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 Expected Family Contribution, or EFC, which is the amount your family should contribute to college when determining federal financial aid.

Printable FAFSA Form

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).

FAFSA 2024 - 2025 Apply

The official 2024 - 2025 FAFSA application is being simplified, so this year it will be available in December 2023 and can be used for fall 2024, spring 2025 and summer 2025 (7/1/24 - 6/30/25).

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

Federal Student Loan Application

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 or use the FAFSA worksheet 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.

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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 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.

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 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) in October - December 2023.

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 will be delayed until December 2023 and can be used for fall 2024, spring 2025 and summer 2025.

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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.

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