The FAFSA form for financial aid 2025-26 is now open: what you need to know, deadlines and more

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

This comes a year after the botched deployment of a new form last year by the Biden administration delayed request for months. After weeks of testing, the U.S. Department of Education said there had been no major problems with the online form — which officially became available on Thursday.

It opened to the public later than the traditional start date of October 1, but much earlier than the launch in late January last year. The ministry has promised this year’s form by December 1.

“After months of hard work and extensive feedback from students, schools and other stakeholders, we can confidently say that the FAFSA works and will serve as a gateway to college access and affordability for millions of students,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Thursday. .

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

What is the 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 the FAFSA due for 2025-2026?

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

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

How to fill out the FAFSA, necessary documents

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

How to Check FAFSA Form Status

Applicants can check the status of their FAFSA form by logging into 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 have provided your consent, approval, and signature in your section of the FAFSA form, but the FAFSA form has not yet been submitted.
• In review: Your FAFSA form has been submitted but has not yet been processed.
• Action required: You are missing your consent and approval or signature or the FAFSA form has been processed but a correction is required.
• Processed: Your application has been successfully processed. No further action is necessary.
• Farm: Your FAFSA form was never submitted and can no longer be submitted because the federal FAFSA deadline has passed.

Financial aid award schedule

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

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

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

What happened to last year’s FAFSA?

A redesign last year aimed to simplify the famously complex form, but technical problems prevented students from submitting the forms or messed up calculations.

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

Advocates say frustration likely led thousands of students to give up on going to college. This fall, U.S. universities saw a 5% decrease in first-year student enrollment compared to the previous year, and the decline was more pronounced at universities 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 700 additional call center workers to help families if they had difficulty submitting the form.

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

The Biden administration has drawn bipartisan scorn for its handling of the update, with Republicans accusing the administration of focusing on student loan forgiveness at the expense of the FAFSA form.

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