Financial aid may be paid for the government or the college. However, even government aid is given to you through your college, so your college will be the one to tell you your complete financial aid package (government plus college funds).
Your financial aid package might include 3 types of aid:
Grants and scholarships (also known as "gift aid"): This is “free money” that you do NOT need to pay back.
Work-study: This is money that you have a right to, but that you must work for. Once you’ve worked for it, you’ve “earned” it and do NOT need to pay it back.
Loans: This is money you borrow from the government (or a private company), and you DO need to pay it back, with interest. In other words, you need to repay more than you’re actually borrowing. However, federal government loans often are cheaper than private company loans, and filling out the FAFSA® is the only way to get access to government loans.
You can find the official government summary here, as an infographic:
