studentaid.gov when accepting Federal Direct Loans.

Parents: One or both of the student's biological, adoptive or stepparents will have to create their own FSA ID in order to log in to and electronically sign the student’s FAFSA form.

Both parents will need their own FSA ID if they are married, living together and filed a separate tax return in the year for which the FAFSA asks or if they are unmarried and living together. Otherwise, only one parent/stepparent will need to create an FSA ID.

Parents also need an FSA ID to apply for a Direct PLUS Loan and complete loan requirements on studentaid.gov.

It’s important to understand that the student and the parent(s) may not share an FSA ID. Your FSA ID is your signature, so it has to be unique to you.

 

What's Needed to Create an FSA ID?

• First Name
• Last Name
• Date of Birth
• Social Security Number (if applicable)
• Email (cannot have been used to create any other FSA ID)

NEW! Parents, stepparents and students' spouses who do not have Social Security Numbers are able to create their own FSA ID.

How to Create an FSA ID without a Social Security Number

An FSA ID is required for students to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

FSA ID's are also required for all contributors to a student's FAFSA including, parents, stepparents and the student's spouse (if applicable).

Beginning with the 24-25 FAFSA, parents, stepparents and student's spouses without Social Security Numbers are able to create FSA ID's. 

Follow the steps below to create an FSA ID if you do not have a Social Security Number.

Step 1: Visit studentaid.gov and click on "Create Account" at the top right corner of the page.

Step 2: Click "Get Started"

Step 3: Enter your personal information and select the option, "I don't have a Social Security Number." After the warning appears, click, "Continue without SSN"

Step 4: Create your Username and Password and click "Continue." Note that your email address needs to be unique to you. You cannot use an email address that has already been used to create an FSA ID.

Step 5: Enter your contact information and click "Continue." Please note that an address is required for anyone without an SSN. Leave the foreign phone number field blank if you have a foreign phone number.

Step 6: Select your communication preferences and click "Continue"

Step 7: Select the challenge questions you would like to answer if you forget your username or password and click "Continue"

Step 8: Review the information you entered, confirm that it is correct (making corrections if necessary), check the box to indicate that you agree to FSA's Terms and Conditions and click "Continue"

Step 9: Follow the instructions to enable two-step verification, then click "Continue"

Step 10: Answer all knowledge-based identity verification questions and click "Submit"

Once you complete all of the above steps, you are ready to complete the FAFSA!

Please note: The U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced that after creating an FSA ID, those without SSN's will temporarily be able to immediately access the FAFSA without going through a validation process. Once ED finalizes their new validation process, some individuals without SSN's may need to complete the validation process.

How to Get Started:

• Go to studentaid.gov.
• Select "Create Account"

 Create an FSA ID

How Long Will It Take?

• 10-45 Minutes

What Is The FAFSA?

The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is the application you will use to apply for federal student aid programs offered by the U.S. Department of Education (ED).

• Apply after October 1each year 
• Stockton Federal School Code: 009345

How to Get Started:

• Go to fafsa.gov
• Login using your FSA ID
• Enter the required information
• Provide consent to have your Federal Tax Information Transfered into the FAFSA (even if you did not file a tax return in the year for which the FAFSA is asking)
• Invite contributors
  • Contributors can include one or both of your biological, adoptive or stepparents or your spouse (if applicable). Read more about contributors at blogs.stockton.edu/stocktonfinaid
• Complete each remaining section of the FAFSA
• Sign and submit

Please note: After the student submits the FAFSA, the application is not complete. All required contributors will receive an email asking them to log into and complete their section of the student's FAFSA. It is not until all contributors give their consent to have the Federal Tax Information and complete their sections of the FAFSA that it will be submitted for processing.

Complete the FAFSA

View your Eligibility for State Financial Aid

How Long Will It Take?

• 10 Minutes

What is state aid?

Just as the federal government offers aid to qualifying students who file a FAFSA, the State of New Jersey also offers aid to qualifying New Jersey residents.

After a student files the FAFSA, the State of New Jersey receives a copy of the application and uses the information to determine their eligibility for state financial aid programs. No additional action is required unless the state requests additional documentation from a student. Students can view their eligibility and any requirements at njfams.hesaa.org.

How to Get Started:

• Visit njfams.hesaa.org
• Log in with your NJFAMS username and password 
  • First time users will have to create an account to log in.
• View your eligibility and click on your To Do List

Click here to view your eligibility

Financial aid funding is not filalized until all outstanding requirements are complete! Learn how to view and complete requirements below.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is in the process of implementing FAFSA Simplification: a major overhaul of the processes and systems used to offer federal student aid, starting with the 24-25 aid year. In simple terms, ED is making updates to the look and feel of the FAFSA as well as to the methodology used to determine student financial aid eligibility with a goal of expanding eligibility for federal student aid and to create a more streamlined application process and a better user experience for the FAFSA.

Some of the changes that students and families can expect to see with the FAFSA include:

• Fewer questions used to determine a student’s aid eligibility
• The number of students in the household in college will no longer be used in the formula to determine aid eligibility
  • Household size will be pulled from the parent’s tax return & can be manually updated.
• The Student Aid Index (SAI) replaces the EFC in determining the federal aid for which students may be eligible
  • SAI = indexing number used to determine aid eligibility. Generally, a lower SAI increases a student's eligibility for need-based aid.
• The Department of Education now refers to anyone who is required to provide information on the FAFSA as a contributor.
  • A contributor only contributes information into the FAFSA and is not required to financially contribute to the student’s education.
• The Direct Data Exchange (DDX) will replace the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT). The DDX will import tax information into the FAFSA directly from the IRS after the contributor(s) consent to the data exchange. All contributors need to consent, even if they did not file a tax return. No consent = no aid.
• Students & parents will complete their sections of the FAFSA separately. Dependent students will add their custodial parent(s) as "contributors" to their FAFSA (independent students will add their spouse, if applicable) by entering their name, date of birth, social security number and email into the application. Once the student signs and submits their section of the application, contributors will receive an email asking them to log into the FAFSA, using their own FSA ID (new users will need to create one).
  • If parents are unmarried and living together or are married, living together and filed their tax returns separately or unmarried, both parents will need to complete this process. Only one parent needs to complete the process if parents are married and filed a joint tax return. All contributors must complete their sections of the application for a student's FAFSA to be submitted to Federal Student Aid for processing.

New to the FAFSA, the U.S. Department of Education has now introduced contributors to the application. A contributor is anyone who is required to contribute their financial information to the FAFSA.

For a dependent student, contributors include the student and the student's parent(s). Both parents are considered contributors if they are married or unmarried and living together. If the student's biological or adoptive parents are divorced, separated or were never married to each other and do not reside together, only one biological or adoptive parent is considered a contributor to the FAFSA and must provide their information. This contributor is the parent who provides more than 50% of the student's financial support. If the parent contributor is remarried, their spouse is also considered a contributor to the FAFSA and must provide their financial information on the application.

For an independent student, contributors include the student and their spouse (if applicable).

Please note that contributors are not required to contribute to the student's educational costs. Their information is only required to determine a student's aid eligibility.

The Direct Data Exchange (DDX) replaces the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT). The DDX will import tax information into the FAFSA directly from the IRS after the contributor(s) consent to the data exchange. All contributors need to consent, even if they did not file a tax return. No consent = no aid.

Yes, every contributor to the FAFSA regardless of whether or not they filed a tax return is required to provide consent for the Department of Education to work with the IRS to retrive their Federal Tax Information and use the information to complete the FAFSA. Without consent from all contributors, the student will not be eligible for Federal Student Aid or to receive a Student Aid Index (SAI).

Learn more about consent at studentaid.gov.

You should use whatever date you became a legal resident of the state in which you currently reside into the  "State and Date of Legal Residence" question. If you were born in the state in which you currently reside, you would use your date of birth.

You should only answer "yes" to this question if you are a dependent student (for financial aid purposes) and your parents refuse to contribute to your FAFSA. If you answer "yes" to this question, you will only be considered for an unsubsidized loan- no grant funding.

When requested, students who select "yes" to this question will also have to submit a statement signed and dated by their parents stating that they either refuse to complete the FAFSA or that they do not and will not provide any financial support to you (the student), including when the support ended. If your parents refuse to sign and date a statement to this effect, you must have a third party, such as a teacher, counselor, cleric or court sign and date a statement testifying to this. You will submit this documentation when requested via stockton.studentforms.com. You log in with your goStockton portal credentials.

No, if a student's parents are married, living together and filed their tax return jointly, only one parent is required to create an FSA ID and complete the FAFSA. The information for both parents will be used within the application, but because financial information for both parents is reported on the tax return, only one parent needs to complete a section of the FAFSA and sign the application.

Yes, your parent needs to use the link in the email they receive from Federal Student Aid asking them to contribute to your FAFSA in order to access the application. They cannot log in to studentaid.gov any other way and access your FAFSA. The only way to contribute is for them to use the link they receive in their email.

Please ensure that your parent's are checking not only their inbox, but also their spam/junk folders for emails from Federal Student Aid. Please also ensure that you as the student complete your section of the FAFSA first. You must complete your section before your parent(s) can log in and complete their section(s).

If you have checked all folders and completed your student section of the FAFSA and your parents have not received an email from Federal Student Aid, please contact Federal Student Aid at 1-800-433-3243 for assistance. They will be able to provide support with technical glitches occurring with an FSA ID and/or the FAFSA.

Although you can complete the FAFSA today and we do encourage you to try, we want you to be aware that the U.S. Department of Education (ED) is continuing to work on and resolve several open issues with the FAFSA, as a result of the updates to the application. This means that some FAFSA filers and contributors to their application are facing technical issues with the system. You can view the list of open issues and monitor ED’s progress in resolving them here.

