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- The FAFSA is currently available in both English and Spanish on the FSA homepage.
- If your parent speaks a language other than English or Spanish, you can get interpretation services.
- Your parents’ citizenship status doesn’t factor into any federal financial aid decisions.
- Read more of Insider’s student loan coverage here.
The goal of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid is to make financial aid accessible to as many students and parents as possible. Many students need the help of their parents to fill out their FAFSA, particularly if they are dependents who need their family’s financial information to complete the application.
Fortunately, the Department of Education has resources for students whose parents don’t speak English or who aren’t US citizens.
FAFSA resources available if your parent primarily speaks a language other than English
The FAFSA is a form you fill out to determine your eligibility for financial aid, which comes in the form of grants, scholarships, work-study, and loans. It will take you about 30 minutes to complete, and you’ll need various financial documents from yourself and your parents to fill it out, such as tax returns, bank account information, and investment holdings. Go to this page to begin the FAFSA application process.
You can switch the FAFSA page’s language by clicking the option you want in the top right corner of the page. Currently, you can choose between English and Spanish. Additionally, many of the documents on the Federal Student Aid office’s resource page detailing the FAFSA step by step are available in both English and Spanish. The page includes videos on responsible borrowing, budgeting, and types of federal student aid, all captioned in Spanish.
Studentaid.gov
The Spanish version of the form is the same as the English version and may help you more effectively communicate what information you need to a parent who speaks primarily Spanish.
If your parent speaks a language other English or Spanish, they can receive interpretation or translation services from the Department of Education. You can find information about these services at 1-800-USA-LEARN (1-800-872-5327). Text Telephone for the deaf or hard of hearing is available at 1-800-730-8913, and you can send an email to ed.language.assistance@ed.gov.
Does your parents’ citizenship status matter when determining if you qualify for aid?
The Department of Education offers resources for eligible noncitizens to figure out if they qualify for aid. If you are a noncitizen, you can find a list of categories of noncitizens that are eligible for federal student aid here. For example, you might qualify for aid if you are a citizen of Micronesia, Palau, or the Marshall Islands.
Your parents’ immigration status isn’t taken into account when determining eligibility for federal student aid. If your parents don’t have a Social Security number, they must enter all zeros without dashes on the relevant section of the form.
The FAFSA doesn’t ask about your parents’ citizenship status, and when the form is processed, only your citizenship or eligible noncitizen eligibility is confirmed.
If you need more information on resources available to non-English speakers or noncitizens, you can reach out to the Federal Student Aid office via email, phone, or live chat.
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