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How to Complete the 2026-27 FAFSA
By
Cece Gilmore
Cece Gilmore is a Content Writer at Scholarships360. Cece earned her undergraduate degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from Arizona State University. While at ASU, she was the education editor as well as a published staff reporter at Downtown Devil. Cece was also the co-host of her own radio show on Blaze Radio ASU.
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Caitlyn Cole is a college access professional with a decade of experience in non-profit program and project management for college readiness and access organizations.
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Maria Geiger is Director of Scholarship Services at Scholarships360. She is a former online educational technology instructor and adjunct writing instructor. In addition to education reform, Maria’s interests include viewpoint diversity, blended/flipped learning, digital communication, and integrating media/web tools into the curriculum to better facilitate student engagement. Maria earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from Monmouth University, an M. Ed. in Education from Monmouth University, and a Virtual Online Teaching Certificate (VOLT) from the University of Pennsylvania.
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The FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is the single most important part of the financial aid process. This single application is the key for unlocking need-based financial aid at colleges and universities across the United States. Through the FAFSA, students can be eligible for a wide variety of need-based financial aid including:
- Grants like Pell Grants and Federal SEOG Grants
- Student Loans including Subsidized and Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loans and PLUS Loans
- Work study
This FAFSA 101 Guide will make the process of completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid simple and stress-free.
FAFSA dates to remember
It is important to follow all of the FAFSA deadlines! Some college money is awarded on a first-come first-serve basis. Therefore, try to complete the FAFSA as soon as it opens! We recommend putting the FAFSA deadlines on your calendar as soon as possible:
- FAFSA Opened: Late September 2025
- State Specific Deadlines: Varies by State
- Federal Deadline: June 30th, 2026 11:59pm Central Time (CST)
As a reminder, the FAFSA is open for the full school year, or three semesters (for example, Fall 2026, Spring 2026, Summer 2026). So anyone attending college during those three terms needs to complete this FAFSA.
Why is completing the FAFSA so important?
The FAFSA is one of the most important steps to complete in the college application process! The schools you get accepted into will look at your FAFSA information to determine what your financial aid package will look like for that academic year. Your award letter may include grants, work-study, federal student loans and state or school financial aid. This award offer can be used to cover costs such as tuition, fees, housing, meals, books, a laptop and much more.
Expert Perspective
Jack Wang | Wealth Advisor, Innovative Advisory Group
What to know before filling out the 2026-27 FAFSA
- You will need your 2023 income information
- The FAFSA is split into roles, so when you log in as a student you will only see the student questions! If contributor information is required, then your parent or guardian will only see contributor questions.
- Every person logging into the FAFSA (student, student’s spouse, parent, parent’s spouse) will need their own unique FSA ID that can be created with or without a Social Security number
- The schools you list on your FAFSA will receive your FAFSA information electronically and you can list up to 20 schools
- You and your contributors may need to answer questions about untaxed income such as child support and interest income
- Make sure you have records of your savings and checking account balances as well as the value of any investments and businesses
Filling out the FAFSA step-by-step
Ok, once these dates are on your calendar, you can get started on the actual application! We have broken the entire FAFSA application into a step-by-step process:
- Create your FSA ID
- Gather the necessary materials
- Answer the FAFSA Questions
- Submit the FAFSA by the necessary deadline
We also have a number of Frequently Asked Questions for you to check out! Keep on reading to complete your FAFSA and ensure that you will qualify for the maximum amount of need-based financial aid that you are eligible for!
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See all opportunitiesStep One: Create your FSA ID
Your Federal Student Aid ID is a unique username and password that allows you to access the FSA online platform and is your legal signature for filling out forms. Every person who will be filling out the FAFSA including the student, student’s spouse, parent and parent’s spouse must create a FSA ID. In the past, a Social Security number was required to create a FSA ID, however, that is no longer the case. Those without a SSN can create an account using a verification process. Create your FSA ID here.
(Keep in mind that someone may have previously created an FSA ID if they were a student and completed a previous FAFSA or a parent has an older child who has completed a FAFSA. If you are unable to recover an existing FSA ID, you will have to call Federal Student Aid to help you get your log in information.)
Step Two: Gather the necessary materials
Once you have created your FSA ID, you will need to gather the necessary materials to actually fill out the actual application. Our list of the necessary materials for both dependent and independent students can help you prepare.
Step Three: Answer the FAFSA questions
The questions online won’t appear in this exact order. The FAFSA also incorporates skip-logic online, so how a student answers a question will affect the questions they must answer. Students should never answer more questions than needed to submit the FAFSA. If asked if they’d like to skip, they should answer “YES.” If the college needs the info, the college will follow up with the student after receiving the FAFSA information and the student can then provide the individual college with the information.
Now you are ready to answer the actual questions. The 2026-27 FAFSA has two main portions, the student portion and the contributor portion. They almost appear as if you and your contributor are completing two different applications; however, they do combine to make a completed FAFSA. Here are the definitions of these relationships:
- Student: The student who is completing the FAFSA for financial aid for college
- Contributor: The legal parents of dependent students who are either the biological, adoptive or a person that the state has determined to be a parent
- Contributor Spouse: If the student’s contributor/parent is married then the parent’s spouse’s information is required on the FAFSA. If the student’s parent is unmarried and living with a partner, the partner’s information is only required if the partner is also the student’s legal parent.
Student FAFSA
It’s recommended that the student complete their portion of the FAFSA first so that they can invite their contributor to complete their portion next.
Remember, you ideally already created your FSA ID before starting your FAFSA (it takes 1-3 business days for FSA IDs to be verified). When you log in to complete your FAFSA, you will first be taken through several pages of resources. You’ll then be asked to confirm your personal information, confirm your state of residence, and provide consent and approval for the use of your federal tax information. After providing consent, the student will see a page displaying the results from the IRS import.
Next, students will be prompted to answer questions about their personal circumstance. Questions included in this section include:
- Student current marital
- Student’s college or career school plans
- Checking off any applicable student circumstances (used to determine dependency status)
- Whether the student was homeless or at-risk of being homeless
- Stating whether there are any unusual circumstances that are preventing the student from being able to report their contributor information for the FAFSA
- Providing information about the student’s parent(s) – the information provided here is used to ‘invite’ the student’s contributor to complete their portion of the FAFSA
Next, students will answer demographic questions including:
- Gender, race and ethnicity, and citizenship status
- Parent education status
- Student high school completion status and high school information
Students will then be taken to the Financials portion of the FAFSA. In this section, if a student data from the IRS successfully was transferred during the consent portion of the FASA, most information should already be filled in. Students will still need to manually update information about total money they have in cash, checking and savings accounts. If the IRS didn’t successfully transfer financial information, then the student will have to update this section manually.
After the Financials portion, a student is taken to the Colleges page where they can select up to 20 colleges to send their FAFSA information to. After confirming colleges, students will be taken to the Student Review Page to confirm all the information they’ve submitted is accurate. They will also be able to view whether they successfully invited their contributor to complete the form.
Finally, the student will provide their digital signature (FSA ID) to submit and complete the student section.
Contributor FAFSA
If the student completed their portion of the FAFSA first, the contributor should have an email from Federal Student Aid or StudentAid.gov inviting them to complete the contributor portion of the FAFSA. Once the contributor uses their FSA ID to log into the FAFSA, the sections look very similar to what is in the student portion.
They will first be taken through several pages of resources then be asked to confirm their personal information, confirm their state of residence, and provide consent and approval for the use of their federal tax information. After providing consent, the contributor will see a page displaying the results from the IRS import.
If the IRS import was successful, the contributor will only have to answer a few questions about demographics and financials before signing and submitting the FAFSA. If the IRS import is not successful, the contributor will have slightly more questions to answer manually. Some items the contributor will need to report are:
- Any federal benefits received
- Parent tax filing status
- Family size
- Number of family members in college
- Tax return information
- Parent/contributor asset information
- Information about their spouse or partner
Similarly, after providing this information, the contributor will then confirm that all of their submissions are correct and then electronically sign and submit the FAFSA using their FSA ID.
Step Five: Submit the FAFSA by the necessary deadline
While the Federal FAFSA deadline is June 30th, different states have different deadlines. You will want to make sure that you are minding the specific deadlines. This is why we recommend that you submit your application as soon as possible. Remember, it is a free application and there is no downside to applying early.
Related: Can I make corrections to my FAFSA after submitting?
After you file the 2026-27 FAFSA
Once you submit your 2026-27 FAFSA application you will see a confirmation page which includes your completion date, next steps, and your estimated Student Aid Index (SAI). The SAI is a calculated number that determines a student financial need based on information provided on the FAFSA.
Once you submit the FAFSA, you may be selected for verification. FAFSA verification is the process used by the Department of Education to double check your financial information. There is nothing to worry about if you are chosen! You will need to provide additional information as requested by your colleges. Now that you have submitted your 2026-27 FAFSA, you will need to wait for your selected colleges to send you their financial aid packages.
Expert Perspective
Melody Lipford | Advising Specialist on the Virtual Access Team, College Possible
Frequently asked questions about completing the FAFSA
How much money will FAFSA give me?
Do I need to complete the FAFSA every year?
What does my FAFSA SAI mean?
When should I fill out the FAFSA for the fall semester?
Additionally, students who are current college students will need to renew their financial aid each year by submitting a renewal FAFSA!