HARRISBURG —The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) will co-host several free financial aid webinars during September to guide college-bound students and their families in affording their dream of higher education.

Filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) online is the first step to determine if you qualify for a Federal Pell Grant, PA State Grant, scholarships, institutional awards and federal student loans. The 2026-27 FAFSA will be available Oct. 1, and students are encouraged to complete and submit it as soon as possible.

Creating a StudentAid.gov account

6 to 7 p.m. Sept. 17 — In order to fill out and submit the FAFSA, you will need a StudentAid.gov account. Join a webinar to learn more about what the StudentAid.gov account is, when an account should be created and who should create an account.

PHEAA has always encouraged students to exhaust every possibility of gift aid before turning to borrowing to afford the cost of their education. The best opportunity for gift aid is scholarships. While some scholarship money is awarded based upon merit, there are a myriad of scholarships offered with a wide variety of eligibility requirements and varying deadlines.

Searching for scholarships

6 to 7 p.m. Sept. 10 and noon to 1 p.m. Sept. 24 — The cost of a postsecondary education can add up quickly for students and families. Thankfully, there is funding to help cover those expenses. Join a webinar for tips to successfully search and apply for scholarships. After attending this webinar, students will understand the different types of scholarships, resources for finding scholarships and tools to help increase their chances of earning those scholarships.

Register for these webinars at pheaa.org/virtual.