FAFSA 2025 opening dates: When and how to fill out the new simplified form

For many students and their families in the United States, college tuition is a significant expense: Average annual tuition fees Tuition at private universities totals $42,162; public out-of-state tuition is $23,630; and public in-state tuition is $10,662. So it’s no surprise that more than 85% of undergraduates receive some form of scholarship. Financial Aid — Includes federal aid, state and local grants and scholarships, institutional grants and scholarships, and Student loans — According to the National Center for Education Statistics. The way to get college tuition is through Free Application for Federal Student Aidor FAFSA. Federal Student Aid Application Form The ACT is a form that students and/or their parents fill out to apply for federal grants, work-study funds, and loans. Many states and colleges also use this application to determine if a student is eligible for state and school financial aid. As the name implies, submitting the application is completely free.

Last year, the FAFSA application process for this school year was ProblematicThe FAFSA form is usually available for the following school year. October 1 — Students must fill out a form every year — But due to changes in the application process, the 2024-25 FAFSA form was soft-launched in late December 2023. Students will only have access to the form for a limited time each day; an error meant that students initially They receive less aid than they deserve (calculate Corrected(English): Parents without a Social Security Number Forms that cannot initiate or engage students; U.S. Department of Education says Schools will not receive students’ FAFSA forms until MarchSchools usually receive this information Soon after students complete the form. Comprehensive, FAFSA application numbers down Significantly.

this Including changes to the table Transfer tax information directly from the IRS to the FAFSA form, increasing Eligibility for Need-Based GrantsWhile these updates are designed to provide a more convenient experience, Process setback Many students and their families.

In order to avoid these troubles from happening again, the Ministry of Education 2025-26 FAFSA announced Will be released on October 1, 2024, for testing by a limited number of volunteer students and institutions. All students should have access to the form by December 1, 2024.

If you plan to attend college and would like to receive financial aid for the Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 semesters, please complete this form. The Federal Student Aid Office has a A page dedicated to announcements related to the reformed FAFSA You can check regularly for any updates.

Federal Completion Deadline The 2025-26 FAFSA deadline is June 30, 2026although Each university and state has its own deadlines They require students to fill out forms. Even if the federal deadline is after the end of the school year, financial aid Funds can be used traceably Equal to the tuition fees you have paid for the year. (If you have not yet completed the form for this academic year, it is not too late: Deadline is June 30, 2025) Unfortunately, some of the assistance is First come first served, one Depressing reality For students who are unable to complete the form for the 2024-25 academic year due to the following reasons: Ongoing Problems.

have No income limit Eligible for federal student aid, so all college students Applications encouraged.

Whether you’re applying for financial aid for the first time or you’ve practiced it many times, here’s a primer on how to fill out the FAFSA, including tips for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 forms.

The 2025-26 FAFSA form and the 2024-25 FAFSA form will be Online at StudentAid.govIf you have not applied for financial aid before, Create a Federal Student Aid ID. “The FSA ID is used to sign the FAFSA,” University Council“All students and parents or guardians who provide information on the FAFSA are required to provide this information.”

If you are Dependent students — that is, any student who is under 24 years of age; unmarried and has no legal dependents; not a graduate or professional student; not a veteran or member of the armed forces; or not an emancipated minor — Your parent or stepparent will also need to create an FSA ID so that they can submit their information as a “Contributors”

Contributors are one of the new features of Forms. Anyone can Provide tax and personal information with your FAFSA form Should be listed as a donor. Donors are determined by your dependent status, marital status, and tax filing status. (For example, a donor for a student under 24 would be their parent. A donor for a married student would be their spouse.) Despite the name, donors are not required to contribute to your tuition, only to provide information on your FAFSA form. Before you begin your application, make sure the student and any donors have their FSA IDs ready.

If you or your donors have a Social Security number, use it to create your FSA ID. No social security number, Check the box “I do not have a Social Security Number.” You will be asked to enter your Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) later on the form.

Contributors will receive an email Notify them that they need to fill out the student’s FAFSA information. Contributors should complete their portion as soon as possible. If there is no activity on the FAFSA within 45 days, the form will be deleted and you will have to start over, said MorraLee Keller, senior director of strategic planning. National University Education NetworkIf your contributor needs more time, students can log into their FAFSA form to reset the 45-day window.

If you are filling out the FAFSA on behalf of your child, Make sure to select “I am a parent filling out the FAFSA for a student.”

The FAFSA requires students, their parents, or other non-parent donors to enter Personal information hostingHere’s what you should have readily available:

As part of the new FAFSA form, you will need to agree and approve the import of your federal tax information directly from the IRS. The family’s tax returns for the previous year must be completed Only then can you import your tax information. (For the 2024-25 FAFSA, for example, the household’s 2022 taxes must have been completed.) If you’re not a tax filer, the IRS fills in a code indicating you don’t have a tax return, Keller said. “Parts that people may have worried about in the past (like) making sure they’re entering the right numbers,” she said, “will be alleviated by this process.”

Later in the form, students or their parents can add 20 universities or vocational schools will receive your informationIf you already know where you’re going to college — for example, you’re a rising junior who’s been attending the same school since freshman year — then add that college to the table. If you’re still in high school and haven’t decided on a college, Add any schools you’ve applied to or plan to apply to.

If dependent students complete the form themselves, they will be prompted Fill in your parents’ full name, social security number, date of birth, and email address If the student’s parents are divorced or separated, then the parents Who provided the most financial support last year? The appropriate section of the FAFSA needs to be completed. If they provide equal financial support to the student, the parent with the higher income and assets should complete the FAFSA.

Parent Contributors Needed Their tax returns, records of child support received, current balances in cash, savings and checking accounts, and the net worth of investments, businesses and farms. Over $60,000 “You need to report assets such as cash savings, checking, real estate, stocks, bonds and the net worth of a small business or family farm,” Keller said. “While it sounds complicated, there are a lot of instructions to help families understand,” Bentley said. “They can even watch an overview video when they start the application.”

The FAFSA form for dependent students is is not completed until its parent (and other contributors) have completed their parts.

Again, the sooner you apply after the application opens, the better. However, some Deadlines to RememberEach school has a different deadline for submitting the FAFSA form, so check with your school (or the schools you’re applying to) to find out when you need to submit your financial aid application. Each state has a different deadlineFor example, most state financial aid programs in California require submission of the 2024-25 FAFSA. No later than 2 May 2024June 30 is the federal deadline to apply for financial aid for the previous school year.

After you and your contributors complete and send in your FAFSA form, it will Processed within one to three days and sent to the university you listed on the form. You will then receive Email notification of your FAFSA submission summary It is ready. This summary will estimate the amount of student aid you are eligible for. You can make corrections to your FAFSA application or send additional verification information requested by the school here. If you do not need to make any changes, just Keep a summary for your records.

The school will send an offer of aid In the spring before you are ready to start school.

“Students will be waiting for scholarship notifications to find out how much financial aid they will receive next year, both federal and state aid, and institutional aid,” Keller said. “So, scholarship notifications will be the primary document that students will be waiting to receive after they submit their FAFSA.”

Update, August 28, 2024 at 11:15 a.m.: This story was originally published on Nov. 29, 2023, and has been updated multiple times, most recently with the latest information on the 2024-25 and 2025-26 FAFSA.