FAQs: Finding and Using Federal School Codes
- What is a Federal School Code?
- Where do I use the Federal School Code?
- Why do I need a Federal School Code?
- If I want to apply to more than one school, should I submit more than one FAFSA?
- If I want to apply to more than ten schools, what do I do?
- The Federal School Code Search is unable to identify my school. What should I do?
- What if I’m attending (or planning to attend) a foreign school that does not have a Federal School Code, but is eligible to receive Title IV aid?
What is a Federal School Code?
Federal Student Aid assigns a number called a Federal School Code to each school that is qualified to disburse federal student aid. A Federal School Code is always six characters, beginning with 0 (zero), G, B, or E and ending with a five-digit number. For example, 003223 is the code for the University of Oregon.
Where do I use the Federal School Code?
You use Federal School Code(s) on the FAFSA.
Why do I need a Federal School Code?
If you want to apply for federal student aid using FAFSA on the Web, you must enter at least one Federal School Code in the “School” section of the application. The schools you list on your FAFSA will have electronic access to your application information, which they will need in order to calculate your financial aid package.
If I want to apply to more than one school, should I submit more than one FAFSA?
No, you can list up to ten schools on your FAFSA.
If I want to apply to more than ten schools, what do I do?
You can only select up to ten schools at a time to receive your application information. Once you receive the processed Student Aid Report (SAR), you can:
- Select Add or Delete a School Code and add more schools by submitting a correction to your FAFSA information.
TIP: If you make further corrections after adding the new schools, the schools you removed from the original list will not receive these corrections.
You can also contact Customer Service for assistance.
The Federal School Code Search is unable to identify my school. What should I do?
If you are unable to find a school using the Federal School Code Search, you should contact that school and ask them for their Federal School Code.
If the school is not eligible to administer federal student aid, you will not find the school in the Federal School Code Search.
TIP: When using the Federal School Code Search:
- Type in “COL” if the school has “College” in its name or “UNI” if the school has “University” in its name.
- Select the state (or in some cases “Foreign Country”) and click “Next”.
- A list of all the schools in the chosen state or foreign countries that have either “College” or “University” in their names will appear.
- You may also leave the school name blank and do a search of all schools for a given city or state. Do not use the college’s initials as a keyword in the search.
What if I’m attending (or planning to attend) a foreign school that does not have a Federal School Code, but is eligible to receive Title IV aid?
- Enter the code for a U.S.- based school that you would not mind sending your information to. (This is because you must enter at least one code on the FAFSA.)
- When you receive your Student Aid Report (SAR) you will need to send it, or a copy of it, to the foreign school’s financial aid officer responsible for handling financial aid for American students.
- Follow any additional instructions from the financial aid office at the school.
If you are unsure if your school is eligible to receive Title IV aid, contact your school’s financial aid office.
