Financial Aid for New Students

Step 1. Complete the 2025-2026 FAFSA.

• The new year's FAFSA will open to all students on or before December 1. 
• This FAFSA asks for 2023 income values. If your parent's 2025 income will be significantly less than  2023, you might benefit from having them complete the Income Change Form.
• The FAFSA is  not required if you are applying   only for scholarships
• Application Tips 
• Completing the FAFSA (video)
• FAQs
• Your contributor doesn't have a social security number  (guidance as of April 4, 2024)

Step 2. Optional: complete the CSS Profile before the FAFSA is available in December

If  you are applying or have applied for admission to the College under " Early Decision I" or " Early Action I" and plan to complete the FAFSA in December, we can prepare an estimated financial aid offer if you complete the College Board’s Financial Aid Profile (CSS Profile). The CSS Profile is now open.  Our school code is 1392. Click here to learn more and complete the CSS Profile.  If your family's adjusted gross income (AGI) in 2023 was under $100,000, the Profile is free.

Step 3. Optional: complete " Special Circumstance Forms" if applicable, and recommended by our office

If you believe the FAFSA does not give an complete, accurate picture of your family's financial situation (large change in income, sibling in college, large healthcare costs, etc.),  review the "special circumstance forms" and submit all that are applicable.  Please contact our office before submitting a form, to determine if it may affect your financial aid eligibility. 

Step 4. Complete other required forms , if directed to do so. 

• Details of additional documents may be included within your Award Letter, your  student portal, or  my.lakeforest.edu.

Step 1. Complete the 2025-2026 FAFSA, if you haven't already done so.

• The FAFSA is not required if you are applying  only for scholarships
• Application Tips 
• If your parent's current income is significantly less than 2023, contact us about completing the Income Change Form.
• If your contributor doesn't have a social security number  

Step 2.  Complete optional "Special Circumstance Form(s)."  We recommend contacting our office with general details before completing any form. These allow you to report things that are not collected on the FAFSA: large income changes vs. 2023, large healthcare costs in 2025, private K-12 tuition or college tuition for a sibling during the 2025-26 academic year, large unusual expenses, etc. Be sure to choose the version for the correct academic year. 

Step 3. Submit additional documentation if requested. We will notify you by email or within the award letter if additional information is needed. Your prompt response will be appreciated. 

We strongly recommend that your FAFSA (and any "special circumstance forms") be submitted by December 1. Later applications are accepted.

Once you have been admitted and submitted all financial aid documents, we will prepare an “award letter” showing the aid you qualify to receive. Details are on your Admissions Portal.

Please let us know if you do not wish to receive text messages related to financial aid.

How to Read Your Award Letter provides you with descriptions of the aid we have offered, financial aid policies related to that aid, and other important information.

We may require additional information from you. If so, we may use email or an occasional text message to notify you. The most common item is the V-1 Verification Worksheet for "dependent students" Other common forms we may have asked for are found here.

Compare Award Letters

Not all colleges and universities award letters are presented in the same way. This makes an “apples to apples” comparison more difficult. Make sure you clearly identify “free funds” (grants and scholarships) and loan funds. You might have two offers from two schools, each totaling $40,000, but one school is offering $30,000 in scholarship/grant funds and $10,000 in loans, while the second offer has $34,500 in scholarship/grant funds but $5500 in loans.

Take time to see which offer truly makes the most sense for you/your family, based on the resources you have available. Create a spreadsheet of your own, or use a tool such as those created online by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or FinAid.org the College Board’s comparison tool.

When using these tools, consider including only “direct costs” of tuition, fees, room and board to show differences in what you will owe each college. Consider other “real costs” like books, travel and personal expenses separately, based on your best estimate or those provided by each college/university.

After the FAFSA has been processed…

You will receive an email notification from the federal student aid processing center with a link to your "FAFSA Submission Summary" [formerly called the Student Aid Report (SAR)]." Review it carefully as it will tell you if there are any issues to follow up on. Feel free to contact the Office of Financial Aid if you have any questions.

Accepting Your Financial Aid

If you decide to enroll at Lake Forest, you will need to pay a non-refundable deposit to “save your spot” in the class. Then, throughout the late spring and early summer months, you will complete numerous steps to prepare for your arrival in August and the beginning of the school year.

About Tax Returns

Unless we request them, do not send copies of your tax return.

Verification

A small percentage of students submitting the FAFSA need to provide additional documentation as part of the “verification” process. The Verification Worksheet can be emailed as a .pdf or .jpg, or faxed to our office. Below are Worksheets for the 2023-2024 academic year. Contact us if you cannot find what you need.

• V-1  for dependent students
• V-1 for independent students  (please contact our office if selected)
• V-4      
• V-5
  

The Parent Portal at Lake Forest College gives families online access to a student's information so that they are kept informed of their activities at the College. But in order to gain access, they need to be enrolled in the Lake Forest College Parent Portal.

In order to establish permission, your student should log into my.lakeforest and click on the ‘My Contacts’ tab. Provide the necessary information for each person(s) to be given access to your information.

The Parent Portal enables students to share with parents (or other parties) the information they want online while complying with the requirements of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The permission that is granted can be cancelled or changed at any time by the student.

In the Parent Portal:

• Students can share information with parents, including grades and GPA projection, class schedules, student account balances as well as financial aid awards and any outstanding documentation that may be required.
• The College can share information with parents or guardians quickly and easily.
• Parents can view information about a single student or multiple students in one convenient location.

Questions? Contact Dean of Students Office - Cindy Orr, orr@lakeforest.edu or 847-735-5203.

An FSA ID (Federal Student Aid ID) is an “electronic signature” required of all students and parents when applying for need-based financial aid. It is used to sign your financial aid application (FAFSA) and your student loan application, and to access your FAFSA throughout the year…and in future years! 

Beginning December 2023, a social security number will not be required to obtain an FSA ID.

Apply for an FSA ID or get help with your ID

Important Note: Separate FSA IDs are needed for the student and at least one parent. 

Need to signing a FAFSA after it was processed? Choose the appropriate link:   student     parent

To receive FSA funds, a student must be qualified to study at the post-secondary level. A student qualifies if he or she:

• has a high school diploma (this can be from a foreign school if it is equivalent to a U.S. high school diploma);
• has the recognized equivalent of a high school diploma, such as a general educational development or GED certificate, or students who are beyond the age of compulsory attendance within that state and pass a test that demonstrates the student’s ability-to-benefit (ATB) from the educational program in which the student is enrolled.
• has completed homeschooling at the secondary level as defined by state law; or
• has completed secondary school education in a home-school setting which qualifies for an exemption from compulsory attendance requirements under state law, if state law does not require a home-schooled student to receive a credential for their education.

For more information on any of the bulleted information above, click here.