Remember the delays and glitches that caused so much drama with last year’s FAFSA process? This year, the Department of Education is trying to avoid the problems by … delaying the rollout.Â
The FAFSA application for the 2025-2026 school year will be available to a "limited number of students and institutions" on Oct. 1, 2024, according to the US Department of Education. Oct. 1 used to be the first day the application was available to everyone. Now the public won't get access until Dec. 1, 2024.Â
“This process will allow the Department to test and resolve issues before making the form available to all students and contributors," the Department of Education said in a press release earlier this month.
FAFSA, or the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is designed to help students shoulder the cost of college by determining a family’s eligibility for financial aid, including scholarships, grants, work-study programs and loans. Last year's botched rollout of the supposedly improved application resulted in many colleges not receiving FAFSA information until later in the year, delaying aid awards and leaving many families in financial limbo.
Submitting the FAFSA is considered an essential step in the college application process, with many schools encouraging families to complete the form as early as possible. Here’s what to expect from this year’s FAFSA application and what you can do to make the submission process smoother.
What’s going on with FAFSA this year?
The Department of Education said it's staggering the rollout for the 2025-2026 FAFSA to allow time for smaller groups to test and resolve issues before the application is released to the general public.Â
Last year’s FAFSA was intended to be more streamlined in adherence to the FAFSA Simplification Act, which drastically reduced the number of questions students had to answer and applied a new formula to determine a family’s contributions. However technical issues with the 2024-2025 application resulted in delays to the entire process, with many colleges reporting they hadn't received students' correct financial information until late spring or early summer.
The delayed 2025-2026 FAFSA means most families won’t get access until about two months later than usual. And while that could have a domino effect on the early admission process for some colleges, an early December release is unlikely to cause the same amount of widespread chaos as last year’s delays did. Most colleges set deadlines for receiving FAFSA information from prospective students in early spring with financial aid awards issued in late spring or summer.
Wait, what is FAFSA?
The FAFSA is the primary method the government and schools use to determine if you’re eligible for financial aid, including grants, scholarships, work-study benefits and loans. The federal government processes FAFSA forms to qualify for federal student aid, but FAFSA information can also be used by states and schools for awards, scholarships and other types of financial aid. You can access the official 2024-2025 FAFSA form here (PDF).
How does FAFSA help me get federal student aid?
Based on the answers you provide to questions on the FAFSA, the financial aid office calculates your Student Aid Index. This analysis, which replaces the Expected Family Contribution, takes into account the student’s, spouse’s and parents’ incomes and assets to determine the expected family contribution toward college costs.Â
The unmet financial need that remains could qualify you for different types of assistance, such as a federal student grant or loan to attend an educational institution.
Federal financial aid eligibility requirements
Your school’s financial aid department will likely encourage you to complete the FAFSA, but here are a few basic eligibility criteria to know before you submit.
1. Attendance or enrollment status
You must be attending or planning to attend college or career school during the academic year for which you’re completing the FAFSA. Continued enrollment may rely on maintaining satisfactory academic progress.
2. US citizenship or eligible noncitizen status
As long as you have a Social Security number or a green card, you should be eligible for financial aid. Other immigration statuses may be exempt so check the student aid website for more information.
Part of the issue with the 2024-2025 FAFSA form is that it didn't initially allow families to submit an application unless the student and parents each had a Social Security number. The Department of Education says that a parent without a Social Security number can now access a student’s 2024-2025 FAFSA form after being invited.
3. Access to tax information
You and anyone from your family identified as a contributor must consent to share tax information from the IRS with the FAFSA. This applies even if the contributor doesn’t have citizenship status or a valid Social Security number.
4. Establish a studentaid.gov account
To complete the FAFSA online, you and each of your contributors need to have an account at studentaid.gov, which generates an FSA ID.Â
Who should apply for the FAFSA?
All college students, regardless of income, should complete the updated FAFSA. Even if you think your family makes too much money to qualify, the FAFSA is often required when applying for financial assistance that isn’t need-based.
And because of the FAFSA Simplification Act, it’s worth it to apply even if your family wasn’t eligible for federal aid in previous years.
How to fill out the FAFSA: A step-by-step guide
Getting money from the government to help with the cost of college is clearly a benefit that’s worth a little extra paperwork. Here’s how to make filling out the FAFSA a simple process.
Step 1: Gather documentation
You'll need to provide the following basic personal and financial information to complete the FAFSA:
- Date of birth
- Social Security number
- Address
- Email address
- Driver’s license number
- Latest tax filings
- Current bank account balances
- Net worth and other assets
You’ll also be asked which schools you want your FAFSA information shared with, so keep your college list handy.
Step 2: Create a FSA ID
An FSA ID gives you access to studentaid.gov, where you can find the FAFSA form, and it serves as your legal signature on electronic documents. To create an account, students will need their email address and Social Security number (unless you’re a citizen of the Freely Associated States).Â
Step 3: Alert your contributors
Contributors (typically parents) and students must each create their own login. Let contributors know you’ll need their email address to send a new account request. Setting up an FSA ID is helpful for contributors because it allows the transfer of tax information from the IRS and clears the way for eligibility for federal student aid.
Contributors will need their email address, which must be different from the student’s, and Social Security number, if they have one.
Step 4: Complete the FAFSA
The student applying for financial aid should always complete the FAFSA form first. Spouses and parents will be able to add their information once the student section of the FAFSA is complete. Before you sign and submit the form, you’ll be able to review answers and specify which schools should receive your FAFSA information.
Step 5: Check your status
You can monitor the status of a new application or a FAFSA renewal with your studentaid.gov account (using your FSA ID) under the My Activity page. You’ll also be notified when contributors sign and complete sections.
Pro tip
Make sure you and your contributors submit the form quickly, or at least keep saving your work as you go along. Saved FAFSA applications are automatically deleted from the system after 45 days of inactivity.
When is FAFSA due?
It would be nice if there was a universal FAFSA deadline, but that’s not the case. The deadline for federal financial aid eligibility is the end of an academic year, so for the 2024-2025 school year it's June 30, 2025. But every school (and every state) sets its own deadline.
Although many colleges distribute grants and scholarships on a first-come, first-served basis, you can still qualify for federal financial aid for the 2024-2025 school year if you submit your application by June 30, 2025.
The FAFSA that's set to be released in December is for the 2025-2026 school year. The deadline for the 2025-2026 FAFSA is June 30, 2026.
FAQs
The FAFSA helps determine your eligibility for federal financial aid. It provides information to the federal and state government as well as colleges and community organizations to help them decide if you qualify for loans, grants, work study programs and other types of financial assistance.
There is no income cutoff or threshold that disqualifies you from federal student aid. This is why all students are encouraged to complete the FAFSA regardless of their income, marital status or other factors.
Many colleges have early deadlines so they can prioritize distributing funding to students in need, but your state may also have deadlines for submitting the FAFSA. However, many deadlines have been extended for the 2024-2025 academic year due to glitches with the FAFSA form. If you miss a deadline, contact the school’s financial aid office.
If you’re a dependent student, you’ll be asked to supply the contact information of your biological or adoptive parents. Your contributor will be asked to set up their own account and consent to sharing their IRS information, so you are not required to know your parents’ income to complete the student portion of the FAFSA. If you’re an independent student, you don’t have to supply your parents’ information.
