More FAFSA® completions, with better reporting— all for free

FAFSA® Made Easier can help you increase completions.

"FAFSA® Made Easier helped us double our completion rate this year"

✌️ Easier for students & parents

  • Clearer questions
  • Common mistakes highlighted
  • Eligibility check for state grants

👩‍🏫 Extra support for schools & counselors

  • Live updated stats on each student's progress
  • Searchable database of questions, so you can easily assist any student
  • Lesson plans, handouts, and guides

Anne Levy

Senior College Guidance Coordinator

BASIS Phoenix High School

Arizona

📊 Detailed data for school districts

  • Real-time and summary stats, by school
  • Student-specific start and completion rates for FAFSA® and scholarship applications

Our tools are 100% free

To get access to all our (100% free) FAFSA® Made Easier tools , all you need to do is (1) request access, and (2) complete a 30-minute introductory webinar/training. These requirements are intended to help you understand how our FAFSA® software works--and how it can help you dramatically increase your completion rates. 

Not ready yet? You can also download this PDF brochure to review later offline.

Detailed, real-time reporting

Counselor-Administrator-FAFSA-Made-Easier-Data-Reporting-Dashboard

Individual progress reports & Summarized stats

We'll show the real-time progress of each student in your school or district, including which sections they've completed. 


Want even more detail? Download a CSV to see, question by question, what each student has completed. This will allow you to provide support for specific students who are "stuck" on a given question.


We'll also show you your aggregate completion rate, at the school or district level.

Reporting on all FAFSA® completion types, including waivers & state forms

For states where the FAFSA® is a graduation requirement, we support reporting on all completion methods: 

  • FAFSA® completion (filing via Going Merry or on the government site)
  • FAFSA® waivers
  • State forms for undocumented students

Students can upload documentation, which then can be reviewed and confirmed by school counselors or administrators.

Recommended by other counselors

CHRISTOPHER PLOURDE

cplourde@glts.net

Guidance Counselor,

Greater Lawrence Technical School

 CARLA SURBER

MAVLUDA ORIPOVA 

csurber@calistogajusd.org

moripova@harmonytx.org

AVID District Director

College & Career Coordinator,

Calistoga Joint Unified School District

Director of College Counseling,

Harmony Public Schools

"The FAFSA® reporting means we can see each student’s progress by question real-time. Our students find their FAFSA® form so simple to fill out, and they love their scholarships section too. It means they have one place for all their financial aid.

"We have tried many things through the years to increase FAFSA® completion rates, but Going Merry surpasses them all in terms of empowering students and parents to drive their FAFSA® completion process. The casual, interactive questionnaire [and] Help features, have been essential resources for our students, as well as for counselors."

I saved so much time and was so much more effective because my Going Merry dashboard showed me who had completed, started, or stalled in the FAFSA® process. And for the stallers, it showed me exactly where they had got to so I could provide targeted support. Our FAFSA completion rate is over 10% higher than last year."

ANNE LEVY

anne.levy@basised.com

Senior College 

Guidance Coordinator,

BASIS Phoenix

CAMIE WALWORTH

BRIANA JEMISON

walworthc@ogdensd.org

bjemison@responsiveed.com

College Access Advisor, 

Ben Lomond High School, Ogden City School District

Academic Counselor, 

Founders Classical Academy

"FAFSA® Made Easier helped us double our completion rate this year, which has translated into a record number of graduates planning to attend college out of state. Not only did students complete the form themselves in just minutes, but they also taught themselves a great deal about how financial aid works as they followed Going Merry’s program."

"Using Going Merry's FAFSA® Tool has really changed the game for FAFSA® completions at our school ... Our students (and their parents) no longer feel intimidated ... We also love that students can start their FAFSA® on their own and not worry about losing their work while they wait for parents to complete their portion."

“I'm very impressed with the simplicity of this application as well as how user friendly it is. In a world full of unnecessary complications, Going Merry is a breath of fresh air. 


Thank you for simplifying this process for students and parents!”

Get started today!

To get access to these premium, free FAFSA® tools, you just need to fill out a 1-minute "request access" form and attend an introductory webinar.

A better, easier application form

Behavioral science-backed design

Questions in clear, simple English

We ask one question at a time to encourage focus and reduce cognitive load.


We also allow students to skip forward, so that they can make progress and return later to questions they need parental help with.

We simplify questions, combining or breaking them apart where necessary. For example, we will help students figure out: 

  • Which parent to report
  • Their parents' net worth
  • How to list colleges to ensure eligibility for state aid

Tax previews & help text

Expert help, one click away

We show students where to look on their family's tax forms.  And for any trickier questions, Gopher Mary tells you what to watch out for, or how to interpret it. Nothing is hidden away in footnotes or separate webpages.

Students can consult a searchable knowledge base of common questions and answers. Or if they're really stuck, they can live chat or email a financial aid advisor.

Your students will love it.

“So much better than the original FAFSA®. I could do it without my parents."

Haley D. from Texas

College freshman

"This is so much easier. I just did FAFSA® for my daughter, and this is way better."

Crystal W. from Washington

Counselor and Parent

"It really did make filling the FAFSA® out easier - Thank you!”

Nathan F. from Colorado

High school senior

"Easy! Going Merry had many examples and tips on what to look for."

Maggie D. from California

High school senior

Data security you can trust

Secure database & servers

End-to-end encryption

Our servers and databases are hosted on Amazon Cloud, used by some of the most security-sensitive organizations, including banks like Capital One and government institutes like NASA.

We encrypt all network communications and stored data, employing best practices like split knowledge and dual control of keys, to meet PCI compliance

 We use bank-level data encryption methods and best-in-class data storage solutions, to keep your data safe. And we never sell your FAFSA® data on to any third parties. 

Internal access controls

Never sold or shared

Nobody can access our data from the public internet. Only authorized users can access personally identifiable data, and such access is tracked and internally audited.

We know FAFSA® data contains sensitive financial information, so this is never sold or shared with any third parties. 

Not ready yet? You can also download this PDF brochure to review later offline.

We are not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education or their Federal Student Aid (FSA) office. Through FSA, you can file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form online for free at fafsa.gov.