Getting Married? Should you file FAFSA before or after?
When a student's marital status changes, his or her depencency status remains unchanged for the rest of that award year.
Before you submit your FAFSA, a student needs to consider how filing single or married will impact her/his financial aid eligibility. Some student may benefit by waiting until they are married before applying for federal financial aid. This is not always the case. For further assistance, the Office of Financial Aid has advisors available to discuss your specific situation. The EFC calculator at the bottom of the page will assist you in comparison of before or after marriage calculations.
Facts to consider - Early & single or After marriage
Early and single
- If you are a dependent student, you will complete the FAFSA using your parents income.
- If you qualify as an independent student for other than marital status, you only use your income information.
- The earlier you apply, the better chance that your Financial Aid award is ready when fees are due and you are in need of books.
- If your award is ready you will avoid late fees.
- If you apply by the Priority Processing deadline of March 1st, you may qualify for other aid (including Perkins Loans, Leap Grant) .
After marriage
- Dependent students will be considered independent for financial aid purposes.
- Your financial aid eligibility will be determined on the income of you and your spouse (even though you filed taxes separately) .
- As an independent student, you can access additional Direct Student Loans.
- The longer you wait to apply for aid, the higher the chance that your aid will not be ready before fall semester. You can still receive it after school begins.
For further assistance, the Office of Financial Aid has advisors available to discuss your specific situation.