Refer to your previous year's tax return and fill out your Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. Submit your FAFSA before the submission deadline.
Check your Student Aid Report, or SAR, to see what kind of aid you qualify for. If you're told to provide additional information, do so right away in order to receive a response more quickly. You will also be told what your Expected Family Contribution, or EFC, will be.
Take your student award letter to your financial aid office and sign the paperwork they give you. The college or university will usually deduct the amount of your tuition and any fees when your scholarship is officially awarded, then cut a check for the remainder. Your university will probably award this remainder after processing your acceptance paperwork and you'll receive it when the semester starts.
When you pick up your check for the remainder of your scholarship, you may be required to show photo identification proving that you're the rightful recipient of the scholarship award check.