The FAFSA is a government document that is used to decide your eligibility for various forms of financial aid. Not only does the government use your FAFSA to determine whether or not you qualify for various federal loan programs, but your educational institution will also use your FAFSA information to help determine whether you qualify for various private scholarships or grants. While FAFSA scholarships are not the only type of scholarship out there, they definitely constitute the bulk of what you'll be getting out of your college in terms of financial assistance. In fact, you could say that the FAFSA is one of the most important forms you'll fill out on your way to college. The way that FAFSA scholarships differentiate from regular scholarships is pretty simple. FAFSA scholarships go off of information relating to your income, your family's income, and how much money you are expected to contribute to your education. On the other hand, regular scholarships are mostly based around your educational background and what specific major you are favoring. The benefit to the FAFSA scholarships is that you don't have to be a perfect student to get them, and they are more often the scholarship of choice for non-traditional students. On the other hand, there is a lot more variety when it comes to traditional scholarships, so you should keep that in mind as well. Aside from any scholarships available to you, the FAFSA will also help you determine how much money you can borrow and whether your family qualifies for specialty loan programs or not. This can be very helpful for students that are attending a more expensive school and cannot find the necessary scholarships to get a free ride. These options include a loan program whereby parents can borrow on behalf of their child at better rates than the student would receive. While the FAFSA is an important document to fill out before going to college, it is not an overtly complex one. Most financial aid offices will be happy to help you fill out the form to make sure you don't miss anything, and it's easy to figure it out on your own.