FAFSA form for 2025-26 financial aid now open: What to know, deadlines and more

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FILE - Students walk at the University of Pennsylvania, University City area, in Philadelphia, PA. (Photo by: Jumping Rocks/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON - The FAFSA application to receive college financial aid for the 2025-2026 school year is now officially open.

It comes a year after the botched rollout of a new form last year by the Biden administration delayed the application for months. After weeks of testing, the U.S. Education Department said there have been no major problems with the online form – which officially became available on Thursday.

It opened to the public later than the traditional Oct. 1 start date, but far sooner than last year’s late January launch. The department promised this year’s form by Dec. 1.

"After months of hard work and lots of feedback from students, schools and other stakeholders, we can say with confidence that FAFSA is working and will serve as the gateway to college access and affordability to millions of students," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Thursday.

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Through four rounds of testing, more than 140,000 students have submitted the form, and their information has been sent to more than 5,200 colleges, the department said.

What is FAFSA?

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid – or FAFSA – is a free form that allows students to apply for federal student aid, including grants, scholarships, work-study funds, and loans.

States and colleges also use FAFSA information to award their own grants, scholarships, and loans to students.

The 2025-2026 FAFSA form is available here.

When is FAFSA due for 2025-2026?

The FAFSA form must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Central time (CT) on June 30, 2026, the department said.

Any corrections or updates must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. CT on Sept. 13, 2026.

How to fill out FAFSA, documents needed

First, applicants need to create a StudentAid.gov account. Anyone who may need to provide information on the FAFSA form, including a spouse, a biological or adoptive parent, or a parent's spouse, also needs a StudentAid.gov account before accessing and completing their section of the form.
Applicants must enter their name and Social Security number (SSN) exactly as they appear on the Social Security card.
Necessary documents to fill out FAFSA include parents’ Social Security numbers if they have SSNs, and if the applicant is a dependent student. Tax returns, records of child support received, current balances of cash, savings, and checking accounts, and net worth of investments, businesses, and farms are also needed.
While completing the FAFSA form, applicants must list at least one school to receive their information. The schools listed will use the FAFSA information to determine the types and amounts of student aid to offer.

How to check status of FAFSA form

Applicants can check the status of their FAFSA form by logging in to fafsa.gov, and locating their application status under "My Activity."

The status of the FAFSA form will be one of the following:

Draft: Your section of the FAFSA form is incomplete.
In Progress: You provided your consent, approval, and signature to your section of the FAFSA form, but the FAFSA form has not been submitted yet.
In Review: Your FAFSA form was submitted but hasn’t been processed yet.
Action Required: You are missing your consent and approval or signature or the FAFSA form was processed, but a correction is required.
Processed: Your application was processed successfully. No further action is needed.
Closed: Your FAFSA form was never submitted and can no longer be submitted because the federal FAFSA deadline passed.

Financial aid award timeline

Most colleges and career schools send out financial aid offer letters around the same time as admission offer letters, according to the Department of Education.

However, the timing can vary from school to school, depending on various factors – such as when the FAFSA form was submitted and the number of forms the school received.

Applicants should contact the school for more information on when they can expect the aid offer.

What happened to last year’s FAFSA?

An overhaul last year was meant to simplify the famously complex form, but technical problems blocked students from submitting forms or bungled the calculations.

The delays left students wondering how much financial aid they could receive, a crucial factor for many families.

Advocates say the frustration probably led thousands of students to give up on going to college at all. This fall, U.S. colleges saw a 5% decrease in freshmen enrollment over the previous year, and it was deeper at colleges with large numbers of low-income students, according to the National Student Clearinghouse.

The Education Department said it fixed last year’s problems and hired an additional 700 call center workers to help families if they have trouble submitting the form.

This week, the Senate and House unanimously passed legislation requiring the Education Department to make the FAFSA available no later than Oct. 1.

The Biden administration drew bipartisan scorn over its handling of the update, with Republicans accusing the administration of focusing on student loan cancellation at the expense of the FAFSA form.

The overhaul came after Congress passed legislation in 2020 to simplify the form. The Education Department was ordered to reduce the number of questions from more than 100 to about 40, and change the formula to expand aid to more students.

The Brief