January Spotlight

The 2025-2026 FAFSA is now available and it’s time for students and their parents to complete the form. The FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is your first step in applying for financial assistance to help with the costs of attending a college, university or career technology center.

Go to FAFSA.gov to get started on your application. View our Finish the FAFSA in Five Steps (also available in Spanish), for assistance with the FAFSA.

Don’t forget! FAFSA completion is now a graduation requirement for all 2024-2025 Oklahoma public high school seniors. Good luck!

The FAFSA might seem a little challenging, but it’s really not difficult if you’re prepared. Before you get started, try to gather all the documentation you’ll need to accurately complete your FAFSA.

We’ve made our own version of this list, Items Needed to Complete a FAFSA. You’ll be required to have your tax documents, Social Security card, bank statements, and more.

We hope you’ll find this checklist useful to you as you prepare to complete the FAFSA.

With FAFSA completion a new graduation requirement in Oklahoma, many high schools have signed up to use the FAFSA Data Portal (OK-FDP). The FAFSA Data Portal is a free online tool to help counselors better assist their high school seniors to successfully complete the FAFSA. The OK-FDP allows counselors, principals and mentors to provide more targeted assistance to their students, which is instrumental in increasing FAFSA completion rates.

The FAFSA Data Portal allows you to view your seniors’ FAFSA completion status, thus allowing you to keep track of their  progress. You will see something similar to this chart:

To enroll your school in this service, please visit https://okhighered.org/ok-fdp/. If you have any questions, please reach out to Kelli Kelnar at kkelnar@ocap.org.

With the FAFSA now available, many students and families will be working to complete and submit their application in order to apply for financial assistance for college. Check out all of our helpful publications if you need any assistance.

If you have any questions or require assistance, please feel free to contact Federal Student Aid at 1-800-433-3243. You may also email our team at UCanGo2 at UCanGo2@ocap.org.

The UCanGo2 Outreach Team is available to provide free presentations or Zoom webinars at your school, library or community center on college planning and the FAFSA! We can also share information about Oklahoma’s Promise, finding scholarships, and creating a StudentAid.gov account. To request a workshop: