Apply for Financial Aid
There are many federal and state student financial aid programs that can help you in paying for college expenses. If you think your family has too much money to qualify, we still recommend that you apply for financial aid. You may not receive need-based aid, but you may qualify for the California Middle Class Scholarship or low interest rate student loans. View Types of Aid for more information.
Complete the FAFSA or CADAA Each Year You Need Aid
For each academic year you will need financial aid, you must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or California Dream Act Application (CADAA). There is no cost to apply for financial aid using the FAFSA or CADAA, and it is the starting point for both federal and state aid.
The 2025-26 FAFSA and 2025-26 CADAA are now open! Submit your 2025-26 FAFSA or CADAA by the priority deadline of March 3, 2025.
Students should only complete one of the applications (not both), according to the citizenship requirements below:
You are eligible to complete the FAFSA if you are a:
- U.S. Citizen
- Permanent Resident
- Eligible non-citizen
- T Visa holder
You are eligible to complete the CADAA if you are:
- Undocumented
- U Visa holders
- Have Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
- Meet the non-resident exemption requirements under AB 540
Our school code is: 001146. Be sure to list Chico State when completing the FAFSA or CADAA.
If you haven't already filed your FAFSA or CADAA for the current 2024-25 school year, you can still do so even though the priority deadline has passed (the 2024-25 priority deadline for Cal Grant and Middle Class Scholarship was May 2, 2024). If you missed the March 2 deadline due to issues with submitting your FAFSA or CADAA, you may be able to appeal for Cal Grant Consideration. If you are still having trouble submitting your 2024-25 FAFSA, please reach out to us.
For FAFSA Applicants: Review your FAFSA Submission Summary(opens in new window). After the federal processor receives and processes your FAFSA, they will email you a FAFSA Submission Summary that lists each question and your response from the FAFSA. It will also notifies you if there was an error in processing your FAFSA. Review your FAFSA Submission Summary right away for accuracy. Follow the instructions if you need to make corrections.
Visit our FAFSA video web page or our California Programs video web page for more videos.
New and Transfer Students:
March 3 is the GPA verification deadline for new Cal Grant applicants. If you are new to Chico State, and/or have fewer than 24 college units, contact your previous school (high school or former college) to have your GPA verification sent to CSAC (see below). GPA verifications will be sent automatically for Chico State continuing students with 24 or more units. For additional information, visit our Cal Grants page.