Online: Get FAFSA Help

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the primary form used by federal, state, and financial assistance programs to determine your eligibility for grants, loans, federal work-study, and scholarships. You have to fill out a new FAFSA every year. Complete your FAFSA as soon as possible, as funding can be limited. If you do not fill out the FAFSA, you risk losing out on money that you might be eligible for.

Let a financial aid expert from the Central Piedmont Financial Aid office guide you through the process at a FAFSA Workshop — continue reading for links to register for either a group or individual session, as well as to learn what to bring to your workshop.

Before coming to your workshop, create your FSA ID and keep reading for other things to bring to your workshop.

FAFSA Workshop Sessions

Our college financial aid workshop offers virtual group and individual sessions to give you information about how to complete the FAFSA.

  • Virtual Group FAFSA Workshops
    • Available for one-hour slots:

      • Mondays and Wednesdays, 2–3 p.m. or 3:30–4:30 p.m.
      • Thursdays and Fridays, 9–10 a.m. or 10–11 a.m. 
    • Limit 10 students per session

    All sessions are held online via Google Meet. We will send you more information on how to access the meeting once you schedule your session.

    Register for a group FAFSA workshop.

  • Virtual One-on-One FAFSA Help Appointments

    In a one-on-one virtual FAFSA help appointment, you are the only person in the meeting with the financial aid expert.

    • Available Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. 
    • 30 minutes long

    To schedule a one-on-one FAFSA help appointment, please log into Watermark using your Central Piedmont username and password.

    1. Select the blue Schedule a Meeting button.
    2. Select a location: Virtual.
    3. Select who you want to meet with: select Tasha Moore.
    4. What would you like to discuss: select Financial Aid.
    5. Under "What's on your mind?", indicate that you would like to participate in a FAFSA Workshop and when you plan to start attending Central Piedmont. Also include any additional information you would like to provide
    6. Select the blue Pick a Time button (if no time is available, select another day)

    You will automatically receive the Google Meet link to access your appointment via your student email account. If you need to cancel, log into your Watermark account again and cancel the appointment directly from there.

    If you are unable to log into Watermark, please email our Student Success Navigators for assistance.

  • What to Bring to Your Workshop

    Create your FSA ID before your workshop. Bring the following information with you to the workshop:

    • your FSA ID to sign electronically
    • Social Security number
    • Alien Registration number (if you are not a U.S. citizen)
    • 2021 federal income tax returns, W-2s, and other records of money earned. (You may be able to electronically transfer your federal tax return information into your FAFSA using the IRS data retrieval tool.)
    • bank statements and records of investments (if applicable)
    • records of untaxed income (if applicable)

    If you are a dependent student, your parent will also need to complete a portion of the FAFSA with this information.

FAFSA Simplification Act and Changes to the 2024-25 FAFSA

FAFSA is changing for the 2024-25 academic year. The good news is that the FAFSA itself will be simplified. The application will be pared down from 108 questions to just 36, and is planned to open December 2023, instead of October as in past years. 

Visit How FAFSA Changes Will Impact Families in 2024-25 to learn more.