About FAFSA

About Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

The FAFSA® form is one application for discovering your eligibility for federal student aid. The application will also identify if you qualify for the CA College Promise Grant. There are many different forms of aid, see our Programs Overview for the different types of aid at BC. This form gathers information about your and your parents (unless you are independent) financial capabilities for paying for higher education.

Helpful Articles About FAFSA®

What You will Need to Fill out the FAFSA®

Gathering these items will help you complete the form.

The Federal School Code for Bakersfield College is 001118.
Determine which year you need aid.
- The 2023-2024 FAFSA form is for students who need financial aid between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025.
Create your Federal Student Aid (FSA) account and get your FSA ID at Student Aid Create Account.
Gather documents for easy access while filling out the form
- Your Social Security number
- Your parents' Social Security numbers if you are a dependent student.
- Your Driver's license number if you have one
- Your Alien Registration number if you are not a U.S. Citizen
- Federal tax information, tax documents, tax returns, etc.
- Records of untaxed income and information on cash, savings and checking account balances, investments, etc.
See a full list of things you need, including a video on how to fill out the form at Federal Student Aid's Filling Out the FAFSA® Form

FSA ID

The FSA ID is the Federals Student Aid account username and password combination. It allows you to login to your account access certain information online and allows you to sign your FAFSA® form and promissory notes electronically. We strongly recommend that you create a Federal Student Aid account.

If you are finding it difficult to create or recover your FSA ID that was created, please find some helpful solutions through the links listed below. If you are unable to locate the answers that you need, contact the FSA ID helpline at (800) 557-7394.

Creating Your Account and Getting an FSA ID

You'll need your Social Security number, full name, and date of birth. You'll also need to create a memorable username and password, and complete challenge questions and answers so you can retrieve your account information if you forget it.

You'll be required to provide either your email address or your mobile phone number when you make your FSA ID. Providing a mobile phone number and/or email address that you have access to will make it easier to log in to ED online systems and allow additional account recovery options.

Important: A Social Security number, email address, and mobile phone number can only be associated with one FSA ID. If you share an email address with someone else, then only one of you will be able to use that email address to create an FSA ID.

Parents can make a FSA ID

Go to the FSA ID website.
Fill in the information under “Create an FSA ID,” and then click “continue.”
You'll be directed to another page with an online form. There, you'll fill out your personal information, which includes your name, address, and Social Security number.

Once you've followed all the instructions, you'll need to wait up to three days while the system confirms your identity.

While you're waiting for confirmation, consider verifying your email, which is optional but helpful. Verifying your email allows you to get email notifications about changes occurring in your parent account and also makes resetting your username and password easier, since you can bypass challenge questions. You will be shown an option to verify your email as you follow the prompts.

Once you're ready to start answering the FAFSA questions, go back to the Federal Student Aid website to finally get started on your application. You'll need the student's FAS ID for this step.

Get Started on Your FAFSA® Application

Visit FAFSA website
Click Apply Now under "Apply for Aid Using the FAFSA Form."
Log in to start the application.
Student: select Enter your (the student's) FSA ID
Parents: select Enter the student's information
Click next.
Select which type of FAFSA form you want to fill out:
- The 2022-2023 FAFSA form is for students who need financial aid between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023.
- The 2023-2024 FAFSA form is for students who need financial aid between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024.
Make a save key — an important temporary password that you and your parents can use to log in to your application. It also allows you to log back in and pick up where you left off, if you need to take a break.

After You Apply

Once you have applied for financial aid, monitor your BC student email and check Inside BC frequently for the following:

Award notifications
Satisfactory Academic Progress status
Requests for additional documents
Refund notifications
Workshop announcements
Other important updates

If you applied with FAFSA, you may be selected for verification. Learn how to navigate that step on the verification process page. If you are not selected for verification, your financial aid award will be visible in InsideBC once the Financial Aid Office finishes its review of your file.

You will need to select a payment preference.

Check application steps for the whole process.