Does the order of the colleges matter for the 10 schools of the FAFSA?
It does in some states.
In what nature would it matter? @thumper1
Ok I see. It matters for state aid.
If I am applying to a school that is out of state, does state aid even matter? @thumper1
The order of schools on the FAFSA does not matter. What is new on the FAFSA this year is that colleges can only see their school and cannot see any other schools that you have applied to
I thought that for some state grants, it was required to have a school from that state listed first. Is this no longer the case, or was it never the case?
@BelknapPoint Here in MA I thought I read someplace also that you would not be considered for certain state aid if it was not listed first.
I know for NYS aid it does not matter, it just pulls the first NYS school, whether you have it listed as number 1 or number 10 (you can only put in one NYS school for TAP, you just change the school when you make your final decision once you choose your school because if you are eligible for NYS aid, it is the same amount of money whether is private of public school in NYS with a max of $5165.
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/filling-out/school-list
^info about different states
Some states require that an instate school be listed on FAFSA, but order doesn’t matter.
CT requires an instate college to be listed within the first positions to be considered for state aid.
IN says an instate college must be listed first.
MA says grant aid award will be made for the first eligible college listed on FAFSA.
MO says initial grant award will be made to your fist-choice college in the first position.
NJ says you must list a NJ college in first position to be considered for state aid.
PA says grant aid awards will be made to the college listed first on FAFSA.
SC says you must list an eligible SC college to be considered for state aid. Please list in the first position the college you are most likely to attend.
VT says to be considered for state aid, list your first-choice colleges from any state in the first 3 positions.
WV says you must list a WV college to be considered for state aid. Grant aid award will be initially be made to college in first position.
All the above states allow the schools initially chosen as first choice to be changed later.
^CT is supposed to say “first 2 positions”
But since the schools no longer see which other schools you list, won’t all schools be #1?
I thought the state grant agencies could see it? Not sure how this works.
Most state agencies distribute state aid the same way that federal aid is distributed; if you are eligible for it, you will receive it as long as you attend college in-state. You don’t get it if you leave your state.
For example for NYS aid, you can only put in one NYS school. You will update it once you select a school. If you are eligible for a STEM incentive scholarship, the NYS aid (TAP) is deducted from the scholarship because the STEM incentive can only be used for tuition and TAP can only be used for tuition and both come from the same source - HESC.
Most colleges cannot see the other colleges or the order but an exception was made for state aid. So a student can put their state U as #1, guaranteeing consideration for state grants & scholarships while not having any negative effect on private colleges or OOS schools.