filled out the fafsa and send it in before the priority deadline in your state is your BEST bet.
i'm not sure if you can still do it now.
fafsa website check them out, see what they can do.
you can get them as long as you are a student and enrolled in school.
once you send in the form, your school's financial aid office will send you an offer. they will give you student loans, financial aid, grants, etc, whatever you qualify for. from there you accept the offer and however much you need. they recommend to borrow less than you need.
once you have accepted the offer, if you have loans, you will need to do all the lending information which i can't remember but most of it was facilitated through sallie mae.