FAFSA

Free Application for Federal Student Aid

FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid - your federal student loan application to apply for college student grants and loans. This will determine your Student Aid Index, or SAI, which is an estimate of your eligibility for college federal financial aid.

Printable FAFSA Form

Last updated on March 12, 2024 by College Financial Aid Advice.

FAFSA 2024 - 2025 Apply

The official 2024 - 2025 FAFSA application is now available, and can be used for fall 2024, spring 2025 and summer 2025 (7/1/24 - 6/30/25).

FAFSA 2023 - 2024 Apply

The official 2023 - 2024 FAFSA application is now available, and can be used for fall 2023, spring 2024 and summer 2024 (7/1/23 - 6/30/24).

In future years, the application should be available on October 1.

Federal Student Loan Application

FAFSA 2024-25 Form
FAFSA 2024-25 Form
The free FAFSA federal student loan application is available online, but before you fill out the FAFSA on the web, follow our advice and print out a hard copy Printable FAFSA Application to determine your entries. You don't want to make any mistakes and miss out on important federal, state or college financial aid by making an error on your online FAFSA on the web application. So use your printed FAFSA to check and verify all information, before you submit this important application for financial aid.

Federal and state college funds are awarded on first come, first served basis. The early bird who submits a completed FAFSA application when available (December 2023 for 2024-25 school year, will get the best college financial aid package - more grant money (grants do not need to be repaid) and better student loans. If you file your FAFSA federal student loan application later, the grants for college students may be gone, and you may only be eligible for whichever student loan programs still have money. And if you submit your FAFSA too late, all the federal and state grants and loans may be gone, so you may need to take more expensive private student loans to finance your college education. For a list of FAFSA deadlines by state for state grants, see FAFSA Deadlines.

The FAFSA and the CSS Profile are the two most common applications you will use for college loan forms.


Are You a Dependent or Independent Student?

Before you fill out the FAFSA, you'll want to know if you are a dependent or independent student. For the FAFSA questions to help you decide, see Are you Dependent or Independent Student for Federal Student Financial Aid ?

If you are a dependent student, you will need at least one parent's financial information on your FAFSA application. To see which parental information needs to be included, see Parental Information for FAFSA Applications.


 FAFSA 2024 2025 Apply Student Loan Application Schedule

If you are applying for college in fall 2024 - spring 2025 (July 1, 2024- June 30, 2025), plan to submit the FAFSA, after you've submitted your college applications such as the Common App , so you will be prepared to submit your college loan forms applications (FAFSA and CSS Profile, if needed) as soon as possible.

In most years, you can submit your FAFSA starting October 1 for the next year that you plan to start college, and you must reapply for each year. The earlier you apply the better, and most schools have early deadlines, with more flexibility for community colleges.

The official 2024 - 2025 FAFSA application was delayed until December 2023, but is now available and can be used for fall 2024, spring 2025 and summer 2025.


FAFSA 2023 2024 Apply Federal Student Loan Application Schedule

The official 2023 - 2024 FAFSA application is now available.

If you are applying for college in fall 2023 - spring 2024 (July 1, 2023- June 30, 2024), plan to submit the FAFSA, after you've submitted your college applications such as the Common App , so you will be prepared to submit your college loan forms applications (FAFSA and CSS Profile, if needed) after October 1, 2022.

You can submit your FAFSA starting October 1 for the next year that you plan to start college, and you must reapply for each year. The earlier you apply the better, and most schools have early deadlines, with more flexibility for community colleges.

See our links to the 2023 - 2024 online Free FAFSA on the web, printable and paper FAFSA forms at FAFSA Official Website Forms.


FAFSA Help

A free FAFSA forecaster tool, called FAFSA4caster, is available at the government student aid website. See Free FAFSA4caster from Student Aid.

Apply early for the best aid packages. See FAFSA Deadlines by State.

Get started now with your FSA ID, which replaced the FAFSA PIN.

Want to see the form? You can download and print the FAFSA Application.

Check out the facts you may be surprised. Are You a Dependent or Independent Student?

Do You Need Parental Income on FAFSA? Probably yes but maybe not.


More FAFSA Links

FAFSA

FAFSA Hints

Student Aid Index

Dependent or Independent Student

Parental Income on FAFSA

FAFSA Official Website

Printable FAFSA Application

FAFSA Application PIN Number

FSA ID

FAFSA Application

FAFSA Deadline

FAFSA Submission Summary

HomeFAFSA

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Welcome to College Financial Aid Advice, a website full of information on scholarships and grants, student loans, and other ways to save money at college.


Important Things to Do

Scholarships for 2024 - 2025 - It is never too early or too late to work on your scholarship searches. If you are part of the high school class of 2024, you should work on your scholarship and college search now. See our list of Scholarships for High School Seniors

FAFSA - The official 2024 - 2025 FAFSA is available now. FAFSA.


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