The College Financing Plan (previously referred to as the Financial Aid Shopping Sheet) is a consumer tool that participating institutions use to notify students about their financial aid package. It is a standardized form that is designed to simplify the information that prospective students receive about costs and financial aid so that they can easily compare institutions and make informed decisions about where to attend school. In July 2012, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) released the College Financing Plan and asked institutions to voluntarily commit to using it to supply financial aid information to students in a way that could be understood and compared easily. The College Financing Plan (CFP) became available for use beginning in the 2013-2014 award year.
In July 2012, the Department released the CFP (then known as the Financial Aid Shopping Sheet) and asked institutions to voluntarily commit to using it beginning in the 2013-2014 award year in order to supply financial aid information to students in a way that could be understood and compared easily.
In 2020, the Department released the Graduate and Professional School CFP to reflect the needs of graduate and professional school students more accurately. This form incorporated valuable input from the US Department of Veterans Affairs; the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO); financial aid administrators; and other stakeholders.
Specific questions about the CFP may be directed to collegefinancingplan@ed.gov
HTML Specification
Institutions and their software providers may use the linked HTML specifications to produce and populate the College Financing Plan, using the applicable fields from their existing data systems. The HTML specifications include a “download” button on the College Financing Plan so that students may save their student aid offer information in XML, a machine-readable format. This XML layout is also attached. We encourage institutions providing students with their College Financing Plan in electronic format to include this feature.
Institutions delivering the College Financing Plan in print form may remove the “download” button. For convenience, a PDF version of the College Financing Plan is also linked below.
The Department now provides 2 (two) years of CFP forms in order for institutions to be able to use the appropriate forms for their students.
Documents:
2025-26
Undergraduate Form:
2025-26 Annotated Undergraduate College Financing Plan
2025-26 Undergraduate College Financing Plan Template
2025-26 Undergraduate College Financing Plan Technical Guide
2025-26 Undergraduate HTML Specification
Graduate/Professional Form:
2025-26 Annotated Graduate/Professional School College Financing Plan
2025-26 Graduate/Professional College Financing Plan Template
2025-26 Graduate/Professional College Financing Plan Technical Guide
2025-26 Graduate/Professional HTML Specification
2024-25
Undergraduate Form:
2024-25 Annotated Undergraduate College Financing Plan
2024-25 Undergraduate College Financing Plan Template
2024-25 Undergraduate College Financing Plan Technical Guide
2024-25 Undergraduate HTML Specification
Graduate/Professional Form:
2024-25 Annotated Graduate/Professional School College Financing Plan
2024-25 Graduate/Professional College Financing Plan Template
2024-25 Graduate/Professional College Financing Plan Technical Guide
2024-25 Graduate/Professional HTML Specification
Other
College Financing Plan (FAQ) (updated 11/15/2024)
2025-26 Electronic Announcement: https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/library/electronic-announcements/2024-11-15/2025-2026-college-financing-plan-now-available
2024-25 Electronic Announcement: https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/library/electronic-announcements/2023-10-31/2024-2025-college-financing-plan