FAFSA 2027–28 is open: what parents of high school seniors should do now

Steps

1. Create StudentAid.gov accounts now: one for your student and one for each parent who has to add information. Use StudentAid.gov's "Who needs a StudentAid.gov account" tool if you're not sure who that is. Each account needs a name exactly as it appears on the Social Security card, date of birth, email and Social Security number (if you have one).
2. Look up your state's deadline on StudentAid.gov's FAFSA deadlines page, plus each college's own deadline. Put the earliest one on the family calendar.
3. Expect the form to ask about 2025 taxes. The 2027–28 FAFSA uses tax information from two years before the award year, and most people can import federal tax information directly.
4. Have the other details handy: current balances of checking and savings accounts, cash over $1,000, child support received, and the value of any investments, businesses or farms (not counting retirement accounts).
5. Your student starts the form on the official .gov site and invites you as a contributor. Then you log in with your own account, add your section and sign.
6. List every college your student might attend, then check the FAFSA Submission Summary when it arrives. StudentAid.gov says most forms are processed immediately and some take one to three days.

Deadlines that matter

• Federal: the 2027–28 FAFSA must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Central time on June 30, 2028. That's far too late for most state and college aid.
• States set their own deadlines, and some award aid until funds run out. For example, StudentAid.gov lists March 2, 2027 for most California state aid programs, and "as soon as possible after Oct. 1, 2026" for Illinois' Monetary Award Program.
• Each college may set its own deadline and may define it differently (for example, the date your form is processed or the date the school receives your data). Ask each school.

Watch out for

• The FAFSA is free. If a website asks you to pay to fill it out, you're on the wrong site. The real form is on a .gov website.
• Keep your records, but don't mail them to Federal Student Aid.
• If your student submitted during the early testing period and it went through, StudentAid.gov says they don't need to submit again.

For PTAs and PTSAs

High school PTSAs can add a one-line FAFSA reminder (with the state deadline) to the November newsletter, and ask the counseling office whether it's hosting a FAFSA help night.

Sources

Federal Student Aid, Financial Aid Toolkit: 2027–28 FAFSA Form Now Available (Sep 23, 2026) — https://financialaidtoolkit.ed.gov/tk/announcement-detail.jsp?id=fafsa-updates

StudentAid.gov: Filling Out the FAFSA Form — https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out

StudentAid.gov: FAFSA Application Deadlines — https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/fafsa-deadlines

StudentAid.gov: FAFSA Help — https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/help

This page is general information, not financial or tax advice. Check deadlines with your state agency and each college.

Related

• November school-parent checklist
• October school-parent checklist
• Parent-teacher conference prep: a 15-minute checklist

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