Apply for Financial Aid

Applying for financial aid is as easy as 1..2..3..4

What year financial aid application do I complete?

Each October 1st, the California Dream Act Application (CADAA) for undocumented students, and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for U.S. Citizens and eligible non-citizens, are available for the next school year. You will need to complete a new application for each academic year. Here is a summary of key dates for submitting the CADAA and FAFSA applications for the year you plan on attending:

2022-23 Award Year

Steps to Applying for Financial Aid

1. Complete your Financial Aid Application

Submit new or renewal CADAA or (FAFSA)

Students are encouraged to complete their financial aid applications by March 2nd of each year in order to maximize financial aid eligibility. If you miss this deadline, your application will still be reviewed for eligibility.

Be sure to include the Saddleback College school code:

FAFSA: 008918
Dream Act: 00891800

A new application is required for each academic year.

If you need assistance completing your financial aid application, please visit our office, or contact us via phone, email, or our Zoom Virtual Counter

How to get Financial Aid with FAFSA

How to get Financial Aid with the CA Dream Act

2. Monitor your student email or log into saddleback.verifymyfafsa.com

7-10 days after submitting your or CADAA or FAFSA application, the application will be received by the Financial Aid Office. The California College Promise Grant will be awarded upon receipt of your financial aid application.

If you have outstanding tasks to complete you will receive notification to your student email account. You can also check saddleback.verifymyfafsa.com for updates. Some students may be selected for verification by the Department of Education. If required, be sure to complete any outstanding task at saddleback.verifymyfafsa.com as soon as possible.

For assistance with activating your saddleback.verifymyfafsa.com account, please click here

If you are selected for verification, and required to provide additional documentation, please see below for additional support. You can also visit our office, call or email with questions.

Verifying you are a High School Graduate: https://bit.ly/verifyHSGrad
Filling out the Statement of Educational Purpose: https://bit.ly/StateEdPurpose
How many people are in your Household size: https://bit.ly/housesize

3. Review your Financial Aid Award Notice

Upon review of your financial aid application and all outstanding financial aid tasks have been submitted and reviewed, eligible students will receive a financial aid award notification via their student email.

4. Choose how you want to receive your financial aid

If eligible for additional aid aside from the California College Promise Grant, students should select a refund method for their financial aid disbursement as soon as possible. Please visit our Disbursement Options webpage for information on how to select a financial aid disbursement method.

Here are a few key things to remember when applying for financial aid:

To complete a FAFSA, you and your custodial parent (if applicable) will need a Federal Student Aid Id (link is external)

For more information on creating and using your FSA ID

Complete a new FAFSA/Dream Act Application for each academic year
March 2nd is the California priority deadline to complete your financial aid applications. If you fail to submit your CADAA/FAFSA application by the March 2nd deadline your file will still be reviewed for financial aid eligibility, including the California College Promise Grant.
The immigration information reported on your Dream Act/FAFSA Application is not shared with anyone.