The next section will guide you step-by-step through the application questions. If you are using FAFSA on the Web, you will be asked to either key in your answers or use the drop-down menus to select your answers as you progress through the Web site. If you are filing a PDF or paper FAFSA, use the Notes pages as a guide to fill in the answers on the four-page application.

If you are completing FAFSA on the Web, you will notice that some of the questions do not appear in numerical order. This is to accommodate the skip logic functionality of the Web site. Skip logic requires you to answer pertinent questions and based on the answers to those questions, you are allowed to skip other questions and complete the application faster. For reference, the number of each paper FAFSA question is shown in parentheses behind the online question.

FAFSA on the Web offers the FAFSA on the WebWorksheet to help you prepare to complete the FAFSA online. We suggest that you print a copy of the worksheet and write your answers down on the worksheet so that you can easily transfer the data from the worksheet to the Web when you begin completing the FAFSA online.

As previously mentioned, FAFSA on the Web filers may be able to skip some questions based on their answers to earlier questions. You might qualify if, for example, you (and your parents, if you are a dependent student) don't have income over a certain amount and filed, or were eligible to file, an IRS Form 1040A or 1040EZ (that is, not required to file an IRS Form 1040). If you are able to skip certain questions, FAFSA on the Web will only display the questions you need to answer. However, you will also have the option to answer all questions since some states and schools require this information anyway.