As seniors are submitting their college applications in the 2025 to 2026 cycle, it means that students also have opportunities to apply for financial aid. FAFSA, Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is just one of the most important programs that seniors can apply to for financial support.
Based on Californian law in Assembly Bill 439, students who graduate in 2026 are all required to apply for financial aid prior to graduating or they must fill out the opt out form. Therefore, it is vital to reach out to these financial systems as quickly as possible senior year.
Ms. Ngyuen, Aliso’s college counselor, shared that, “There are few students who absolutely refuse to apply, but Aliso Niguel has the highest financial aid completion rate in the entire district.”
There are two available systems to apply to for Californian students: FAFSA and the California Dream Act. Those who are residents of California with citizenship or green cards are eligible to apply to FAFSA. Those who do not have permanent residency, visa or green card cannot apply to FAFSA, but are eligible to still apply to the CADAA.
The FAFSA application is a fairly easy process found on the “studentaid.gov” website. Once there, start by making a student ID and inputting all the information it requires such as social security number, drivers license and taxing information.
Applying for financial aid is typically a job done by both students and parents, requiring personal parental input of bank statements and income. However, students are capable of completing most of the process on their own.
Once the student ID is created, start the actual FAFSA form using your student ID to login. The form asks multiple questions regarding students’ demographics, assets and relationship to parents in order to collect all the information necessary to conclude how much financial aid a person needs.
Kayla Mache (12) shares, “The process to apply for FAFSA was pretty straightforward, and it didn’t take me too long. It told me my potential aid after I applied, so it was helpful having an idea how much college tuition might cost in the future.”
Financial aid is an easy and beneficial program to enlist for. Counselors and guidance strongly emphasize students applying as there are no harmful consequences, rather students can only benefit by completing it.
Ms. Ngyuen encourages students to apply for financial aid by adding, “We don’t want to force students to complete it but why not because you’re just completing a free application to see if you get money for college.”
The deadline to apply for financial support in California is March 2, 2026. Students who are planning to, or have already applied out-of-state should be cautious that their school of interest may have a different deadline. Most out-of-state colleges have deadlines that are due sooner, such as around February.
College tuition can be a highly demanding aspect of students and their families finances; however, many support programs such as FAFSA and CADAA can help make education more accessible.
Whether it is through FAFSA or CADAA, seniors should reach out to their respective program in order to help themselves and obey California requirements.
