We encourage all students to complete the FAFSA, even if they do not believe they are eligible for certain types of aid. Students must complete a FAFSA to apply for the following funds:

• South Carolina Need-Based Grant
• Federal Pell Grant
• Federal Work-Study
• Federal Direct Subsidized Loan
• Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
• Federal Direct PLUS Loan
• Federal Direct Grad PLUS Loan
• Federal TEACH Grant
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant
• Nursing Student Loans, Scholarships, and Grants
• Health Professions Loans, Scholarships and Grants
• Some Private Loans, Grants or Scholarship Programs

When creating an account on StudentAid.gov, you will be asked to provide the following information:

• Name
• Date of Birth
• Social Security Number
• Physical Address
• Mailing Address
• Email Address

When completing the Personal Circumstances section of the FAFSA, you will be asked to provide the following information:

• Marital Status
• Grade Level
• If you have served or are serving in the armed forces.
• If you have any children or other dependents.
• If you are or were unaccompanied and either homeless or self-supporting and at risk of being homeless on or after July 1, 2023.
• If unusual circumstances prevent you from contacting your parents or if contacting your parents poses a risk to you.

When completing the Personal Demographics section of the FAFSA, you will be asked to provide the following information:

• Gender
• Race
• Citizenship Status and A-number if applicable
• If either of your parents attended or completed college or was killed in the line of duty while serving on active duty as a member of the U.S. armed forces or performing official duties as a public safety officer.

When completing the Financials section of the FAFSA, you will be asked to provide the following information. If you provided consent and approval in the previous section, your federal tax information was transferred automatically from the IRS into your form. You will not be able to see the federal tax information, but you will need to provide additional financial information for this section to be complete, this includes:

• the amount of taxable college grants, scholarships, or AmeriCorps benefits you reported as income to the IRS on your tax return.
• the dollar amount of foreign earned income excluded from your tax return.
• You may see additional questions related to information reported on your tax return.
• the dollar amount of your assets, cash, savings, and checking accounts. Make sure you do not include financial aid that you received.
• the net worth of your businesses and investment farms if you have any
• current net worth of your investments, including real estate.
• For independent students, you will be asked to provide the amount of child support received.
• if you have received any benefits from any federal programs
• if family size has changed since filing taxes,
• number of people in family and who will be in college

When you complete the FAFSA, you will answer questions that will determine your dependency status and who should contribute information on the FAFSA. Your answers will determine if you are a dependent student, an independent student, or a provisionally independent student and identify who should contribute additional information on the FAFSA. 

An independent student may need to invite their spouse to contribute information on the FAFSA. Most dependent students will need to invite their parent, and in some cases, their other parent or their parent's spouse (a stepparent) to contribute information on the FAFSA.

To invite a contributor to contribute information on the FAFSA, you'll need to provide their name, date of birth, social security number, and email address. The contributor will receive an email prompting them to log in to StudentAid.gov using their own credentials to complete their portion of the FAFSA.

To make corrections to your FAFSA, complete the following steps:

• Log in to StudentAid.gov
• Select the FAFSA that indicates Action Required
• Make the necessary updates
• Review, Sign, and Submit your FAFSA

Students will be able to review the updated FAFSA submission summary on their StudentAid.gov account within 1-3 days of the correction.

Learn how to make corrections. »

If you entered an incorrect Social Security Number (SSN) when completing the FAFSA:

• Log in to StudentAid.gov
• Update your information in your Account Settings
• Once the Social Security Administration (SSA) verifies your account status, you'll be able to make a correction to the FAFSA.
• Review, Sign, and Submit your FAFSA

If you believe that the SSN you reported is correct, then follow the instructions for updating the SSA and the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC):

• Contact the SSA by calling 1-800-772-1213 or by visiting ssa.gov to either confirm your SSN or request that they update their records.
• Once SSA resolves the issue, contact the FSAIC at 1-800-433-3243.
• Ask the FSAIC to manually sync their data with the SSA. You’ll be notified by email once a match is confirmed.
• Reach out to your college’s or career school’s financial aid office to inform them of the update.

If you are selected for verification, don't panic. Verification is a process that confirms the data listed on your FAFSA is accurate. You will need to submit a verification form and tax documents to our office using the Financial Aid Dashboard.

Learn more about the verification process. »

If you have a special situation that is not reflected on the FAFSA, we may be able to assist you with a formal review of your circumstances. Please contact our office and ask to speak with a financial aid counselor.

Learn more about special cases. »