A. You can apply for financial aid beginning January 1st of your child's senior year. At that time, fill out a FAFSA form online at www.fafsa.ed.gov . FAFSA is the form that ALL colleges will require to receive any type of need-based aid. Need-based aid is determined strictly by the family's annual income while merit-based aid is determined by the student's grades and SAT scores. To receive an estimate of how much aid your child will receive, you can go onto www.fafsa4caster.com and complete the survey