Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships

Here's how you can visit us:

• You can see us in person in the North Lobby of the Joyal Administration Building during regular business hours 8am-5pm.
• Call us at 559.278.2182 for answers to your questions! If we aren't able to help you on the spot, we can make a phone appointment at a time that is convenient for you to speak with a counselor!
• Walk in Wednesdays are back! Stop by the Joyal Administration North Lobby any Wednesday from 8:30-11:30am and 1:00-4:00pm to meet with a counselor in person, no appointment needed.
• Chat with us from our webpage! You'll see a little box appear at the bottom of your screen where we will be available to chat or take a message.
• Send us an email at financialaid@mail.fresnostate.edu but remember, we cannot accept documents to this email.

How can you submit documents?

• Fax documents to 559.278.4833
• Submit appropriate documents electronically through our Student Forms portal. You will be directed to this portal through To Do items on your Student Center.
• Mail documents to our office (not advised, as this is the slowest way to get documents to us!)

Simplifying the financial aid application process: the FAFSA Simplification Act is an initiative by the United States Department of Education to make applying for federal student aid easier for students.  As a result, the 2025-2026 FAFSA will open in December 2024.

In 2024-2025, this process is the first major redesign of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) process in over 40 years. It represents a significant overhaul of federal student aid, including the FAFSA form, need analysis, storage of federal student aid application data, and many policies and procedures for schools that participate in the Title IV programs. Work is still being done to improve the student experience with the 2025-2026 FAFSA.

The process for the California Dream Act Application (CADAA) will include some of the changes from the new FAFSA, both of which will be implemented for the 2024–2025 award year. All students must complete either the FAFSA or CADAA to be considered for federal student aid.

Both the 2025-2026 FAFSA and CADAA are open now, and our priority deadline is March 2, 2025.

Need help with your FAFSA/CADAA? We have workshops where you can get help with your financial aid application! We are hosting workshops both virtually and in-person. For the latest information, follow us on our social media pages (Facebook and Instagram, @FSfinancialaid).

VIRTUAL WORKSHOPS: Please start working on your financial aid application and jump into the Zoom when you have a question. You will be in a waiting room at first and then we will move you into a breakout room with a financial aid staff member for support.

• Dates and Times for Virtual Workshops:
  • January 31 • 1p.m.- 4p.m.
  • February 14 • 9a.m.-12p.m.
  • February 28 • 1p.m.- 3p.m.
• Zoom Information:
  • Zoom Link: https://bit.ly/FinancialAidWorkshop24
  • Meeting ID: 828 0851 0671
  • Passcode: 432870

IN-PERSON WORKSHOPS: We will be hosting these workshops in person and financial aid staff will be there to support you as you need. Please bring your own device (laptop, tablet, etc.), unless it is indicated that we will be in a computer lab.

• Dates and Times for In-Person Workshops:
  • January 24 • 10a.m.- 2:00p.m. • Library LIB2206
  • February 7 • 2:00p.m.-4:00p.m. • Kremen Education Building, ED165 (Computer Lab; computers will be available)
  • February 21 • 9:00a.m.-12:00p.m. • Library LIB2206
  • February 28 • 9:00a.m.-12:00p.m. • Joyal Administration Building, room 203 

The Fresno State Financial Aid & Scholarships Office is dedicated to keeping students, families, supporters and our campus community updated.  We will continue to update this webpage as we receive more information from the Department of Education and post on our social media pages (Facebook, X, and Instagram @FSfinancialaid).

For more information and FAQ's regarding the FAFSA Simplification changes, visit our FAFSA Simplification page.

The U.S. Department of Education has created the Federal Student Aid Estimator, which will allow you to estimate the federal aid that you could be eligible for.

Please keep in mind that this is just an estimate and only includes federal aid. If you are a California resident and you complete your 2025-2026 financial aid application by the March 2, 2025 deadline, you could be eligible for California State aid opportunities as well. For more information on the California State aid opportunities, visit the California Student Aid Commission here.

To use the Federal Student Aid Estimator, click here.

For more information and FAQ's regarding the FAFSA Simplification changes, visit our FAFSA Simplification page.

Both the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the California Dream Act Application (CADAA) are available now. You'll be able to find them at the respective link below:

• The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
• The California Dream Act Application

The priority filing deadline for 2024-2025 was May 2, 2024 and the priority filing deadline for 2025-2026 is March 2, 2025. Keep an eye out for dates where we will be hosting Financial Aid Application Workshops!

