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Applying for federal aid is a step most high school students take as they transition to college life. Parents going through the college admissions process for the first time, though, may not realize that they also play a huge role in helping their children apply for grants and scholarships through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®).
The 2027-2028 FAFSA form opens to students on October 1, 2026. While you technically have until June 30, 2028 to submit the form, it’s highly recommended that families complete it as soon as possible. That’s because some aid offered by colleges and states is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.
Here, we’ve compiled some of the most important information on how you can help your child during the FAFSA process.
Key Points
• You’ll need to complete the FAFSA to be considered for federal student loans, grants, and many other forms of financial aid.
• You’ll improve your chances of receiving aid by submitting the FAFSA as early as possible after it opens on October 1, 2026.
• Gather financial documents before applying, including tax information, bank statements, and asset details for you and your child.
• You’ll need to reapply every year because completing the FAFSA once doesn’t automatically renew your financial aid eligibility.
• Review your application carefully before submitting it to avoid errors that could delay processing or reduce your financial aid eligibility.
FAFSA Facts and Tips
Filling out the FAFSA for the first time? These facts and FAFSA tips can help you prepare for the application process and offer suggestions for getting the most aid.
1. The FAFSA Is Required to Receive Government Student Loans
For those who may be new to the financial aid process, the FAFSA is the form students fill out to apply for federal financial aid, including federal student loans. More than 17 million students fill out the FAFSA each year. Your child won’t be eligible for government-funded college aid, such as federal loans or grants, if they don’t apply.
Recommended: Step-by-Step Guide to Filling Out the New FAFSA Form
2. Your Child Could Qualify for Grants by Filling Out the FAFSA
While you can get subsidized or unsubsidized loans through FAFSA, your child may also be eligible for grants. One common federal grant is the Pell Grant, which is awarded to first-time undergraduate students who show exceptional financial need, such as coming from a low-income family.
3. It Determines Work-Study Eligibility
Federal work-study is a way for students to earn income at a part-time job while in college. These jobs can be on or off campus and vary by school, although not all schools participate in the program. You have to fill out the FAFSA to determine if you’re eligible for work-study programs.
4. Some Schools Use the FAFSA to Determine What Aid They Offer
If the schools your child applies to offer their own aid, such as need-based scholarships, they may use the FAFSA to determine eligibility. As we noted above, it’s recommended that families submit the form as soon as possible after it becomes available in October, because some school aid is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.
You may also want to check with the schools your child is applying to and ask if they have a separate application for internal scholarships and grants.
Recommended: FAFSA Guide
5. Most Applicants Under Age 24 Are Considered Dependents
Most students under the age of 24 who are neither married nor parents themselves won’t be able to apply as an independent student. As a result, for most incoming freshmen, their parents’ income is counted in the determination of financial need.
6. Your Child Needs Your Information to Apply
If your child is filing as a dependent, then they’ll need some basic information about your finances, such as your income and paid taxes. You may also elect to apply for a Parent PLUS loan at some point, which can help cover your child’s educational expenses if they don’t receive enough in loans and grants to cover costs. Note that you may need to provide additional information to apply for a Parent PLUS loan.
7. Higher-Income Families May Want to Still Apply
If your family is middle- or upper-class, you may wonder if your child will receive any FAFSA aid. However, applying is free, and family income is just one of many factors considered during the application process. Additionally, your child’s school still may require the FAFSA to consider them for institutional aid, such as non-need-based scholarships, so it may be worth applying for even if you don’t think your child will need or receive aid.
8. Grades Don’t Affect FAFSA Eligibility
The FAFSA does not have a GPA requirement to apply. However, your child may want to keep in mind that they could lose any aid given to them through the FAFSA if they have poor grades for multiple semesters after they receive the aid.
9. Deadlines Differ by State and School
The FAFSA form doesn’t close until June 30, 2027, for the 2026-2027 academic year, and June 30, 2028, for the 2027-2028 academic year. However, FAFSA application deadlines vary by state and school. State and school deadlines may close prior to the federal deadlines. If you’re not sure what deadlines apply to your student, consider checking with the financial aid office of each school your child applies to and asking what their FAFSA deadlines are.
