You can view a personalized list of requirements at any time in the Yale Hub.
Please check your requirements in Yale Hub regularly to ensure that your application is complete. The Office of Financial Aid may add new requirements if we find during processing that documents are missing or additional information is needed.
Deadlines
U.S. citizens and permanent residents
International citizens (including Canadians)
Announcements
Undocumented students living in the U.S., including those with DACA status, should follow the application instructions for international citizens.
U.S. citizens living abroad and international citizens living in the U.S. without permanent-resident status should contact Undergraduate Financial Aid if they have questions about what tax/income documents to submit.
Deadline
Priority deadline for continuing students: April 1, 2025
If you miss the priority deadline, your award will not be reduced because of late submission. Please submit all documents as soon as possible; the more quickly you complete your file, the sooner you will receive your financial aid award.
U.S. citizens and permanent residents
Please note the deadline listed above. Additional related documents may be required based on your family’s circumstances. If such documents are needed, they will be listed among your application requirements in the Yale Hub.
When submitting forms or documents to IDOC, please include the student’s name and date of birth or SID on each page.
Yale's FAFSA code is 001426
Date available: December 1, 2024
What it is:
A free online application used to determine U.S. citizens' and permanent residents' eligibility for federal and state grants and for the low-interest Federal Direct Loan program.
How to submit it:
Fill out the application on the FAFSA Web site using Yale's FAFSA code: 001426.
The Federal Student Aid office provides helpful short videos on the following topics:
You can also visit the FAFSA Help page for FAQs and contact information.
Tax information entered in the FAFSA may also need to be verified via IRS Direct Data Exchange or an IRS Tax Return Transcript.
Yale's CSS College Code is 3987
Date available: October 1
What it is:
The CSS Profile collects information used by some colleges and scholarship programs to award institutional aid funds. Institutional aid is a substantial part of the financial aid package for most Yale College students, and the Profile, along with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for U.S. citizens and permanent residents, is used to determine eligibility for Yale scholarships. The CSS Profile provides more detailed information than the FAFSA and is required for all students applying for a Yale scholarship.
The CSS Profile has a submission fee, but fee waivers are available for eligible first-year students to keep this cost from being a barrier to financial aid. More information about our CSS Profile fee waiver process will begin November for Early Action, February for Regular Decision, and mid March for Eli Whitney.
For more information about the Profile, see the College Board's CSS Profile website.
How to submit it:
• Apply on line on the College Board's website using Yale's CSS College Code: 3987.
• You should gather as much personal financial information as possible before beginning.
• If applicable, families should complete all required CSS supplements as well.
Please note:
• Yale receives your profile data electronically from CSS, so do not send copies or printouts of your application to Yale.
• The CSS Profile provides a fee waiver for first-year U.S. applicants from low-income families with few assets. If you qualify for the waiver, it is processed automatically based on the financial information you enter in the Profile, and no fee will be charged.
What it is:
As part of the 2025–2026 aid application, Yale requires copies of 2023 tax returns or, if no tax return was filed, equivalent documentation of 2023 income.
- If your parents are divorced, separated, or were never married, you must submit copies of both your custodial and noncustodial parents' 2023 tax returns or income documentation.
- Families with a business or farm must also include the 2023 business or farm tax return(s).
How to submit it:
- Use the College Board's IDOC Service to submit signed copies of 2023 federal tax returns, including all schedules and W-2s. For more information about the IDOC service, see IDOC under Financial Aid Terminology or visit the College Board website.
- Students and parents who submitted an amended 2023 federal tax return must also submit a signed copy of the amended return.
- Parents and students who did not file a tax return must submit a Tax Nonfiling Statement instead. Please visit our Forms page for the appropriate nonfiling statement.
Please note that parents and students will need to submit updated tax documents in future years.
| For aid year | Tax return required |
|---|---|
| 2024–2025 | 2022 tax year |
| 2025–2026 | 2023 tax year |
| 2026–2027 | 2024 tax year |
|
2027-2028 |
2025 tax year |
Please note:
Yale believes that both parents have a responsibility to contribute toward their child's college education, even if they are divorced or separated. For this reason, we require financial information for both parents to generate a financial aid award. The Yale financial aid award letter lists one total Parent Share, which a student's parents may determine how best to meet.
We understand that some families may have extenuating circumstances that would require an exception. Students may petition to have their noncustodial parent's financial information waived in such cases by submitting a Noncustodial Parent Waiver Petition form with supporting documentation. Submission of a waiver petition form does not guarantee that the noncustodial parent's requirements will be waived.
What it is:
IRS verification of parents' tax information or tax-nonfiling status and of students' tax information is required by the U.S. government for all U.S. citizens and permanent residents to check a student's eligibility for federal aid. There are three different ways to complete the verification requirement:
- Use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, available in the FAFSA for eligible tax filers.
If you can, we strongly encourage you to use this tool that allows parents and students to provide consent to the IRS to upload data from their federal tax returns at the time they complete the FAFSA. You can find instructions in FAFSA Help.
You will not be able to use IRS Data Retrieval and must complete the verification requirement using method 2 or 3 below if any of the following applies:- You are married but filed separate returns for the 2023 tax year
- Your marital status changed after the end of the tax year on December 31, 2023
- You did not file a 2023 tax return
- Submit an IRS Tax Return Transcript. If you filed a 2023 tax return but are unable to use IRS Data Retrieval, you must request a copy of your Tax Return Transcript from the IRS and submit the transcript as part of your financial aid application materials. For more information on IRS transcripts, see the IRS Transcript Types Web page.
