Students looking to apply for financial aid from Free Application for Federal Student Aid grants have until March 2 to get submit their information.

Although a paper application is still available, according to Cynthia Sanchez at the Moorpark College Financial Aid Office, 85 percent of applications are submitted online.

According to FAFSA’s website, the online application is as much as 14 days faster than the traditional paper mail-in application.

“Financial aid is not to pay for life, it’s just [to pay] for educational costs,” said Sanchez.

Although many students apply for FAFSA grants, only about 30 percent get selected and the choice is a completely random process.

These grants, along with a number of scholarships, require you to display financial need. Even so, according to the FAFSA website, there are additional options available.

“Even if you are not eligible for federal aid, you still may be eligible for state aid or aid from your school financial aid office,” said the FAFSA website.

Sanchez warns not to wait until you are doing your taxes to begin your FASFA application. You can update your information after the March 2 deadline.

Outside of FAFSA there are many other forms of aid, including Pell Grants, which are the “foundation of federal student financial aid, to which aid from other federal and nonfederal sources might be added,” according to studentaid.ed.gov.

For more information on financial aid, as well as information on other grants, visit any campus financial aid office, FAFSA.ed.gov, studentaid.ed.gov, or federalstudentaid.ed.gov.