Applying for financial aid is an important step in making your college education a reality, and we’re here to guide you through the process. Follow the steps below to apply for financial aid at Austin Community College:
Before You Get Started: Become a Riverbat! (That’s the ACC mascot)
The Financial Aid Office will process your financial aid application only if you are an official ACC student. If this will be your first semester at ACC, apply to become an ACC student here.
Step One: Complete the FAFSA (or TASFA)
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) determines your eligibility for federal financial aid, including grants, work-study, and loans. Financial aid can be used to pay for tuition, fees, books, living expenses, and other expenses associated with attending college.
You’ll need to provide information about your family’s financial situation and your own financial resources, such as your income and assets when you complete the FAFSA. You will also need ACC’s federal school code 012015 to ensure your FAFSA gets to ACC. The FAFSA is available online at StudentAid.gov/FAFSA.
Contact our financial aid office if you have questions or need help completing the FAFSA.
Step Two: Track your status
Track the status of your financial aid application by regularly checking your ACCmail and Self-Service.
It takes a few days for ACC to receive your FAFSA after it’s been completed. As soon as we receive your FAFSA, we get to work so we can send you a financial aid offer. Sometimes, we need additional documents from you before we send your financial aid offer. If this is the case, we will contact you via your ACCmail. Most documents we might need from you can be submitted online. Please respond promptly to any financial aid requests because failure to do so may delay the processing of your application.
Once we have everything we need it may take a few weeks to finish our process and send you a financial aid offer. We will send your financial aid offer to your ACCmail and it will be available in Self-Service.
If you have questions about your financial aid status or need assistance with the tracking process, don’t hesitate to contact our financial aid office.
Applying for Financial Aid Frequently Asked Questions
When will the FAFSA become available for next academic year?
The FAFSA becomes available on October 1st of each year for the next academic year. For example, if you will attend college during the 2025-2026 academic year, the FAFSA will become available on October 1, 2024. (The FAFSA for the 2024-2025 academic year is currently available to complete.) It’s a good idea to complete the FAFSA as soon as possible, as some financial aid is offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
Do I have to complete the FAFSA each academic year?
Yes, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) must be completed each academic year. Complete your FAFSA here: StudentAid.gov/FAFSA
What if my offered financial aid does not cover all of my billed tuition and fees?
If the financial aid you accepted doesn’t cover all of your tuition and fees, you will have to pay the remaining amount. You can do this on Self-Service or by setting up a payment plan before the payment deadline. If you need help, call the Financial Aid Office at 512-223-4636. We can help you set up a payment plan where you don’t have to pay any money at first. Instead, your financial aid will be used as your first payment.
How do I submit additional documents requested by the Financial Aid Office?
It’s easy to send us your financial aid documents online. Go to the Self-Service Financial Aid page to see what documents we need. The Self-Service page will direct you to ACC’s StudentForms page to send us the requested documents. If you haven’t used StudentForms before, you will need to make an account. The information you use to make the account must be the same as what you put on your FAFSA. For more information about financial aid forms, visit austincc.edu/faforms.
How is my financial aid offer determined?
To figure out how much financial aid you can get, we use something called “need analysis.” The main way we do this is by looking at the information you give us on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA tells us about your family’s financial situation. We use this information to figure out how much money you and your family can afford to pay for college.
The financial aid offer is usually a mix of different types of aid like scholarships, grants, work-study and loans. The types of aid and how much you get might be different for each person, depending on their financial needs and how much money ACC has available. Scholarships and grants are types of money that you don’t have to pay back. Loans are money you borrow that you will have to pay back with interest. Work-study is when you work on campus to make money to help pay for college.
What happens if my financial situation changes?
If something changes in your family’s financial situation after you have already sent in your FAFSA, please tell ACC’s Financial Aid Office right away. We will check if this change affects your financial aid and if we need to change the amount of aid we are able to give you. For example, if your family experiences a significant loss of income, you may be able to get more financial aid. But if your family starts making more money, we might have to give you less aid.
It’s important to be honest and to provide documentation of your new financial situation. We might ask for tax returns, pay stubs, or other financial papers.
It’s always a good idea to keep an open line of communication with the Financial Aid Office and to report any changes in your financial situation as soon as possible to ensure your financial aid offer is right for your current situation.