The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form is the first step students take to apply for federal student aid. Many states and schools also require students to complete the FAFSA form.
After students complete and submit the FAFSA form, they get a FAFSA Submission Summary that shows estimates of their federal student aid eligibility. Sometimes students will need to correct information on their FAFSA form and resubmit it.
Use the tools and tips on this page to get to know the FAFSA form and what to expect after submission.
Also, you can find
- the latest FAFSA news about changes to the form and other updates, and
- FAFSA completion data by high school
Students can get tips on how to fill out the FAFSA form at StudentAid.gov/fillingout.
The FAFSA® Form
FAFSA® Questions
2027–28 FAFSA® Deadline
Preview of the FAFSA® Form
StudentAid.gov Accounts
Tips on Filling Out the FAFSA® Form
Dependency Status
Inviting a Parent or Spouse
Changed Financial Circumstances
Federal Tax Information Transfer
Asset Reporting
Real-time Fraud Detection
After Submitting the FAFSA® Form
FAFSA Submission Summary
FAFSA®Corrections
Verification
The FAFSA® Form
Students can complete the FAFSA form online or on paper. Most people will find the online FAFSA form quick and easy to complete. It usually takes people less than 12 minutes to complete their section and there's no need to gather a bunch of documents to fill out the form.
A StudentAid.gov account is needed to start the online FAFSA form. Most students who complete the online form get their results right after they submit it.
fafsa.gov(Result Type: General)
Description:
The official online form for federal student aid for college or career school. Submit the form online, make corrections, and check application status.
Resource Type:
Web Resource or Tool
Also
Available in: Spanish(Result Type: General)
FAFSA® Questions
To determine students' eligibility for federal student aid, the FAFSA form asks students to do the following:
- Verify their personal information in their StudentAid.gov account.
- Provide consent and approval for the transfer of their U.S. tax information from the IRS directly into the FAFSA form.
- Answer questions about their background, demographics, finances, and schools they want to receive their FAFSA information.
- Invite a parent or spouse, if necessary, to add their information.
- Digitally sign their FAFSA form.
- Submit the form.
For detailed instructions for filling out the FAFSA form, check out these resources:
- "Filling Out the FAFSA® Form": Read this web page to understand how to complete each section of the FAFSA form.
- "FAFSA® Help": Use the help center to find out how to answer individual questions on the FAFSA form.
- Aidan®: Ask our financial aid virtual assistant questions. Aidan appears as a green owl icon at the bottom right of every StudentAid.gov page.
2027–28 FAFSA® Deadlines
For federal student aid, students must submit the 2027–28 FAFSA form by June 30, 2028.
Many states, colleges, and career/trade schools use the FAFSA form to determine students' eligibility for grants, scholarships, and loans. They may have deadlines earlier than June 30, 2028. Students can check StudentAid.gov/fafsa-deadlines for their state's deadline. For a college or career/trade school's deadline, students should check the school's website.
Students should complete the FAFSA form as early as possible to increase their chances of receiving as much aid as possible.
Preview the FAFSA® Form
The FAFSA form changes slightly each year. The U.S. Department of Education's office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) may change questions, responses, help text, design elements, and user flow to improve the user experience.
Before the new FAFSA form becomes available to the public by Oct. 1, FSA publishes resources that explain the changes. You can use them to help students and families complete the form.
2027–28 FAFSA® Preview Presentation(Result Type: General)
Description:
Presentation providing screenshots of the 2027–28 FAFSA form. Feel free to use the screenshots as you compile your own presentations.
Resource Type:
Presentation
2027–28 FAFSA® Prototype(Result Type: General)
Description:
Web-based design tool allowing counselors to navigate specific scenarios that many 2027–28 applicants will encounter on the live website..
Resource Type:
Web Resource or Tool
StudentAid.gov Accounts
Anyone (the student, the student's spouse, a biological or adoptive parent, or the parent's spouse) who is required to add their information to a FAFSA form needs a StudentAid.gov accounts
Don't ask students to share their account username and password. Account credentials must not be shared with anyone. If a student forgets their account username and password, they can go to StudentAid.gov/login and follow the links for retrieving them.
Find resources you can use to educate students and parents about the StudentAid.gov account.
Creating Your StudentAid.gov Account(Result Type: General)
Description:
Web page explaining how to create a StudentAid.gov account and how to figure out which parent needs an account to contribute to the student's FAFSA form.
