FAFSA: apply for aid and compare the offers

Start at the official site, and don’t pay for it

The FAFSA is free to fill out and submit. File it at StudentAid.gov. Federal Student Aid warns that websites charging for FAFSA help are not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education, and that a request for your credit card during the form means you are not on the official government page (FSA: avoiding student aid scams). Keep your FSA ID to yourself, even if someone is helping you.

Match the form to your attendance year

As checked on October 13, 2026, Federal Student Aid offers two FAFSA forms:

The form transfers federal tax information directly from the IRS, so most people can start and usually finish without finding a tax return first (FSA: filling out the FAFSA form). If you plan to attend a summer session, ask your school’s financial aid office which form to submit.

The federal deadline is a last resort, not a plan

For 2026–27, the FAFSA must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Central time on June 30, 2027, and any correction or update is due by 11:59 p.m. CT on Sept. 12, 2027. The 2027–28 federal dates are June 30, 2028 and Sept. 12, 2028 (FSA: FAFSA application deadlines).

State and school deadlines are often earlier than those final federal dates. States and schools set their own deadlines, some as early as February or March, and some state aid is limited; For the 2027–28 form, Connecticut’s priority date is Feb. 15, 2027. Check your state higher education agency’s deadline for each program, and ask every school whether its deadline means the date your form is processed or the date the school receives it (FSA: FAFSA application deadlines). Planning around the federal date alone can cost you state or school aid.

Know who counts as a contributor

You need your own StudentAid.gov account, and so does each contributor — every parent or spouse required to add information to your form (FSA: filling out the FAFSA form). Which parent that is depends on your family’s situation. If your parents are married and filed jointly, one parent reports for both. If they are married and filed separately, both are contributors. If they are divorced, separated, or never married and live apart, the parent who provided more financial support over the last 12 months is the contributor, or the parent with greater income and assets when support was equal. A widowed parent is the contributor, and a stepparent counts only if they adopted you, though the form may still ask for a stepparent’s information depending on how your parent files (FSA: reporting parent information). Use Federal Student Aid’s “Who’s My FAFSA Parent?” wizard when the answer is not clear.

Every contributor signs and gives consent and approval for their federal tax information to be transferred from the IRS. A contributor without a Social Security number, who did not file taxes, or who filed abroad still has to consent. If a required consent or signature is missing, the form is not complete and you are not eligible for federal student aid, and entering the tax figures by hand does not substitute for consent (FSA: filling out the FAFSA form).

Check the processed form, then correct it

Once the form is processed you can review your FAFSA Submission Summary and make corrections. The summary does not tell you how much aid you will get; it may instead say “Action Required”, for example when a signature or consent is missing. You can correct a mistake, add or remove schools (no more than 20 listed at one time online), or supply a missing signature before the correction deadline, and your school may select you for verification — a routine check that can ask for documents, to which you should respond by the school’s deadline (FSA: reviewing and correcting your FAFSA form).

Your SAI is not your college bill

The Student Aid Index is an eligibility index that a financial aid office uses to decide how much federal student aid you could receive. It is not a dollar amount of aid, not what your family is expected to provide, and not a final offer, and it ranges from –1500 to 999999. A negative SAI means higher financial need; Federal Student Aid’s example is that an SAI of –1500 corresponds to a maximum Pell Grant if you also meet the remaining requirements, such as not exhausting your lifetime limit. That is the shape of an award, not a promise of one. Do not subtract your SAI from a program’s advertised tuition to work out a personal price (FSA: what the Student Aid Index is).

Compare offers, and keep loans out of the arithmetic

A school sends its aid offer after you apply and are admitted. Take the cost of attendance from the offer, subtract the grants and scholarships, and the remainder is your out-of-pocket cost; loans cover that gap rather than reduce the price, so compare how much you would borrow at each school too. An offer can change — after verification, or if you move from on-campus to off-campus housing — so ask the financial aid office to explain any line you do not understand (FSA: comparing school aid offers).

If your family’s circumstances have changed since the tax year the form uses, submit the FAFSA and then explain the change to the school’s aid office, which may adjust your information; its decision is final (FSA: filling out the FAFSA form). Because an outside scholarship can affect other aid, ask each school how it treats one before you count on it (our scholarship guide).

Put each real offer beside the sticker price

The degree guides show a program’s published per-credit tuition, the residency rate you select, and the accepted transfer credits you enter. Those are published sticker costs, not your aid. They cannot confirm admission, your Student Aid Index, or any grant or scholarship, they do not include an offer, and a total stays unconfirmed when a school’s required fees are not fully published. Use them to narrow your list, then compare the offers you actually receive before you decide.