What is FAFSA? Your Guide to the FAFSA 2025-2026

Higher education continues to get more expensive each year. Fortunately, financial aid has also increased, and the best way to apply for it is to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Completing the FAFSA form can open the door to over $114 billion in government student aid. To help, we’ve rounded up some of the most frequently asked questions about FAFSA below. 

What is FAFSA? 

The FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is one of the most important documents for college students to fill out each year. This form will help decide what kind of aid you’re eligible for, like grants, loans and work study programs.  

When will 2025-2026 FAFSA open? 

FAFSA will be opened for the public by December 1, 2024 for the 2025–2026 school year. 

Between October 1 and December 1, the 2025–26 FAFSA form will be available to individuals selected to participate in a limited beta release. You must be invited to participate in the beta release. 

The federal FAFSA form closes for the 2025–2026 school year on 11:59 pm CT on June 30, 2026. However, your state or school may have earlier deadlines. 

When should I apply for FAFSA? 

Apply as early as possible! The sooner you apply, the better your chance is to receive the most aid possible for you. Because different forms of financial aid may have limited allocations, it’s important to have your aid request in as soon as you can. 

How are my taxes involved with FAFSA? 

To fill out your FAFSA form, you will need several pieces of important personal information, including your and your contributors’ income tax returns. With the new simplified FAFSA form, you will transfer most of the tax information needed on your application directly from the IRS, but you’ll still want to have your tax returns on hand for other questions. 

How complicated is the application? 

Good news! The FAFSA application was recently overhauled to be simpler and more streamlined than ever. Depending on your situation, you may be able to finish it in as little as 10 minutes.

What else do I need to know? 

As with any form, it’s important to read and follow instructions carefully. To learn more about what’s required to apply to FAFSA and how to do so, please visit studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa. 

Additionally, make sure you do all of the following: 

Have all your information when you apply. Make sure to have your income tax return and your parent’s income tax returns available for the most recent tax year.

Double check that all your information is accurate. Mistakes can delay your student aid. For example, because FAFSA is a government application, you must enter your name exactly as it appears on your social security card. 

Include your parents’ information. Even if you are fully self-supporting, you need to enter your and your parents’ information, so the FAFSA application can determine if you are a dependent or not. FAFSA uses different criteria than the IRS when determining dependency. 

Make sure you and your contributors sign your application. Once you complete your portion of the FAFSA form online you will have to acknowledge the terms and conditions of the form and electronically sign your portion. Then you will be able to submit your portion. However, your FAFSA form won’t be complete until your contributor provides their portion of the FAFSA form, agrees to transfer their federal tax information, and provides their signatures. Once you and your parent (or other required contributor) sign and submit the FAFSA form, it will be considered complete and submitted for processing. 

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Applying for FAFSA

In order to receive access to that student aid, you’ll need to fill out your application (which includes providing income tax information) accurately. Mistakes can be costly, so here are a few common ones that you should avoid.

Not having your information when you complete your application. Make sure to have your and your parent’s income tax returns available for the most recent tax year. If you or your parents have not filed your income tax return for the most recent tax year, you can make an estimate of how much you anticipate it will show, but you will need to update your application with the actual numbers after the tax returns are filed.

Inputting the wrong information. This is a common risk any time you’re completing an application, but mistakes can delay your student aid. For example, since it is a government application, you must enter your name exactly as it appears on your social security card.

Not including your parents’ information. Student applicants sometimes make the mistake of assuming that they only need to put their own information on the application if they are fully self-supporting, but that’s not how FAFSA works. You have to enter your and your parents’ information, so the FAFSA application can determine if you are a dependent or not. FAFSA uses different criteria than the IRS when determining dependency. The new FAFSA form resolves technical issues, so students can now invite contributors without a social security number (SSN) to participate in their FAFSA form. 

Not signing the application. Even if you fully and accurately complete every question on the FAFSA application, if you fail to sign the application, it won’t be delivered. Your parents will also need to sign the application as well. Failure to do either will invalidate the application.

Using Your Tax Return to Complete Your FAFSA Application

As a reminder, your application depends on your and your parents’ income information, and it needs to match what the government has on file with the IRS. Your financial information will need to come directly from your tax returns, so follow these steps to complete the FAFSA form accurately using your tax return.

You don’t need to send your tax returns. Your application requires certain information from your tax returns and your parents’ but not the tax returns themselves. However, it is possible that the school may request your tax returns so that they can verify your income information.

Use the IRS DRT whenever possible. You can use this tool as long as at least two weeks have passed since you and your parents have filed your income tax returns with the IRS. The tool can be accessed from the finance section of your application, and it will take you directly to the IRS website. There, you will provide certain information (as it appears on your tax return) that will enable you to review the tax information before it’s transferred to your application. Once you return to the FAFSA application, the financial information from your tax return will be filled in automatically. By using the IRS DRT, you eliminate the possibility of making mistakes that can cause your application to be delayed or rejected.

Use the IRS DRT if you have used estimated income. If you used income estimates on your application because you haven’t filed your income tax return or because not enough time has passed since you did, you should use IRS DRT to provide the actual numbers once they are available in the system. In order to update your financial information, go to the “Make FAFSA Corrections” tab and confirm that your taxes have been filed. You will then be directed to follow the instructions on the IRS DRT to transfer your tax information just as you would have if your returns had been filed before you applied.

Why you may not be able to use the IRS DRT. There are certain circumstances where you might not be able to use the IRS DRT tool. This can happen if you indicate that either you haven’t filed your tax return yet or you aren’t filing a tax return. You may not file your taxes if your income is under the IRS income filing requirement ($13,850 single or $27,700 married filing jointly for 2024). It can also happen if your marital status changed during the tax year or if you or your parents filed an amended tax return for the year. If any of those situations are your case, you will need to enter the financial information manually.

Keep these strategies in mind when completing the FAFSA to help the process go smoothly!

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