Resource Type:
Web Resource or Tool
Also
Available in: Spanish(Result Type: General)
How To Create a StudentAid.gov Account graphic(Result Type: PDF)
Description:
Graphic explaining the steps for creating a StudentAid.gov account.
Resource Type:
Infographic
Tips on Filling Out the FAFSA® Form
Students and parents often have questions about the following aspects of the FAFSA form.
Dependency Status
The FAFSA form asks questions to figure out a student's dependency status—dependent or independent—for the purpose of applying for federal student aid. (Preview the questions at StudentAid.gov/dependency.)
Dependency status isn't determined by the following:
- The student's parent(s) claims them as a dependent on their tax return.
- The student is self-sufficient and doesn't live with their parents.
- The student's parent(s) refuses to add their information to the FAFSA form.
Dependent Student
If the student is a dependent student, at least one parent will need to add their information to the student's FAFSA form.
Who's My FAFSA Parent? wizard(Result Type: General)
Description:
Online tool helping dependent students identify which parent(s) will be required to complete their FAFSA form.
Resource Type:
Web Resource or Tool
Also
Available in: Spanish(Result Type: General)
Independent Student
The student can complete the FAFSA form on their own if they're an independent student who is single or married and filed their taxes jointly with their spouse. If the student is married (and not separated) and filed taxes separately from their spouse, the student's spouse will need to add their information to the form.
A student who isn't living with a parent or guardian and is experiencing homelessness or is at risk of becoming homeless will be considered an independent student if they've received a homeless youth determination. Students facing these situations without a homeless youth determination can still submit their FAFSA form without parent information. But they'll need to complete additional steps with the financial aid office at their college or career/trade school.
What if the student doesn't have contact with their parents? They may have an unusual circumstance (e.g., they left home due to an abusive environment or they are a victim of human trafficking) that prevents them from contacting their parents or obtaining their parents' information.
If the student has an unusual circumstance, they will be eligible to skip questions about their parents and submit their FAFSA form as an independent student. After the student submits their FAFSA form, they must contact their college or career/trade school for next steps.
Inviting a Parent or Spouse
Some students will be asked to invite either their parent or spouse to add their information to the FAFSA form. Parents of dependent students will also be asked to invite their spouse if they're married and filed taxes separately from their spouse.
The parent or spouse will receive an email or text message informing them that they must add their information to complete the student's FAFSA form. The parent or spouse needs to do the following to complete their section of the form:
- Create a StudentAid.gov account if they don't already have one.
- Log in to their StudentAid.gov account.
- Review information about completing their section of the FAFSA form.
- Provide the required personal and financial information and consent and approval to have their federal tax information automatically transferred from the IRS into the student's FAFSA form.
- Digitally sign and submit their section.
If the parent or spouse doesn't use the email or text message invite, they can accept the invitation to the student's form by selecting "FAFSA Form" in the StudentAid.gov main menu and then "Accept an Invitation." Or they can also go to fafsa.gov and select the option to accept an invitation.
Important: A parent or spouse who adds their information to a student's FAFSA form isn't required to pay for the student's education. However, if they refuse to provide their information, the FAFSA form will be incomplete. The student won't be eligible for federal student aid.
Invite a Contributor to Your FAFSA® Form video(Result Type: General)
Description:
Video explaining how to invite a parent or spouse to the student's FAFSA form and how they will accept the invite.
Resource Type:
Video
Changed Financial Circumstances
The FAFSA form asks students (and their parent or spouse, if applicable) for tax information from two years before the award year for which the student is applying for aid. For example, the 2027–28 FAFSA form asks for tax information from 2025. A student's or their family's financial situation can change significantly in two years. These changes may include the following:
- loss of employment or financial assets
- reduction in income
- tuition expenses at an elementary or secondary school
- unusual medical or dental expenses not covered by insurance
The FAFSA form refers to these as "special circumstances." If the student, parent, or spouse has a special circumstance, they should complete and submit the FAFSA form. After it's submitted, the student should contact their college's or career/trade school's financial aid office and inform the school of their changed financial situation.
Federal Tax Information Transfer
Anyone who adds information to the FAFSA form is asked to provide their consent and approval for the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to transfer their federal tax information automatically from the IRS into the FAFSA form.
If a student, spouse, parent, or parent's spouse doesn't provide consent and approval, the student won't be eligible for federal student aid.
Note: The student, spouse, parent, or parent's spouse will still need to provide consent and approval even if they
- don't have a Social Security number,
- didn't file taxes, or
- filed taxes outside the U.S.
