Resources

Members of the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office will be available to help complete your FAFSA or CADAA application - or to help with submitting corrections to your application - on the following days (be sure to bring your own laptop/device).

Members of the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office will be available to help complete your FAFSA or CADAA application - or to help with submitting corrections to your application - during the following virtual drop-in labs (breakout rooms available for one-on-one assistance).

Every student and family has different circumstances and considerations that factor into how you will pursue financail aid. As a California student, here's what you need to know about each application and what they offer:

Students from mixed-status families can complete a FAFSA to be evaluated for all federal, state, and CSU funded aid.  Students from mixed status families that complete a CADAA will only be evaluated for state and CSU funded aid.

While the U.S. Department of Education does not currently share contributor information from the FAFSA with any other federal agency, those rules could change. The California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) assures students and families that information provided on the CADAA is not shared with any federal agency.

When considering which application to complete for 2025-26, keep in mind the following:

• If you or a family member has completed the FAFSA in a previous year and/or your family member already has a StudentAid.gov account, their information is already in the U.S. Department of Education system. Submission of a new FAFSA may not increase the information that is already accessible to the federal government.
• If you are completing a FAFSA for the first time, the U.S. Department of Education may not have data on your family member. However, their data may be available through other sources such as federal tax returns or immigration history.

We know that applying for financial aid right now could feel confusing and overwhelming and that there's a lot of information to consider. We're here to help you access resources, like CSAC's website for Mixed Status Families, to help understand your situation and decide which application is right for you.

Be prepared so you can complete your form in one session.  You might need the following documents as you fill out the 2026-2027 form.

Have your Information ready:

• Your FSA ID
• 2024 Tax returns
• Records of child support received
• Current balances of cash, savings, and checking accounts
• Net worth of investments, businesses, and farms

Have your Contributor Information ready.

Contributor refers to anyone (you, your spouse, your biological or adoptive parent, or your parent's spouse) required to provide information on your FAFSA or CADAA form.  If filling out the FAFSA, each contributor will need their own FSA ID (StudentAid.gov account).

To invite contributors, you will need to provide their:

• First and Last Name
• Date of birth
• SSN (if they have one)
• Email address (or mailing address if they don't have an SSN)