One significant open issue is that parents without social security numbers (SSN’s) are unable to complete their sections of the FAFSA. We encourage anyone whose parent(s) do not have SSN’s to wait to file until the issue is resolved, as they will not be able to submit the application until all contributors have completed their sections. In addition, if all contributors do not complete their sections within 45 days of the student starting the FAFSA, all data entered will be deleted and the student will have to start the process over.

If when completing the application, you or the contributors to your FAFSA experience any issues, please contact Federal Student Aid at 1-800-433-3243 for assistance. They will be able to provide support with technical glitches occurring with an FSA ID and/or the FAFSA.

To troubleshoot any technical glitches, you can try exiting the form, clearing history on your browser, closing and restarting the browser and re-entering the FAFSA. You can also try logging in with a different browser or exiting the form and trying again at a later time.

Schools listed on your FAFSA should receive your application within 3-5 days of your submission.

Completed your FAFSA? Get to understand the meaning of the statuses below!

• Draft: Your section of the FAFSA is incomplete.
• In Progress: You provided your consent, approval and signature to your section of the FAFSA, but it has not been submitted yet.
• In Review: Your FAFSA was submitted, but it has not been processed yet.
• Action Required: You are missing your consent and approval or signature, or the FAFSA was processed, but a correction is required.
• Processed: Your application was processed successfully. No further action is needed.
• Closed: Your FAFSA was never submitted and can no longer be submitted because the federal FAFSA deadline passed.

To view any updates to your FAFSA status, check the "My Activity" section of your studentaid.gov dashboard. Once your status is "Processed," you will receive your FAFSA Submission Summary. In addition, the U.S. Department of Education will begin sending FAFSA data to schools once it is processed. There are currently delays with this process, so the school may not receive your FAFSA data as soon as it is processed. Continue to monitor your studentaid.gov account as well as your goStockton email.

Receiving an "In Review" status after submitting the FAFSA is normal. It indicates that your application has been submitted and waiting for processing by the Department of ED. Once processed, you will receive your FAFSA Submission Summary, which will include your Student Aid Index (SAI) and an estimate of your federal aid eligibility. You will receive a separate aid offer from the university at a later date.

The Student Aid Index (SAI) replaces the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) in determining the federal aid for which students may be eligible. Similar to an EFC, the Student Aid Index (SAI) is calculated based off of information reported on a student's FAFSA. The difference between the two is the calculation. After filing the FAFSA, students will receive an SAI. The SAI is an indexing number used to determine aid eligibility. Generally, a lower SAI increases a student's eligibility for need-based aid.

The Student Aid Index (SAI) is calculated based off of information reported on a student's FAFSA and determines a student's eligibility for aid. A negative SAI generally indicates that a student has greater financial need.

Please remember that there are delays in the release of FAFSA data from the federal government to school as well as the State of New Jersey (HESAA). The university and the state are working as quickly as possible to provide you with accurate aid offers. When your aid offer is ready, you will receive an email notification with a link to view your offer. We will also contact you if any additional information is needed from you. Please monitor the “Financial Aid Requirements” section of your goStockton portal as well as your njfams.hesaa.org To Do List (NJ residents only) and complete all requirements.

The Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA) is New Jersey's state financial aid agency. Not only do they provide students and families with financial and informational resources for students to pursue their education beyond high school, but they also manage New Jersey State Financial Aid programs inlcuding the Tuition Aid Grant (TAG) and the Garden State Guarantee (GSG).

If you are a New Jersey resident, it is advised that you complete all HESAA requirements, as doing so will determine your eligibility for NJ State Financial Aid programs. If you do not complete all outstanding state tasks, you will not only be considered ineligible for state aid, but you will also not be considered for the Stockton Promise.

Learn more about HESAA and complete all outstanding items on your To Do List at njfams.hesaa.org. New users will have to create an account.

***Please remember that there are delays in the release of FAFSA data from the federal government to school as well as the State of New Jersey (HESAA). The university and the state are working as quickly as possible to provide you with accurate aid offers. Continue to monitor your email, your goStockton and NJFAMS portals for updates.

Yes, HESAA will receive your FAFSA data once you complete the application. Please monitor the “Financial Aid Requirements” section of your goStockton portal as well as your njfams.hesaa.org To Do List (NJ residents only) and complete all requirements when requested.

Log into fafsa.gov and select the "My Activity" section to make FAFSA corrections.

Common corrections include:

• Providing signature(s)
• Adding a school to the school selection section
• Consenting to the use of the Direct Data Exchange (DDX)
• Selcting "No" to the "Apply for an unsubsidized loan only" question
• Answering questions that were left blank
  • Please answer all questions on the FAFSA. If the answer is no or $0, please answer this way

Learn more at studentaid.gov.