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Financial Aid

The FAFSA form MUST be filled out online soon after Jan. 1 in order to receive financial aid (includes grants and loans).

The state of Missouri deadline to fill out the form and be eligible for the Missouri Access Grant is April 1st; however, if you wait this long there probably will not be any funding left for you. This means you might be eligible for the grant but there is no money left in the fund to give to you.

Universities also create their own FAFSA deadline for the "Institutional Grants" that they give our at their college (from their own funding). The University of Missouri-Columbia has a deadline of March 1.

The federal government currently does not have a deadline for the Federal Pell Grant; however if you wait too long, the campus might not be able to do the paperwork in time for you to start mid August and you will have to wait until January. The community colleges for example need you to apply early (July/August is late!)

We suggest submitting this online no later than Feb. 14 in order to get funding you are eligible for from each funding resource.

Learn more about FAFSA
Fill out the online FAFSA form

CSS Profile

There are 2 types of Financial Aid forms colleges/universities use to help give you financial assistance. The vast majoriy of of you (95%) will only be required to fill out the FAFSA form. If you are applying to schools via the common application, you may have to also fill out the CSS Profile. You will HAVE to fill out the CSS Profile if you apply Early Decision! In that case, you will probably have to fill it out by a date in October.

The CSS Profile is way more detailed than the FAFSA, so give yourself plenty of time to fill it out! The College Board is the orgization responsible for this form. It does cost to fill it out and send it to your colleges; however, if you are financially eligible for a fee waiver based on the information you put into the form, you will not have to pay for the service.

Learn how to fill out the CSS Profile

Fee Waiver (ACT & College applications)

  • A student is eligible for 2 ACT fee waivers in their high school career if they are on the free reduced lunch program or are a ward of the court. Go to the College Center for the form. If you sign up to take the test and do not show up for it, it WILL count as one of your waivers.
  • The same is true for the SAT test however students tend to be much more successful on the ACT and do not typically take the SAT test.
  • College Application fee waivers- many colleges will allow students to have the application fee waived. Not ALL colleges accept them such as St Charles Community College and Lincoln University in Jefferson City. The student must sign paperwork with either the College Counselor or MCAC college adviser and send this with their transcript! Plan in advance!