The FAFSA in plain English (2027-28)
The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is the one free form that decides your federal grants, work-study and student loans, and most states and colleges use it to hand out their own aid too. The 2027-28 FAFSA, for the school year starting July 2027, opened October 1, 2026. Each person's section usually takes about 12 minutes.
What the FAFSA gets you
One form, filled out once a year, puts you in line for federal Pell Grants (up to $7,395 for 2026-27; the 2027-28 amount hasn't been announced yet), federal work-study and federal student loans.
It also unlocks a lot of state and college money. In our research, 393 state-funded grants and scholarships use the FAFSA to decide who gets them, including some merit scholarships that have nothing to do with income.
Before you start
- A StudentAid.gov account (your FSA ID) for you, and one for each parent or spouse who has to add information. Making one takes your name as it appears on your Social Security card, your date of birth, an email address and your Social Security number if you have one.
- Your parent's email address, if a parent needs to add information (they get an invitation to fill in their section).
- Usually no tax documents: most people let the form pull their tax info straight from the IRS. The 2027-28 FAFSA uses 2025 tax information.
- If the form asks: records of savings and checking balances, investments, businesses or farms, and child support received.
- At least one college or career school to send it to (you can list up to 20 online, and add or remove schools later).
How it works, step by step
- Log in at StudentAid.gov and start the 2027-28 FAFSA. It's free: the real form is only on a .gov site and never charges a fee.
- Fill in your section. If your parents need to be on it, invite them; they log in with their own account to add their part.
- Everyone who's asked (you, and parents or a spouse if required) must agree to share their federal tax info from the IRS and sign. The FAFSA isn't finished until every required person has done their part.
- Submit. Most forms process right away; some take 1 to 3 days, and you get an email when it's done.
After you submit
You get a FAFSA Submission Summary with an estimate of the federal aid you may qualify for and your Student Aid Index (SAI), the number schools use to work out need. It's an estimate: the real numbers come in each school's aid offer, which arrives after you're admitted.
You can log back in to add schools or fix mistakes until September 12, 2028. Some schools pick forms to double-check (called verification) and ask for documents by their own deadline.
Questions
- When does the 2027-28 FAFSA open?
- It opened October 1, 2026, and it covers the school year from July 1, 2027 to June 30, 2028.
- How long does the FAFSA take?
- StudentAid.gov says each person's section typically takes about 12 minutes, because most tax information is pulled in automatically from the IRS.
- What's the FAFSA deadline?
- The federal deadline for the 2027-28 FAFSA is 11:59 p.m. Central time on June 30, 2028. States and colleges set their own, much earlier deadlines for their money.
We checked these facts against official sources (studentaid.gov and each state's financial aid agency) on the date above. Deadlines and amounts change every year, so always confirm on studentaid.gov or with your school's financial aid office. StudentSoar explains how aid works; we can't give advice about your individual situation. Find scholarships and grants you qualify for.