Office of Student Financial Services

Required for all students who wish to apply for federal or state aid.

This application must be filed online. If you filed a FAFSA in 2024-25, an email Renewal Reminder from the Department of Education's processor will be sent to you in January. If you need to create an FSA User ID and password or you have forgotten it, go to https://fsaid.ed.gov. In addition, each contributor who is required to file the FAFSA must sign the FAFSA. This can be done electronically; contributors can also obtain an FSA User ID and password at https://fsaid.ed.gov.

The 2024-2025 FAFSA became available in a "soft launch" on December 30th. Since that date, the application has been experiencing limited windows of availability, due to planned and unplanned maintenance, as well as processing issues. Federal Student Aid has let us know that schools will not receive FAFSA data until the first half of March at the earliest, which means that Brandeis will not be able to update the status of the FAFSA item on your financial aid document checklist until this time. 

Students and contributors will be required to give permission for the IRS to transfer federal tax data directly to this application. Remember to include Brandeis as the school to which your FAFSA should be sent. After submitting your FAFSA, you will receive a FAFSA Submition Summary (FSS) . Review the information carefully, and follow the instructions on the FSS if any corrections need to be made.

After filing the FAFSA, a series of edits and matches are performed on your application. These include a check with the Social Security Administration to verify that your name corresponds to your Social Security number, a check with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to verify your citizenship status, verification that you have registered with Selective Service (if applicable), and a check to confirm that you are not in default on any previously borrowed Federal student loans. We are required to resolve any discrepancies that arise from these matches, so requests for additional information may follow upon receipt of your FAFSA.

• FAFSA and FSA ID Tutorial
• How to create an FSA ID
•  FAFSA FAQs.

Required for all students who wish to be considered for institutional, need-based scholarship.

This application must be filed online. If your parents are divorced or separated, and Brandeis has required information from your noncustodial parent in previous years, your noncustodial parent must also submit a CSS Profile online.

Please note we do not offer a fee waiver for the CSS Profile. Instead, if you are eligible based on the information you report the CollegeBoard will automatically waive the fee.

Need help setting up a CSS Parent Account? Review the CSS Parents Registration Guide or the Profile FAQs.

Required for all students who wish to be considered for institutional financial aid and those selected for verification.

If you received need-based grant or scholarship funds in 2024-25, or if you are selected for verification as a result of filing your FAFSA, you will need to submit your and/or your parent(s)' signed 2022 Federal Income Tax Returns, with all pages, schedules and W-2 forms. (If your parents are divorced or separated, you must also submit a copy of your noncustodial parent's 2022 Federal Income Tax Return, with all pages, schedules and W-2 forms.)

Please note that if you submitted your 2022 tax returns and documentation to us for the 2023-24 year, you do NOT need to submit them again for the 2024-25 year.

If a student's FAFSA application is selected for standard verification, they will be required to submit a Verification Worksheet and to use either the IRS Data Retrieval Tool on the FAFSA or submit copies of IRS tax transcripts to verify the income reported on the FAFSA (non-filers must submit a non-filer statement along with income documentation). They may also be required to sign a statement of educational purpose, submit a final high school transcript and/or provide proof of identity to satisfy the requirements of federal verification.

All verification documents must be submitted prior to the application filing deadlines indicated on the SFS website and/or the awarding and disbursement of institutional, federal and state financial aid. Failure to do so by 10 days prior to the start of the academic year term will result in cancellation of financial aid, which may result in late fees and/or withdrawal from the university for non-payment of the balance due.

If a student is selected for verification after their financial aid has been disbursed, they will have 30 days to complete the verification process. Failure to do so will result in cancellation of both state and federal financial aid. Any required changes to a student’s FAFSA data resulting from the verification process will be made to their application directly by Brandeis, unless otherwise instructed. Any changes to their financial aid award due to the verification process will be communicated via a financial aid award letter.

Additional information may be required on a case-by-case basis. We will notify you if we need any additional documentation. Please help us by responding as quickly as possible to our requests. Feel free to contact us directly if you need assistance understanding what we need from you.

If you are currently receiving need-based scholarship funds from Brandeis, you will receive an email request from the College Board Imaging and Documentation Service (IDOC) to send the tax returns and, if applicable, the Verification Worksheet to IDOC. You may upload your documents directly to IDOC. Electronic images of your documents will be shared with Brandeis.

You can view a list of documents we are requesting through your sage account. From the sage home page, click "View Financial Aid Information" on the right-hand side. Click the "Documents" tab to view all requested documents.