2011-2012 and 2012-2013 APPLICATION IS AVAILABLE NOW,
complete the FAFSA at   http://www.fafsa.ed.gov 

The FAFSA is the application form used to apply for all federal student financial aid and some forms of state and institutional aid across the nation. This form is an online application.  

The FAFSA form becomes available to the public  January 1 for the following academic year. In other words, a student who wants to apply for student financial assistance for the 2011 - 2012 school year, can submit a FAFSA on January 1 of the year 2011. The earlier that the FAFSA is submitted the better for the student. The Orange Coast College Financial Aid Office cannot begin to assess a student’s financial eligibility for student financial aid until the Department of Education processes their FAFSA.

Cal Grant deadline is March 2 and the processing deadline for OCC is May 1.

Once processed, the student will receive an Electronic Student Aid Report (eSAR) from the United States Department of Education, which must be reviewed for accuracy. If the student has indicated OCC as one of the colleges the student is planning to or thinking about attending, the OCC Financial Aid Office will also receive an electronic copy of the student’s record called and ISIR. Once OCC receives an ISIR for a student from the United States Department of Education, we will send a notification to the student's OCC email address. This email will indicate which steps must be taken by the student to move their application through the review process and to receive student financial aid if qualified. Students who follow these steps and complete their financial aid files before March 2, are given priority for review and processing.  

Students must complete a new FAFSA each year if he or she desires to continue to be considered for student financial aid.

FAFSA on the Web is fully compatible with Macintosh. Mac users will have a slightly different experience than PC users. FAFSA on the Web performs best when you turn off the virtual memory on the Macintosh.

You can use the Tab key to move from question to question. However, you must use a mouse to access lists and buttons.

If you receive an edit message that instructs you to click the OK or Cancel buttons, you must select Yes for OK and No for Cancel.