10. Having Multiple Kids in College No Longer Affects Financial Aid Awards
The federal aid formula no longer reduces the Student Aid Index (SAI) simply because a family has more than one child enrolled in college at the same time. Before, families with multiple children in college may have qualified to receive more aid. That’s no longer the case. However, at the same time, the Pell Grant opportunity has been expanded so that students who might not have gotten a Pell Grant before may now get one. These are two of many changes created through the FAFSA Simplification Act, which aims to simplify the FAFSA form and therefore encourage more families to fill it out.
12. The FAFSA Has Changed the Process for Children of Divorce
Before the new simplified FAFSA, in the case when a child’s parents are separated, the custodial parent’s information was included on the form. However, now the parent who provides the most financial support to the student is responsible for filling out the FAFSA.
13. Your Child Will Need Their Social Security or Alien Registration Number
As your child prepares to fill out the FAFSA, they’ll need their Social Security or Alien Registration (if they are not a U.S. citizen) number.,
14. Have Certain Nontaxable Income Information at the Ready
You may need to provide the amount of the untaxed portion of any IRAs and pensions you may have and deductions and contributions to self-employed SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, and qualified plans.
15. Your Child May Need to Report Grants and Scholarships
Most first-time college students won’t need to report any grants or scholarships they received. However, they may need to report the taxable portion of scholarships and grants if that amount was included as income on their federal tax return, such as:
• National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program
• Taxable work-studies, assistantships, or fellowships
• Other grants or scholarships reported to the IRS
If you have any doubts about what types of grants may be taxable, consider consulting a tax professional.
16. Have Bank Statements Available
To fill out the FAFSA, you’ll need bank statements for both you and your child. This information helps determine how much aid your child will be eligible for.
17. You Don’t Have to Have a Social Security Number to Sign the Form
If you’re filing the FAFSA online and you don’t have a Social Security number, you can create a federal student aid (FSA) ID without it. Your FSA ID is your login and password. Then you can proceed with filling out your portion of the form.
18. You Don’t Need to File Taxes Before Submitting the FAFSA
If you filed for an extension for your tax return, you can use your W-2 or 1099 statements. But you will need to update the FAFSA once you file. This is because which tax bracket you’re in can impact how much aid your child is eligible for.
19. You’ll Need to Have a List of Assets Ready
The FAFSA uses parental assets to help determine aid eligibility. You’ll need to know how much in assets you have, which include (but are not limited to):
• Money in cash, savings, and checking accounts
• Non-retirement investments (such as stocks and mutual funds)
• Businesses
• Investment farms (in other words, you don’t live on and operate the farm)
• Other investments, such as real estate and stock options
20. Some 529 Plans Are Also Considered Assets
When filling out information about assets, you’ll also need to provide the value of the 529 College Savings Plans you own. Also, if your dependent child owns a 529 plan, you will need to report it as a parental asset, not as the student’s asset. However, a 529 owned by anyone else, such as the student’s grandparents, is no longer reported as an asset on the FAFSA.
21. Your Primary Home Doesn’t Need to Be Listed as an Asset
One common FAFSA mistake is listing your primary home as an asset. However, the FAFSA does not require you to do so. In fact, listing it as an asset can decrease the amount of aid your child receives.
22. You Don’t Need Your Retirement Information
The FAFSA also doesn’t count the value of retirement accounts as assets. Again, including them can inflate the number of assets you have and therefore may decrease the amount of aid your child is offered. However, as mentioned above, you will need to report the untaxed contributions and withdrawals from these accounts on the FAFSA.
23. You’ll Need to Include Each School Your Child Is Applying To
When you and your child fill out the FAFSA, you’ll want to have a list of all the schools your child may be interested in applying to. You’ll need each school’s federal school code to add them to the list of schools you want your FAFSA information sent to, although you can also search for this information on the form itself if you can’t find it on the school’s website. It may be wise to include schools your child isn’t sure they want to apply to yet since it’s easier to simply add the school to the list now rather than having to send the school your FAFSA information later.
24. Schools, Not the Government, Will Give You Financial Aid Updates
Part of the reason you’ll need to send your FAFSA to schools your child is considering applying to is because schools, not the government, send out financial aid packages. As such, each school your child applies to may offer a different financial aid package.
25. Skipping Information Can Be Costly
Before hitting submit, you might want to double-check that every section of the FAFSA is filled out (and accurate). Skipping FAFSA sections may result in delays in your application being processed, errors that prevent you from submitting, or even a decrease in the amount of financial aid you may get.
