Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the form a student and their family must submit in order to be considered for most types of financial aid.

You need to complete the FAFSA to be eligible for federal student aid such as federal grants, work-study funds, and loans. Some state and institutional financial aid funds require you to fill out a FAFSA as well.

You must meet certain eligibility requirements to fill out a FAFSA. Some of the requirements are that you must be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen and are enrolled in an eligible degree or certificate program. There are additional eligibility requirements that can be found on the Federal Student Aid website.

The first step to fill out a FAFSA is to create an FSA ID.

An FSA ID is required for all students and contributors to better protect their FAFSA information. To create an FSA ID, name, social security numbers and either email or phone number must be provided. You can setup an FSA ID on the federal student aid website.

Contributors without a social security number (SSN) still need to set up an FSA ID. Please follow the below instructions to do so:

Contributors Without Social Security Number Step-by-Step Guide

Contributors Without Social Security Number Step-by-Step Guide (Spanish)

The Colorado Application for State Financial Aid (CASFA) is the form that Colorado ASSET students and their families may submit in order to be considered for Colorado state financial aid.

To be designated as an ASSET student, you must meet the eligibility requirements found on the Colorado Department of Higher Education’s CASFA website.

To be considered for ASSET designation at MSU Denver, you must apply through the Admissions Office if you’re a new student, or the Registrar’s Office if you’re a continuing student.

Once you are designated as an ASSET student, you will not need to reapply.

An ASSET student qualifies for in-state tuition at MSU Denver and may qualify for Colorado State Financial Aid by submitting the CASFA application.

If your FAFSA application indicates that there is an “Action Required” or you reviewed your FAFSA Submission Summary and there is incorrect information, you will be responsible for providing the information or correction to your FAFSA form.

To learn how you update or correct your FAFSA, visit the How To Review and Correct Your FAFSA Form website.

Filling out the FAFSA form may seem complicated and time consuming, but the Department of Education has worked hard to make the form easier to fill out for families. However, you may still have questions. You can find resources on the Filling Out the FAFSA Form webpage to assist you with any questions you may have.

The Educational Opportunity Center located on the Auraria Campus can also help students and their families with completing their FAFSA applications. You can contact them to set up an appointment at 303-352-8746 or email at [email protected]

For resources that will assist you with filling out the CASFA application, please visit the Colorado Department of Education’s CASFA Student and Family Resource page.

MSU Denver’s Office of Immigrant Services helps students with completing the CASFA application. Immigrant Services are available to help MSU Denver students and families one-on-one. You can book an appointment with their staff via their website.

After you have submitted your FAFSA, the Department of Education will track the process of your FAFSA and inform you of the status of your application via their studentaid.gov website.

When your FAFSA has an “Action Required” status, you are missing either a signature or you need to make a correction. Your FAFSA cannot be processed until you complete those required items.

Once your application has been successfully processed and there is no further action needed, your FAFSA status will be “Processed” and the Department of Education will send you a FAFSA Submission Summary which is a summary of the FAFSA information you have submitted.

To understand how to check your FAFSA status after you have submitted it, you may review the How do I check the status of by FAFSA form webpage.

The FAFSA Submission Summary is an electronic or paper document that summarizes the information you and your family reported on your FAFSA form.

It will tell you your estimated Pell grant eligibility and federal student loans, your Student Aid Index (SAI) and whether you have been selected for verification. More information on verification can be found under the policy section of our website.

To learn more about the FAFSA Submission Summary, please visit the Learn About the FAFSA Submission Summary.

Please visit the FAFSA Help website for Frequently Asked Questions and additional resources to assist you with your FAFSA application.