The financial aid application process and required documentation are different for domestic and international students. 

Swarthmore considers you a domestic student if at least one of the following is true:

• You are a U.S. citizen, U.S. dual citizen, or a U.S. Permanent Resident in possession of a valid Green Card*
• You are eligible to complete and submit a valid FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)
• You are undocumented or in the Asylee/Refugee status application process, and you reside in the U.S., and are graduating from a U.S. high school.

* Individuals currently applying for permanent residency but who do not possess a Green Card at the time of application are not considered a domestic student.

If you don’t fall in any of the above categories, you are considered an international student.

Learn more about:

• Required materials - simplified
• Required materials - detailed
• Deadlines
• Divorced or separated parents
• Parents involved in a business or partnership
• Veterans
   

Required materials - simplified

VERY IMPORTANT TIP:  Monitor your financial aid checklist via the Admissions application status portal (prospective students) or MySwarthmore (current students).  Do not rely upon the checklist on IDOC; it will not be as accurate as your checklist on Swarthmore's portals.

• Swarthmore Financial Aid Certification Form [PDF]
• CSS Profile
  • Swarthmore's College Board code: 2821
• Upload to IDOC:  U.S. Federal Income Tax Returns - this includes personal returns, corporate returns, and/or partnership returns with all schedules and pages - the entire return as filed to the IRS. Also upload all W-2 statements and 1099 forms.
  • Please note that the College Board's IDOC service is experiencing processing delay times of around 10-12 days. Rest assured that as long as your documents are uploaded by the financial aid application deadlines they will be sent to Swarthmore and received by the Financial Aid Office. This will not negatively impact your application.
• FAFSA: This is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid from the United States federal government, including Federal Direct and Parent PLUS loans.
  • Swarthmore's FAFSA code: 003370
  • We understand you may have questions about the delayed release of the FAFSA for the 2025-2026 academic year. Swarthmore College’s Fall Early Decision deadline for admissions and financial aid is November 15, 2024, which is before the anticipated FAFSA release. The U.S. Department of Education has indicated a likely release date of December 1, 2024. As a reminder, the CSS Profile is available as of October 1, 2024, as normal. Fall Early Decision applicants must have their CSS Profile completed by the November 15 deadline. Both Winter Early and Regular Decision must have their CSS Profile completed by January 4, 2025. The deadline for the FAFSA to be submitted to Swarthmore is January 4, 2025.
• Additional forms, documentation, or written explanations may be required if requested by the Financial Aid Office (see detail below).

Students who are U.S. citizens (or dual citizens) and wish to apply only for federal loans (including Federal Direct loans and Parent PLUS loans) may file only the FAFSA. The CSS Profile form will not be required.

