March 18 CASE Meeting: FAFSA Completion & Citywide Collective Effort

Ecosystem members are hard at work supporting a citywide collective FAFSA completion effort. During CASE’s March 18 meeting at the Community College of Philadelphia, the On-Track to College Graduation action team highlighted their FAFSA renewal campaign through completion events at three college campuses, in hosting a professional development series, and through a supporting social media campaign and listicle (featured to the right). Then, action teams convened for working meetings to drive their collective efforts forward.

FULL MEETING DECK

FAFSA Resources for Practitioners:

• 2025–26 Counselor Resource for Completing the FAFSA Form — Provides counselors and advisors with information and resources to help guide students and their families through the FAFSA form.

• 2025–26 FAFSA Preview Presentation — Provides financial aid administrators, advisors, and counselors with reference tools for staff trainings and financial aid nights. - contains screenshots which highlight changes to the online 2025–26 FAFSA form. 

• 2025–26 FAFSA Prototype — The tool provides the financial aid community an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the FAFSA user experience. 

• Updated information and outreach tools for counselors, college access professionals, and other advisors can be found in the Financial Aid Toolkit.

FAFSA Resources for Students & Families

• “Who’s the Parent on the FAFSA Form?” Wizard—A new, stand-alone tool to help students and families determine who will need to provide contributor information on the 2025–26 FAFSA form prior to starting the application.

• “Creating Your StudentAid.gov Account” Page—A new resource that explains what families and partners need to know about creating a StudentAid.gov account. 

• Pro Tips for Completing the FAFSA Form—Updated tips for preparing to complete and submit the FAFSA form - also be linked from the StudentAid.gov Dashboard to promote easier access for students and their required contributor(s). 

• Federal Student Aid Estimator—The tool provides an estimate of the 2025–26 Student Aid Index and Federal Pell Grant eligibility calculation. 

• FAFSA Support in Other Languages – A set of FAFSA guides and access to interpreter services for non-English speakers in 10 most common languages besides English and Spanish – 7 are there, 3 coming soon.

• Federal Student Aid YouTube Channel: FAFSA Videos—Updated videos to help students and families understand the importance of the FAFSA form, who is a FAFSA contributor, and what happens after submitting the form.

FAFSA Guidance for contributors without an SSN

• Can I create a StudentAid.gov account if I don’t have a Social Security number? | FSA

• How do I verify my identity if I create an account and don’t have a Social Security number? | FSA

Upcoming Action Team Meetings

• https://www.casephilly.org/ecosystem-work