As students plan for college, career, and beyond, it is essential that steps are taken before applying for financial aid. It is the District’s mission to help students and their parents complete an accurate FAFSA or DREAM Act application to receive financial aid on time.
Most FUSD students who plan to attend college or vocational school depend a great deal on financial aid to cover their educational expenses. The application process can be cumbersome for families and they may need guidance and/or advice. We encourage students and parents to take advantage of the resources offered to prevent possible delays or jeopardizing their financial aid.
We encourage families to contact their high school counselor or use CCR’s website for financial aid resources and events on various financial aid topics. Throughout the academic school year, high school counselors, financial aid partners, and CCR host financial literacy workshops to help students and their parents complete an accurate FAFSA, answer questions, and learn about the financial aid available to students such as grants, scholarships, work-study, and loans.
If you need support with financial aid, please contact your high school counselor, or you can also email Gloria Ponce Rodriguez at gloria.ponce-rodriguez@fresnounified.org.
Step | Details | Resources to Help |
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Create your FSA ID |
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Apply for FAFSA or Dream Act |
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Review your Student Aid Report (SAR) |
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Verification |
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Create your WebGrants 4 Students account |
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Accepting your award letter |
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Check out this video to learn about grants, loans, and work-study jobs and how they can help fund your education. Visit StudentAid.gov to learn more.
There are three types of financial aid:
Depending on your financial need, a combination of different types of financial aid can be awarded. Before accepting your award, you will need to determine if a loan is necessary to cover all your college expenses. You may have enough in grants to cover your charges and not need a loan.
Students can use their financial aid funds to cover tuition, fees, room and board, transportation, books, labs, and study abroad. Once you use all of your funds to cover all of your college costs and have funds left over it is called a student’s refund. The strong recommendation is to save it for any future costs you may acquire the following year.
To determine how much financial aid a student needs to attend a school, use the formula: Cost of Attendance (COA) – Expected Family Contribution (EFC) = Financial Need.
This tool from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) can help you:
Students who are current or former foster youth are eligible for a wide variety of financial supports when attending college or vocational school. After foster youth complete the FAFSA they will also need to complete the Chafee application to receive an additional grant. We recommend exploring the links below.