Information about how federal tax information will be used is included on the FAFSA form.
To ensure the information is secure, the federal tax information transferred into the FAFSA form won't display on the student's FAFSA form or their FAFSA Submission Summary.
Asset Reporting
Students and parents will be asked to answer asset questions unless
- the student qualifies for a maximum Federal Pell Grant;
- their family's adjusted gross income is less than $60,000 and they don't file an IRS Form 1040 with Schedules A, B, D, E, F, H or C or, if they do file a Schedule C, their net business income isn't more than a $10,000 loss or gain; or
- the student, parent, or spouse received a benefit under a means-tested federal benefit program at any time during the 2025 or 2026 (for the 2027–28 FAFSA form).
Real-time Fraud Detection
ED uses an automated, real-time fraud detection system to prevent fraudulent applicants from submitting FAFSA forms. For most students, this screening happens instantly and invisibly and doesn't involve extra steps.
A small number of students will be asked to confirm their identity. If a student is asked to confirm their identity, an "Identity Verification Needed" window will display on the "Review & Sign" page. Students will need to complete the process by
- selecting a link to the screening system they receive via text or by scanning a QR code with a phone or tablet (the device needn't belong to the student);
- scanning their valid government-issued ID (like a driver's license or passport) with the device's camera; and
- taking a selfie with the device's camera.
If a student is asked to verify their identity but can't complete the process, they can still submit their FAFSA form. They can also decline identity verification and then submit their FAFSA form. However, the student will then need to complete the identity verification process with the financial aid office at the college or career/trade school they're applying to. Once the process is complete, the student's form can be fully processed.
After Submitting the FAFSA® Form
After a student submits their FAFSA form and it's processed, they can review their FAFSA Submission Summary. They'll also be able to make corrections, if necessary, to their FAFSA form, including adding or removing schools. Some students may have to complete the process to verify information on their FAFSA form .
FAFSA Submission Summary
After a student's FAFSA form is processed, they should review their FAFSA Submission Summary. It includes
- the student's estimated eligibility for federal student aid, including their Student Aid Index number;
- their answers to the questions on the FAFSA form;
- the schools they selected to receive their FAFSA information; and
- information about next steps.
The FAFSA Submission Summary may include messages like the following:
- The "Next Steps" section may tell the student their form requires a correction. For instance, they may need to add a missing signature.
- The "School Information" section may include a "Some of Your Selected Schools Show Lower Earnings" message. This message displays only to students who
- will be first-year undergraduate students and
- selected a school where graduates' median earnings are typically lower than those of people with only a high school diploma in the same state or nationally if the school serves mostly out-of-state students.
The Student Aid Index (SAI) is a number that schools use to determine a student's eligibility for need-based aid. It is calculated based on the student's (and parent's or spouse's, if required) responses on the FAFSA form.
A student's SAI can range from –1500 to 99999. A negative SAI indicates higher financial need. A positive SAI indicates less financial need.
For more information, review the 2027–28 Student Aid Index (SAI) and Pell Grant Eligibility Guide.
The FAFSA Submission Summary is not a financial aid offer. Students receive financial aid offers from schools that have accepted them for admission.
FAFSA® Corrections
Once the student's FAFSA form is processed, they can make changes to correct or update information in the following situations:
- The student made a mistake in their responses.
- The student needs to add a missing signature or provide consent and approval.
- The student wants to add or remove schools.
The student can correct or update their FAFSA form by logging in to their StudentAid.gov account and selecting the FAFSA form from their account Dashboard.
A parent or spouse who needs to correct their information on a student's FAFSA form must be logged in to their own StudentAid.gov account.
Send your students to StudentAid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/review-and-correct for steps outlining specific updates and corrections.
Verification
ED users a verification process to ensure the integrity and effectiveness of the federal student aid programs. This process is different from the real-time fraud detection process described above.
After submitting the FAFSA form, some students are selected for verification. Colleges and career/trade schools conduct the verification process.
Students selected for verification will be asked to show they reported certain FAFSA information correctly. Students may be asked to verify different information.
If a school selects a student for verification, it will contact the student. The school will tell the student what documentation to submit and by what date. Some schools provide an offer before verification, but it's usually just an estimate.
In most cases, students won't have to verify income and tax information. But the school may ask for signed copies of tax returns or tax transcripts to document information not received via the automatic transfer of federal tax information or to resolve conflicting information.