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Application for financial aid is separate from the application for admission. University of Washington Tacoma students use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the Washington Application for State Financial Aid (WASFA) to apply for financial aid. Your financial aid application should be submitted before the priority filing date for priority consideration for our aid programs. You can still submit your FAFSA after the priority filing date, but you will not be considered for priority aid.
All applicants and contributors must have an FSA ID to provide their consent and information for the FAFSA. Go to https://studentaid.gov/ to apply for a Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID from the U.S. Department of Education. After setting up your FSA ID, log-in to complete and submit your FAFSA (and signature page if directed to do so). The University of Washington school code is 003798 and is used for all UW campuses.
To qualify for financial aid, you must be admitted to the UW at our Seattle, Bothell or Tacoma campuses in an approved degree or certificate program and meet minimum enrollment requirements. Most non-matriculated students are not eligible for student aid) and meet minimum enrollment requirements.
Contributor without a SSN? Download the below instructions:
You've been admitted! What happens next?
Once your FAFSA has been processed and our office receives your application, a confirmation email is sent to you acknowledging we received your FAFSA. If additional information is required we will let you know by e-mail. We understand student and family finances change over time. If you or your contributors have experienced changes to your income, you may complete a revision request form for the appropriate academic year.
WASFA applications reach UW within approximately 24 hours after completion. WASFA Applicants will also receive a confirmation email acknowledging we received your WASFA.
You're admitted; now what?
Frequently Asked Questions
We are aware of the issues with accessing the FAFSA application for students whose family members include a parent or spouse without a Social Security Number (SSN). In the past applicants have been able to complete the FAFSA by entering all zeros for the SSN for that family member. With the changes to the 2024-2025 FAFSA all contributors are now required to create an FSA ID, including contributors without an SSN. Unfortunately, this process is not working properly, and families have not been able to access the 2024-2025 FAFSA.
The Department of Education is working on resolving this. We ask that students wait to file the FAFSA until the process has been fixed, and students can file the FAFSA electronically. Paper FAFSAs will not be processed until after the electronic submissions are processed, and therefore we encourage students to complete the FAFSA online.
We will continue to monitor this situation, and we will let you know when the Department of Education has resolved the issue. We will adjust our internal process to accommodate students who experienced difficulties completing the FAFSA by Feb. 28.
Multiple Schools
You may enter multiple school codes on your FAFSA application.
If you are applying to more schools, you can make corrections to your FAFSA once it is processed, and add the additional schools. The new schools will replace one or more of the previous school codes listed. Schools have different priority filing dates so keep those dates in mind when determining which order to add schools to your FAFSA.
Transfer Students
If you are transferring to UW Tacoma after the academic year has begun, and you have already submitted your FAFSA, log back into your FAFSA and add the UW school code 003798 (same code for all UW campuses) to your list of schools.
Confirmation from the FAFSA Federal Processor System (FAFSA Applicants)
You will receive an email to access the FAFSA Submission Summary information after you FAFSA is processed. If required, you must make corrections to the application online.
WASFA Applications will not receive a confirmation and must check their application for completion approximately 10 days after submitted.
OSFA will send you a confirmation email when your FAFSA/WASFA is received. If we require additional information or documents, we will email you. Contact our office if you intend to make changes - do not make changes to your application unless we ask you to do so.
Award Notices
We begin sending award notifications in the spring and continue through the summer. Generally, this will be sent to you electronically, so please regularly check your UW email and MyUW account. The award notice shows you the types and amounts of aid you are eligible to receive. Your financial aid awards may be an estimate until we complete the review of your FAFSA information. Please accept your aid as directed, even if you are requesting or expecting changes. Unaccepted awards are subject to cancellation.
Review Process
You may be asked at any time to submit documents or other information to be used in the review of your application. Please respond to any request as soon as possible; review of your file may be delayed until all requested documents are submitted. The volume of material to be reviewed is substantial, and we appreciate your patience during the review process.
Key Dates and Deadlines
For deadlines and disbursement dates related to Financial Aid, please view our Key Dates and Deadlines information page.