26. Your Child Will Need to Take Student Loan Entrance and Exit Counseling
Students who receive Direct Subsidized or Unsubsidized loans or Direct PLUS loans for graduate students are required to take student loan entrance counseling. If a student is a first-time student loan borrower or a graduate student who has not previously received a Direct PLUS loan, they will need to take entrance counseling before their loans are disbursed. The counseling informs student borrowers about the terms and conditions of their loans, including interest rates, repayment options, and how to avoid default or delinquency.
Your child can take entrance counseling by logging into their account on StudentAid.gov. The course must be completed in one session. It’s important to note that some schools have different entrance counseling requirements, so check with the financial aid office to make sure nothing else is needed.
Similarly, after graduation, federal student loan borrowers need to take mandatory student loan exit counseling to help them navigate how the student loan repayment process works. A reminder will be sent to your child’s email in their last year of school about when this exit counseling is due. However, you and your child may want to consider reviewing student loan exit repayment options before the counseling is due to ensure they pick the best option based on their financial situation.
27. File Early to Get the Most Aid
While it may seem like you have a ton of time to fill out the FAFSA, it may be best to complete it sooner rather than later. Delaying can mean that financial aid for your state or school dries up before your child can even be considered for it. Additionally, knowing how much aid each school is offering your child may help them when deciding on which school to attend.
28. You Could Be Selected for FAFSA Verification
After your child receives their student aid report, they may get a message saying they were selected for verification. FAFSA verification is used by some schools to simply verify that students’ FAFSA information is accurate. Some schools randomly select people to be verified, some verify all students, and some may elect not to verify any students.
29. You Can Appeal Your Aid Package
Once your child has their financial aid packages, they may find that they were offered less than they expected or hoped for. If your child’s dream college didn’t offer enough aid (or perhaps even didn’t offer them any aid), they may be able to appeal for more financial aid. This process may be especially important if your financial situation has changed since you and your child first applied for the FAFSA. While schools may deny the request, it doesn’t cost you or your child anything but time to ask for more aid.
30. You Can List Unusual Circumstances That Affect Your Finances
Another way to try to increase your financial aid package is by listing unusual financial circumstances both on your FAFSA and in an appeal letter to schools you’re applying to. Some common unusual circumstances include (but are not limited to):
• Having tuition expenses in elementary and/or secondary schools
• Experiencing unusual medical or dental expenses not covered by insurance
• Having a family member become unemployed recently
• Experiencing changes in income and/or assets that could affect aid eligibility
31. You’ll Have to Reapply Every Year
Once you’ve filed your FAFSA, you may want to keep your login information in a safe place. You’ll need that information to file the FAFSA every year your child is in school, and losing your FSA login information may delay your ability to apply next year. You may also want to set a reminder on your phone or calendar to apply next year, although the FAFSA will send you an email reminder when next year’s FAFSA is open.
The Takeaway
Filling out and submitting the FAFSA is an important first step in helping your child pay for college. Knowing how the FAFSA works and how to optimize the amount of aid your child receives can help increase the amount of federal aid they’re offered.
However, if your child’s financial aid package isn’t enough to cover college costs, they may want to consider private student loans. It’s important to note, however, that private student loans don’t offer the same borrower protections as federal student loans. That’s why it’s wise to consider all the options to make the best choice to help pay for your child’s education.
If you’ve exhausted all federal student aid options, no-fee private student loans from SoFi can help you pay for school. The online application process is easy, and you can see rates and terms in just minutes. Repayment plans are flexible, so you can find an option that works for your financial plan and budget.
FAQ
Do I need to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid every year?
Yes, you must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each academic year to be considered for federal financial aid. Filing every year also allows colleges to determine your eligibility for grants, scholarships, work-study, and federal student loans.
What documents do I need to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid?
Before you begin, gather financial information for both you and your child. Depending on your circumstances, you may need tax records, bank statements, and information about certain assets to complete the application accurately.
Should I complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid if I don’t think I’ll qualify for financial aid?
Yes, many colleges use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to award institutional scholarships and grants, even if you aren’t eligible for need-based federal aid. Since the application is free, it’s worth submitting to maximize your financial aid opportunities.
Photo credit: iStock/wagnerokasaki
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