Skip to content
Back to Financial aid basics

Financial aid basics

First-gen family guide

A warm starter guide for families making college funding decisions for the first time.

June 9, 20261 min read

Published:

If your family is doing this for the first time, the process can feel like a wall of unfamiliar acronyms and rushed decisions. This guide is a plain-English starting point for understanding the order of operations.

Use it to anchor the family conversation, write down what is still unknown, and then move into the CollegeLens tools that answer each question one by one.

Want this in your inbox?

The Family Money Talk Guide is the next read. Sent free.

We will not share or sell your email. Unsubscribe anytime.

Published:

Have a question about financial aid basics for other families? Discuss this in the SAI / Need Analysis tag

Next step

Estimate your SAI before the FAFSA opens

We walk you through the same questions the FAFSA asks and show what your Student Aid Index is likely to be.

Estimate my SAI →

Takes 2 minutes. No SSN. No household income.

Previous

Federal borrowing limits guide

Next

Florida state aid guide

More in Financial aid basics