What you'll need for the 2025-2026 application:

• Your FSA ID (For the FAFSA - Not sure? Go to FSAID.ed.gov to get it)
• Your social security number (For the FAFSA)
• 2023 Federal tax information, W-2s, and other records of money earned
• 2023 untaxed income information
• Current bank statements and records of investments (if applicable)
• If you are a dependent student (meaning your parents' information must be reported as well) you will also need most of the above information for your parent(s). 

NOTE: If you are completing your 2024-2025 financial aid application, you will use income information from 2022.

Students that are eligible for the Federal Pell Grant and State University Grant will be automatically identified. If you are interested in student loans during the summer, the Summer Loan Interest Form will be available in April. 

You may be eligible for Summer 2025 federal financial aid.  To be considered:

• Have a 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) with Fresno State's school code (001147) on file.
• Be admitted to the University in an eligible program and enrolled in intersession/summer courses.
• In most cases, students will need to be in at least half-time units to be eligible.
• Be meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements after the Spring 2025 semester grades have been posted in order to be eligible for summer financial aid.  
  • (NOTE: Failure to meet SAP will mean you are ineligible for federal aid. If you are not meeting SAP, you can submit a SAP appeal for consideration. For how to appeal and appeal deadlines, please visit our website.)
• Meet general eligibility requirements for Federal Student Aid.
• Have all financial aid 2024-2025 To Do items on the Student Center submitted by Friday, June 6, 2025.
• For student loans, complete the Summer Loan Interest Form (Coming soon!)

For more information on Summer Financial Aid, eligibility, disbursements, etc. please visit our Summer page here: https://studentaffairs.fresnostate.edu/financialaid/finaid101/summer101.html

IMPORTANT NOTE:  If you enroll in any intersession or summer courses, regardless of if you attend/complete the courses, your fall financial aid will be delayed. We must run the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) process for students that had enrolled in intersession and/or summer courses once grades are official for summer to ensure that students are maintaining their eligibility for fall financial aid. Final summer grades are not usually due until August, regardless of when the course ended. Please check the University Registrar's website for when grades are due each semester, as they are not made official until after this date. Fall financial aid may not disburse prior to classes starting for the fall semester. 

Awesome, nice work!

For 2024-2025: Financial aid applications are loaded regularly and if any financial aid To Do items are needed, you should see them on your Student Center. Please respond as quickly as possible because financial aid To Do items will keep your aid from being awarded and/or disbursed.

For 2025-2026, the financial aid application is open now. Because of the massive overhaul to the FAFSA, processing will be delayed.  We anticipate beginning processing early 2025. Check out our FAFSA Simplification page for more information, and as always, keep an eye on your Student Center and follow us on social media to stay up to date.

NEW: We have a new Student Forms portal where you can complete, sign and upload most documents electronically. You'll be directed to create an account from your To Do item in your my.FresnoState Student Center. For more information and helpful tutorials, click here.

Financial Aid awards can be made up of any combination of Grants, Scholarships, Loans, and/or Work Study.

Normally awards are split between the fall and spring semester, but there are instances when they can be for a single semester only. Summer is awarded separately. Log in to your Student Center and click "View Financial Aid" to see how your awards are broken down.

Your financial aid is disbursed no earlier than 10 days prior to the start of classes. Depending on the awards, it will first pay what you owe the university for the semester, and if there is a remaining balance, a refund will be issued to you. Make sure to select your refund preference with Student Accounts if you're expecting a refund! For more information, visit this link: https://adminfinance.fresnostate.edu/accountingservices/students/refunds.html and expand the section "How to Receive/Sign Up for Transact eRefund".

Disbursements are happening twice a week on Wednesday and Friday.

 If you aren't doing well in school, or you've taken more credits than are needed to graduate, you could lose financial aid eligibility. Click to see what you need to do to remain eligible! 

Should you find that you are not meeting the SAP criteria, you will be given a "warning" for the upcoming semester. This will give you the opportunity to get back in good standing with the SAP Policy. If you don't meet the SAP requirements after this warning semester, you'll be ineligible for federal aid. An appeal process is available should this occur! Please contact our office for more information or see our SAP policy!