If you filed an amended 2023 tax return, please submit signed copies of both the original and amended returns. For more information on IRS transcripts, see the IRS Transcript Types Web page.
- If you are the parent of a dependent student or are an independent student, submit an IRS Verification of Nonfiling Letter. The federal government now requires independent students and the parents of dependent students who filed a FAFSA to have the IRS verify if no tax return was filed. If you fit one of those categories and did not file a 2023 tax return, you must request a Verification of Nonfiling Letter from the IRS and submit the nonfiling letter as part of your financial aid application materials. For more information on nonfiling letters, see the IRS Transcript Types Web page.
Dependent students who did not file a 2023 tax return do NOT have to submit an IRS Verification of Nonfiling Letter.
How to submit it:
- If you filed a 2023 tax return and are eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, please complete Data Retrieval in the FAFSA. You can find instructions in FAFSA Help.
Note: You must submit IRS Data Retrieval in addition to submitting copies of your 2023 tax returns to IDOC.
- If you filed a 2023 tax return but are ineligible to use IRS Data Retrieval, request a 2023 Tax Return Transcript on the IRS Web site or by submitting Form 4506-T to the IRS. 2
Note: You must submit a 2023 Tax Return Transcript in addition to submitting copies of your 2023 tax returns to IDOC.
- If you are the parent of a dependent student, or are an independent student, who did not file a 2023 tax return, request to have a Verification of Nonfiling Letter mailed directly to you. The letter provides confirmation that the IRS has no record of your filing a tax return for the year requested. You can order a Verification of Nonfiling Letter on the IRS Web site or by submitting Form 4506-T to the IRS.
Note: You must submit a 2023 Verification of Nonfiling Letter in addition to submitting a Tax Nonfiling Statement if you are the parent of a dependent student or are an independent student.
Also note: Undergraduate Financial Aid does not have control over problems that arise with IRS transcript requests. Please contact the IRS if you are experiencing difficulties.
If you will be receiving an outside scholarship, please submit an Outside Scholarship/Resource Information form.
International citizens (including Canadians)
International citizens are NOT required to submit a new financial aid application after their first year. However, students may choose to submit a new financial aid application to have their aid eligibility reevaluated if their family's financial circumstances have changed. To request such a reevaluation, students should note the application deadline and submit the documents listed below.
When submitting forms or documents to IDOC, please include the student’s name and date of birth or SID on each page.
Yale's CSS College Code is 3987
Date available: October 1
What it is:
The CSS Profile collects information used by some colleges and scholarship programs to award institutional aid funds. Institutional aid is a substantial part of the financial aid package for most Yale College students, and the Profile, along with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for U.S. citizens and permanent residents, is used to determine eligibility for Yale scholarships. The CSS Profile provides more detailed information than the FAFSA and is required for all students applying for a Yale scholarship.
The CSS Profile has a submission fee, but fee waivers are available for eligible first-year students to keep this cost from being a barrier to financial aid. More information about our CSS Profile fee waiver process will begin November for Early Action, February for Regular Decision, and mid March for Eli Whitney.
For more information about the Profile, see the College Board's CSS Profile website.
How to submit it:
At Yale we ask our international financial aid applicants to use the online College Board CSS Profile if they are able to do so. This option provides Yale with more accurate and complete financial information, a consistent calculation of ability to pay, and quicker access to financial information without the delay of mailing, sorting, and imaging required for our systems. For those students who are not able to use the online CSS Profile (because of lack of internet access, lack of credit card access, or other financial difficulties), please contact our office.
• Apply on line on the College Board's website using Yale's CSS College Code: 3987.
• You should gather as much personal financial information as possible before beginning.
• If applicable, families should complete all required CSS supplements as well.
Please note:
Yale receives your profile data electronically from CSS, so do not send copies or printouts of your application to Yale.
What it is:
As part of the 2025–2026 aid application, Yale requires copies of 2023 tax returns or, if no tax return was filed, equivalent documentation of 2023 income.
- If your parents are divorced, separated, or were never married, you must submit copies of both your custodial and noncustodial parents' 2023 tax returns or income documentation.
- Families with a business or farm must also include the 2023 business or farm tax return(s).
How to submit it:
- Use the College Board's IDOC Service to submit signed copies of 2023 tax returns and/or income documents. For more information about this service, see IDOC under Financial Aid Terminology or visit the College Board website.
- If the tax returns are in a language other than English, please also provide an English translation of the text. The translation does NOT have to be an official document, and numbers do NOT need to be converted to U.S. currency.
- Parents who do not file a tax return should submit documentation of their income, such as a letter from their employer.
Please note:
Yale believes that both parents have a responsibility to contribute toward their child's college education, even if they are divorced or separated. For this reason, we require financial information for both parents to generate a financial aid award. The Yale financial aid award letter lists one total Parent Share, which a student's parents may determine how best to meet.
We understand that some families may have extenuating circumstances that would require an exception. Students may petition to have their noncustodial parent's financial information waived in such cases by submitting a Noncustodial Parent Waiver Petition form with supporting documentation. Submission of a waiver petition form does not guarantee that the noncustodial parent's requirements will be waived.
If you will be receiving an outside scholarship please submit an Outside Scholarship/Resource Information form.