First-Year Domestic Students

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 October 1, first-year applicants can apply for aid by visiting these secure websites:

  • 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.
  • IDOC: Upon submission of the CSS Profile, 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 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 will receive their financial aid eligibility letter (called the College Financing Plan or CFP) along with their admission decisions.
  • Need-based financial aid recipients must reapply for aid each academic year. Changes to family income and assets, household size, and the number of siblings enrolled in an undergraduate college degree program are some of the factors considered when determining financial aid eligibility for subsequent years.

Transfer Applicants

Review terms and conditions.