FAFSA^® 2025-26: Your first step to applying for free money for college

To file your FAFSA^®, first gather all of the documents you’ll need to reference:

• Your Social Security number
• Permission from the family member who completed a tax return if you’d like to import information directly from the IRS. If you prefer not to import it, then you’ll need to provide other financial info
• Bank statements
• Information about your family’s investments (real estate, money market funds, stocks, etc.)
• An FSA ID for yourself, and for one or both of your parents. (FSA IDs can be obtained at studentaid.gov.)

When you apply for financial aid, you’ll provide personal demographic information, as well as financial information like bank statements and information on your family’s investments.

This financial information is used to determine your Student Aid Index (SAI). Your SAI is an index number that colleges use to determine how much federal financial aid you’re eligible to receive. Your SAI is calculated according to a formula established by law and the information from your FAFSA^®.

Your eligibility for aid depends on your Student Aid Index (SAI), your year in school, your enrollment status, and the cost of attendance (COA) at the school you'll be attending. The COA is the estimated cost to attend for one academic year and, if you attend at least half time, can include tuition, books, supplies, transportation, room and board, and other education related expenses.

October 1, 2024
Open date: The earliest you can file the FAFSA^® for the 2025-2026 academic year.

The federal government has not announced the exact opening date yet. Check studentaid.gov for updates. 

June 30, 2025
The federal deadline for filing the FAFSA^® for the 2025-2026 academic year

States and colleges have their own FAFSA^® deadlines. Be sure to check the FAFSA^® deadline for each college you’re applying to. You can check your state's deadline on the federal student aid website.

While it may seem like you're getting money from the FAFSA^®, it's actually just a form and process to get federal student aid, not a student loan. If you receive federal student loans as part of your financial aid offer, you would have to repay them.

That’s a no-brainer! Submitting your FAFSA^® is THE most important thing you can do when paying for school. Because each year, the government sets aside around $150 billion in federal aid for college students. And not just federal student loans,—we’re talking about grants, scholarships, and work-study. To qualify for any of that aid, you need to fill out the FAFSA^® form.

Sallie Mae’s How America Pays for College 2024 report shows that 71% of families filled out the FAFSA^® for academic year 2022-23. The biggest reason for not filing? Among families who didn’t submit it, 29% think their income is too high to qualify for any aid. That couldn’t be further from the truth: nearly everyone who submits qualifies for something! This means nearly a third of families could be missing out on thousands of dollars in financial aid. 

It’s not just federal aid we’re talking about. Schools use the FAFSA^® to put together their financial aid packages and some states use it to determine eligibility for state aid. For Tennessee students, for example, the FAFSA^® is used to determine their eligibility for the Tennessee Promise program, which provides two years of tuition-free attendance at a Tennessee community or technical college. There’s also the Tennessee HOPE Scholarship, which is funded from the net proceeds of the state lottery and awarded to entering freshmen who are enrolled at an eligible post-secondary institution.

It’s not. Yes, tax returns are used in the application, so income is important. But there are other variables, like how many dependents you have. Regardless of your income, if you or your student is enrolled in a higher education institution, filling out the FAFSA^® when it opens should be a priority every year.

You'll want to file your FAFSA^® on the open date or as close to it as possible. Why? Because some aid is awarded on a first come, first served basis.

States and colleges have their own deadlines for applying for state and institutional financial aid. Visit your school’s website to find out their deadlines and visit the Federal Student Aid website to view specific state FAFSA^® deadlines—especially if you’re applying to colleges in different states. If you’re a returning FAFSA^® filer, you may remember your school and state deadlines, but make sure to double-check in case any timelines have changed. 

Another FAFSA^® myth is that you only have to fill it out once to be eligible for financial aid in college. Yes, you need to complete it as a high school senior, but you also have to file it again every year of college and even graduate school. Submitting a Renewal FAFSA^® each year is the only way to remain eligible for federal student aid, and the amount of aid can vary year-over-year.

Before you start the filing process, you and your parents will want to obtain your FSA IDs at studentaid.gov. You and your parents will also want to gather your Social Security number, bank statements, and any documents showing untaxed income.

Having this info ready will help complete the process as quickly as possible—and the good news is that most of your information will be saved when you return to file the FAFSA^® next year. Keep in mind that you and your parents will have to log in separately to complete your individual portion of the FAFSA^®. 

Take your time filling out the FAFSA^® and make sure the information you're entering is correct, too. Some of the most common FAFSA^® mistakes include leaving parts of the application blank, entering the wrong Social Security number, and completely forgetting to sign the application. It's crucial to pay attention to detail; you could jeopardize your potential financial aid if you make mistakes.

The good news is, there are free tools and resources to help, like the FAFSA^® Guide by Sallie. If you run into any roadblocks filling out the FAFSA^®, don't hesitate to ask for help. You can also visit FAFSA^® Help on the Federal Student Aid website.

And last, but certainly not least, you should never pay to file the FAFSA^®; it’s free on the federal student aid site. Be careful about sites phishing for your FAFSA^® information. The first “F” in FAFSA^® stands for “Free!”

Myth:
My family’s income is too high to qualify for federal financial aid.

Fact:
Student and family income isn’t the only factor that the government uses to decide if a student qualifies for federal financial aid. The only way to know for sure if you’ll qualify is to fill out the FAFSA^®.

Myth:
My family has money saved for college, so we won’t get any federal financial aid.

Fact:
Savings might not be a major factor when determining aid eligibility, as there are allowances for savings and assets.

Myth:
I’m only attending college part-time, so I won’t be eligible for federal financial aid.

Fact:
Financial aid is available for part-time students. Talk to the financial aid offices of the colleges you’re interested in attending about aid for part-time students.