Can't find cosmetology school on FAFSA school search - where to enter school code?

just click on the 'Add School Code Manually' button on the school selection page. its kinda hidden at the botom of the page below the search results

There's actually a very specific process for adding schools that don't appear in the search results. After you search once and don't find your school, look for a small link that says "Can't find your school?" near the bottom of the search results. Click that, and you'll get a field where you can directly enter the 6-character federal school code (which should start with E, G, or 0). If you're still having trouble, make sure you're on the "School Selection" step of the FAFSA form. You can add up to 10 schools total, and the cosmetology school code should work just like any university code. Also double-check that code with the financial aid office - sometimes acceptance letters can have typos.

To answer your question about aid types - yes, accredited cosmetology schools that participate in federal student aid programs qualify for the same basic aid types as other institutions. Your son may be eligible for Pell Grants (which don't need to be repaid) and federal student loans depending on your financial information and his dependency status. However, there's an important distinction for shorter programs: the cost of attendance and maximum aid amounts may be calculated differently for programs under 1 year like your son's 10-month program. The school should provide a clear breakdown of how his aid package will be structured once your FAFSA is processed and you receive your SAI (Student Aid Index) score.

i had the same problem when i was applying last month!! the school search function is SO BAD and constantly glitches. try clearing your cache and cookies, it worked for me. also sometimes the school code has a zero at the front not the letter O, that messed me up too

If you're still having trouble adding the school, I'd recommend trying to contact Federal Student Aid directly. Their phone lines are notoriously backed up, but I recently used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual FSA agent in about 15 minutes instead of waiting for hours. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. The agent I spoke with was able to add a school to my FAFSA application while on the phone, which saved me a ton of stress when I was having similar issues with a trade school not showing up.

make sure ur son is still eligible for pell grants with cosmetology school. my cousin did hair school and they told her she qualified but then later she found out clock hour programs calculate different than credit hours and she got way less money than expected!!!

One more thing to be aware of - when you add the cosmetology school to your FAFSA, make sure you list it as one of his top choices (the order does matter for some state aid programs). Also, after you submit the FAFSA, have your son check with the school's financial aid office to confirm they received his information. Sometimes there can be a delay of 3-5 business days before schools can access newly submitted FAFSA data, but it's good practice to verify everything went through correctly, especially for schools that don't appear in the main search.

The whole FAFSA system is DELIBERATELY COMPLICATED to discourage people from getting aid!!! My daughter's cosmetology school told us one thing about her eligibility for grants and then the actual amount was HALF what they promised once the SAI came back. They kept saying "oh the federal formula changed" but they knew all along!!! Now she has loans she never wanted. Make sure you get EVERYTHING in writing from the school!!

Update: We got everything sorted out! Found the manual entry option and added the school code. My son talked to the financial aid office at Bellamy today and they explained that because it's a clock-hour program, they calculate Pell Grants differently, but he should still qualify based on our financial situation. They're sending us a pre-award letter with estimates next week. Thanks everyone for your help!