Key takeaways:
- Most colleges in the United States use the FAFSA to determine federal and institutional financial aid packages for their students.
- The FAFSA asks students and their parents about personal circumstances, demographics, and finances.
- The completed form is processed in 1 to 3 days, and students can then review their estimated financial aid and Student Aid Index (SAI).
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) determines a student’s financial need, opening the door to federal student loans, grants, scholarships, institutional aid, work-study programs, and more. In most cases, both students and at least one parent will need to complete the FAFSA each year. If you’re completing the application online, we’ve put together a comprehensive question-by-question FAFSA guide for you below. We also provided some tips on getting started, why the FAFSA is so important, and what to expect after you’ve submitted the form.
Why do I need to file the FAFSA?
File the FAFSA every year in college. It’s required in order to qualify for federal aid, federal student loans, and most state and institutional grants and scholarships. Skipping it could mean missing out on awards that could help make college more affordable.
Even if you didn’t receive any major offers beyond federal student loans in previous years, still take the time to submit the application in the following years. Income thresholds and school funding change, and new institutional scholarships are being added all the time. Your financial situation may also be different.
When does the FAFSA Open?
The FAFSA opens every year on October 1 for the next academic year. For example, the 2026-2027 FAFSA opened on October 1, 2025. Complete it as soon as possible to maximize your financial aid offer and reduce the risk of missing college FAFSA deadlines.
In some cases, your college might request the CSS Profile with or instead of the FAFSA.
Getting started with the FAFSA
The FAFSA has become much easier to complete in recent years, with fewer questions and a more streamlined application process. To get started, you’ll need to create an account on the Federal Student Aid (FSA) website and receive your FSA ID. Your account allows you to submit your application, make changes, and view its status. In most cases, both the student and at least one parent have to open accounts.
During this initial process, you’ll need to supply your:
- Name exactly as it appears on your Social Security Card
- Date of birth
- Phone number
- Address
- Social Security number
Before you start on the first section of the application, you can review, verify, and edit this information. You’ll also be given access to a few introductory videos about the FAFSA if you’d like to learn more. Parents and students also need to provide consent and approval for the FAFSA to retrieve information from their tax returns, even if they didn’t file a tax return. If this consent is not provided, the student will not receive any federal student aid.
To make the process easier, it helps to gather your financial information before moving onto the next sections, such as details on any current assets, grants, scholarships, and foreign income.
Section-by-section guide to the FAFSA for students
For students, there are five to six sections to the online FAFSA. Depending on your answers and financial situation, some students may have to answer more or fewer questions.
Section 1: Personal Circumstances
“Personal Circumstances” asks for the student’s:
- Current marital status
- College or career plans for the 2026-27 school year
- Personal circumstances, such as military or veteran status, foster care, guardianship, homelessness, unique risks, dependency status, or similar
At the end of this section, students will see if they are a “dependent” on their parents. If they’re a dependent, they’ll need to invite their legal parent in Section 5 of the FAFSA. If they’re an independent, they will only have to complete five sections total.
Section 2: Demographics
Section 2 of the FAFSA is focused on collecting research data. There are questions on:
- Student’s sex
- Race and ethnicity
- Citizenship status
- High school completion status
- High school information
- Parent’s education status
- Parent(s) killed in the line of duty
Most of these questions won’t affect your aid eligibility. However, some colleges and states offer grants and scholarships if you’re a first-generation student or if a parent was killed in the line of duty.
Section 3: Financials
Section 3 dives into your income. If you’re completing the 2026-27 FAFSA that opened on October 1, 2025, you will be using your income and tax information from 2024.
Some details you’ll need to supply include:
- IRA rollovers
- Grants and scholarships reported as income
- Foreign income earned
- Assets, such as savings, investments, and net worth of select businesses
- Real estate, but not including the primary home
You can put “0” if any of these don’t apply to you.
A lot can change between when you filed your taxes and when you complete the FAFSA. If your current financial situation is different compared to the tax information – such as a major illness or loss of employment – follow up with your colleges’ financial aid offices to explain the change in your circumstances. It may impact your financial aid package.
Section 4: Colleges
Here you’ll be entering colleges and universities you wish to have your FAFSA results sent to. These schools will then use the information, specifically the Student Aid Index (SAI), to determine your eligibility for financial aid, including federal and institutional aid.
You can select up to 20 schools at a time. You can enter the college’s Federal School Code or search by state to find your school.
If you decide to apply to more than 20 schools, you can remove a college at any time. They will still have access to any previously submitted FAFSA data, but they will not receive any updates or changes unless you re-add them later.
Section 5: Contributor Invite
Unless you’re an independent student, you need to invite your legal parent to complete the FAFSA with you through email. If you’re not sure which of your parents is your “legal parent,” this tool from the FSA can help.
Section 6: Signature
In this final section, review all of the information you supplied. Then you’ll need to sign the application using your FSA ID and agree to the terms.
Section-by-section guide to the FAFSA for parents
After the student has invited the parent, the parent can start on their side of the FAFSA. You need to log into your parent account on the FSA website and enter your invitation code. There are only three to four sections.
- Demographics: Supply your marital status, state of residence, and how long you’ve lived at the residence.
- Financials: Provide additional information on any received federal benefits, family size, dependents, assets, and income.
- Contributor Invite: In some situations – such as a divorce, remarriage, or separate tax filings – the parent will need to invite the other parent to participate as a contributor by providing their email. That additional parent will then need to complete sections 1, 2, and 4.
- Signature: Review the information you’ve provided, sign with your FSA ID, and agree to the terms to submit the FAFSA.
What happens after I complete the FAFSA?
After you and your parent(s) have submitted the FAFSA online, it takes one to three days to be processed. You may receive a request to supply additional information. Submit these details as soon as possible to prevent delays and potential impacts to your financial aid offers.
Once it’s processed, you can review your Student Aid Index (SAI) and estimated financial aid on your FSA account. Make sure to update your college list should you decide to apply to any additional schools. You’ll receive official financial aid offer letters with or shortly after your college acceptance letters.
The FAFSA should be at the core of your financial aid game plan, but it’s not the only way to get money for college. There are thousands of scholarships out there from nonprofits, organizations, businesses, independents, and more. Start exploring awards you qualify for with our Scholarship Search Tool.