Required materials - detailed

• Swarthmore Financial Aid Certification Form [PDF]
  • Required for all students, this form must be uploaded to the IDOC service.
• CSS Profile: This is the application for institutional financial aid from Swarthmore College. You must submit the CSS Profile before using the IDOC service. Visit the College Board website for helpful tips and instructions on creating a parent account.
  • Swarthmore's College Board code: 2821
• Federal Tax returns:
  • For Parents: Upload all pages of the 2023 federal income tax return, as well as all W-2s and 1099 statements via the IDOC service.  We need you to upload your entire 2023 federal income tax return to IDOC; whatever you submitted to the IRS must be uploaded.  IDOC will separate and organize your submission accordingly. Also upload all W-2 statements and 1099 forms.
  • For Students: Upload only the 2023 federal income tax return via the IDOC service. W-2s are not required if you filed a federal income tax return. See below if you did not file a federal income tax return.
• FAFSA: This is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid from the United States federal government, including Federal Direct and Parent PLUS loans.
  • Please note: The IRS Direct Data Exchange, located in the Financial Information section of the FAFSA, will be available for the 2025–26 academic year filing period. This tool can be used to directly import the figures from your 2023 Federal Tax Return into your FAFSA. Eligibility to use this tool will depend upon how you filed your Federal Tax Return. If you are not eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval tool, please be sure to have a copy of 2023 Federal Tax Return(s) for you and/or your parent(s) to reference when completing the application. The FAFSA questions that ask for specific figures from the 2023 Federal Tax Return will guide you to enter the correct figure for each question.
  • Swarthmore's FAFSA code: 003370
  • We understand you may have questions about the delayed release of the FAFSA for the 2025-2026 academic year. Swarthmore College’s Fall Early Decision deadline for admissions and financial aid is November 15, 2024, which is before the anticipated FAFSA release. The U.S. Department of Education has indicated a likely release date of December 1, 2024. As a reminder, the CSS Profile will become available on October 1, 2024, as normal. Fall Early Decision applicants must have their CSS Profile completed by the November 15 deadline. Both Winter Early and Regular Decision must have their CSS Profile completed by January 4, 2025. Currently, the deadline for the FAFSA to be submitted to Swarthmore is January 4, 2025. We will be sure to notify our prospective students and families of any changes via our website and email.
  • You may view a short, helpful video for completing the FAFSA.
• Federal Verification Documentation: Swarthmore is required by the federal government to verify students for federal financial aid eligibility. To complete Federal Verification, students are required to upload the following documents via the IDOC service. The forms below will be updated shortly after the 2025-26 FAFSA becomes available.
  • Federal Verification Worksheet (Dependent Students)[PDF]
    • The verification worksheet must be completed after the FAFSA has been submitted.
  • Federal Verification Worksheet (Independent Students)[PDF]
    • The verification worksheet must be completed after the FAFSA has been submitted.
  • Federal Verification Student Non-Tax Filer statement[PDF]
    • This form is only required if you the student did not file a 2023 federal income tax return.
    • If the student worked, but was not required to file a 2023 federal income tax return, upload to IDOC the student's 2023 W-2 forms from all employers along with this form. 

Students who are U.S. citizens (or dual citizens) and wish to apply only for federal loans (including Federal Direct loans and Parent PLUS loans) may file only the FAFSA. The CSS Profile form will not be required.

Deadlines

​*Due to the delay of the FAFSA release, the deadline to submit the FAFSA will be January 4, 2025. The rest of your financial aid application materials are still due on the designated deadline outlined in the chart above. Please read here for additional FAFSA updates. 

If you submit your application for admission and/or your application for financial aid (CSS Profile) close to the Jan. 4 deadline, there may a delay in processing your information. During this time, you may be unable to view your financial aid checklist. Please account for this delay before contacting the College. For your convenience, a two-week grace period for your CSS Profile submission and supporting documentation is automatically factored into the Jan. 4 deadline.

Please be sure that your application submission is entirely complete.  It is recommended that both before and after you submit your application that you review your submission to be sure that all relevant income information has been provided, e.g., a complete US federal income tax return with all schedules, W-2s, 1099s, etc.  Any information that you provide on the CSS Profile and FAFSA should derive from actual and legitimate documentation.  Lastly, you should keep a readily accessible copy of your entire aid application submission for your reference.

Divorced or separated parents

If your parents are divorced or separated at the time of your financial aid application, or were never married, additional information is required in your financial aid application. Both households must submit the following information individually:

• CSS Profile form: Both parents (regardless of marital status) must submit the CSS Profile. The CSS Profile provides separate forms for each parent to complete and submit; parents are identified as “Parent A” and “Parent B.” Read instructions for how to create a parent account [PDF].
• 2023 Federal Tax Return: Submit all pages and schedules, as well as all W-2 and 1099 statements used to file tax returns. This information should be submitted from all parents (biological and any stepparents) via IDOC. 

Parents involved in a business or partnership

Students whose parents and/or stepparents (if applicable) have any interest or involvement in a partnership or corporation must submit additional documentation with their financial aid application. These documents are required (as applicable) from custodial parents, noncustodial parents, and stepparents who have any interest or involvement in a partnership or corporation.

• 2023 corporate and/or partnership federal income tax return(s)
  • Form 1065 - U.S. Partnership Tax Return - upload all pages and schedules to IDOC
  • Form 1120S - U.S. Corporate Tax Return - upload all pages and schedules to IDOC
  • Form 1120 - U.S. Corporate Tax Return - upload all pages and schedules to IDOC
• All Schedule K-1 forms
• Schedule E (both pages 1 and 2) from the U.S. federal income tax return (Form 1040)

Veterans

Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits are processed through the Registrar’s Office. Please review detailed instructions about how to apply for these benefits.