College Application Fee Waivers: Who Qualifies and How to Get One

Individual college application fees typically run somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 to $90 each, and that adds up quickly across a list of eight or ten schools. Fee waivers exist specifically to make sure that cost isn't the reason a qualified student doesn't apply somewhere, and they're used far more often than the topic's awkwardness might suggest, this is a routine, private part of the process for a large number of applicants every year.

Who typically qualifies

Exact wording varies by platform and by individual college, but most fee waiver policies (including the Common App's) are built around a similar set of categories. You likely qualify for a fee waiver, or are worth checking on, if any of the following describe your situation:

• You're eligible for a free or reduced-price school lunch program.
• Your family's income falls within federal income eligibility guidelines for low-income families.
• You're enrolled in a federal, state, or local program that aids students from low-income families (such as TRIO programs like Upward Bound).
• Your family receives public assistance.
• You live in federally subsidized public housing, a foster home, or are currently homeless.
• You're a ward of the state or an orphan.
• A school counselor, financial aid officer, or community leader can document your financial hardship.

If you're not sure whether you qualify, ask your school counselor directly, they handle this regularly, it's a normal and expected part of their job, and they can usually confirm eligibility and help with the request quickly.

How the request actually works

On the Common App, fee waiver eligibility is a short set of questions in the application itself; if you indicate you qualify, your counselor confirms it on their end, and the fee is waived automatically for every school on your list that accepts Common App fee waivers (most do). Individual colleges that use their own separate application typically have a similar built-in fee waiver request or a short form your counselor signs.

Test fees have their own, separate waiver systems: the College Board offers fee waivers for the SAT (and CSS Profile, automatically for eligible income levels, see our FAFSA vs. CSS Profile guide), and the ACT has its own equivalent program, both generally using similar income or program-based eligibility criteria to the Common App's. A school counselor can typically issue waiver codes for either test directly.

One more thing worth knowing: getting a fee waiver has no bearing on how your application is reviewed. Admissions offices don't see fee waiver status as part of your academic file in a way that counts against you, it's a financial accommodation, not a flag. If cost is a real factor in how many schools you feel you can apply to, this is very much worth checking into rather than assuming you don't qualify or that it's not worth the conversation.

Common App is a trademark of The Common Application, Inc.; SAT and CSS Profile are trademarks of the College Board; ACT is a trademark of ACT, Inc. MajorAtlas isn't affiliated with or endorsed by any of these organizations, and specific eligibility criteria and fees should be confirmed on each organization's official site, as they're updated periodically.