For students applying Early Decision I for the fall of 2025: Due to the anticipated delays of the 2025-2026 FAFSA, Lafayette College will use the CSS Profile anD IDOC to determine eligibility for need-based financial aid. Submission of The FAFSA is required by January 15, 2025. If it is determined that a student is eligible for federal or state grant funding upon receipt of the FAFSA, the College-funded grant portion of the financial aid award will be adjusted accordingly.
Domestic students can seek financial assistance from the following sources:
- government-based aid includes grants, loans and work study from state and/or federal governments
- institutional aid includes need-based grants from Lafayette College
Beginning on or after October 1 first-year applicants can apply for aid by visiting these secure websites. Students who are applying for the Fall of 2025 must complete the 2025-2026 financial aid applications for the following:
- FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid): determines eligibility for federal and/or state grant funding as well as subsidized federal loan eligibility.
- CSS Profile: The CSS Profile is a financial aid application used for determining demonstrated need for institutional need-based grants and is a secondary form to FAFSA. The CSS Profile provides colleges and universities with a deeper and more precise look at an applicant’s financial background, which is important when awarding finite institutional resources. Applicants will be prompted to upload required supporting financial documents.
Please Note:
- Lafayette requires financial information from both parents. When a student’s parents are divorced, separated, or never married, the custodial parent must file the CSS Profile and FAFSA and the noncustodial parent must file the CSS Profile for the Noncustodial Parent. Both must submit 2023 federal tax returns along with all supporting schedules, statements and W-2s through IDOC. Business owners must also submit corporate/partnership tax returns.
- If you are seeking only merit scholarships and are not intending to apply for need-based grants, loans, or work study consideration, you do not need to complete the CSS PROFILE or the FAFSA.
- If you are seeking only federal loans and work study, the FAFSA is the only required application. Please send an email to financialaid@lafayette.edu to alert us that you are pursuing only federal financing options.
- If your FAFSA is randomly selected by the federal government for a review process called verification, you may be asked to submit additional documentation. We will notify you if this is the case.
- Financial aid applicants who submit all requirements by the specified deadlines and are accepted for admission under Early Decision or Regular Decision will view their financial aid eligibility letter (called the College Financing Plan or CFP) online at the same time the admission decisions are released on the applicant’s admission portal.
- As a reminder, financial aid recipients must reapply for financial aid each academic year. Factors including family income and assets, household size, and siblings in college are reevaluated when determining financial aid eligibility for subsequent years.
- Lafayette College guarantees to meet the financial need of students admitted under Early Decision and Regular Decision who adhere to the deadlines.
Transfer Applicants
Review terms and conditions.