If your student is entering senior year of high school this fall, one date deserves a spot on your family calendar right now: October 1, 2026. The Department of Education says the 2027-28 FAFSA (the form your student will file to get financial aid for their freshman year of college) is on track to open by that date. That gives your family about ten weeks to get ready.
Filing early is one of the simplest ways to protect your family's shot at grants and scholarships. Some state aid programs give out money in the order applications arrive, and those funds can run out. The good news is that almost everything that slows families down in October can be handled over the summer, at your own pace, with no deadline pressure.
Here is what's new on the 2027-28 form, why the opening date matters, and a step-by-step checklist to be ready on day one.
What's New on the 2027-28 FAFSA
The Department of Education announced its plans for the 2027-28 form in a February 2026 press release. Three improvements stand out for families:
- Easier renewals. Students who filed a FAFSA before will see their data pre-populated from previous forms. Returning college students should be able to renew in minutes instead of starting from scratch.
- Clearer language. Questions and instructions have been rewritten to remove jargon, so families can better understand what is actually being asked.
- One entry for parents with multiple kids. If you have more than one child applying for federal aid, you will be able to reuse your parent information across all of their applications instead of retyping it for every child.
The form also keeps recent improvements that debuted in the 2026-27 cycle: a simple invite code for adding a parent to the form, faster identity verification when you create a StudentAid.gov account, and an earnings indicator that shows whether graduates of a school tend to out-earn high school graduates.
One more change matters for many families. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the FAFSA no longer counts the assets of small family businesses with 100 or fewer full-time employees, family farms you live on, or family commercial fishing operations. If a business or farm made your older kids look wealthier on paper than your family really is, the math is now fairer. Income from these operations still counts, but the value of the business or farm itself does not.
Why Filing in October Matters
The federal deadline for the 2027-28 FAFSA is not until June 30, 2028, which sounds relaxed. The real deadlines are much earlier, and they belong to states and colleges:
- Some state grants are first come, first served. A number of states award grant money in the order valid FAFSAs arrive and stop when the money runs out. Filing in October instead of February can be worth thousands of dollars.
- Colleges set their own priority deadlines. Many schools use dates in the late fall or early winter for their best institutional aid. Miss the priority date and you may still get federal aid, but the school's own grants can shrink.
- Early filing means earlier answers. The sooner your student files, the sooner colleges can build aid offers, and the more time your family has to compare real numbers instead of guessing.
Our guide to FAFSA deadlines for federal, state, and school aid breaks down how the three layers of deadlines fit together.
Your Summer Prep Checklist
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Everything below can be done in July, August, and September. None of it requires the FAFSA to be open.
1. Create StudentAid.gov Accounts
Both the student and at least one parent need their own StudentAid.gov account (you may hear this called an FSA ID). Do not share one account, and do not create an account for your child using your own email or phone number. Each person needs their own.
Account verification is faster than it used to be, but it is still smart to set these up weeks ahead. Parents without a Social Security number can create an account too; the process just includes extra identity questions and can take longer. Set up accounts in July and this entire step is off your plate.
2. Figure Out Who Counts as a Contributor
A "contributor" is anyone required to put information on the form: the student, one or both parents, and sometimes a stepparent. For married parents filing taxes jointly, this is simple. For divorced or separated parents, the rules trip up thousands of families every year. The parent who provided the most financial support over the past year is generally the one who goes on the form, and that may not be the parent the student lives with.
If this applies to your family, sort it out now, not in October. Our guide to the FAFSA for divorced or separated parents walks through who reports what.
3. Locate Your 2025 Tax Return
The 2027-28 FAFSA uses income from the 2025 tax year, the return you filed this past spring. Most families will not need to type in tax numbers at all. When you consent to the IRS data exchange, your tax information transfers to the form automatically, which is faster and reduces errors. Consent is required for the student to get federal aid, so plan on saying yes.
Keep a copy of your 2025 return handy anyway. If your college asks follow-up questions or selects you for verification, you will want it within reach.
4. Gather the Numbers You Still Report Yourself
The IRS handles income, but you will still self-report certain assets as of the day you file, including:
- Balances in checking and savings accounts
- Investments outside retirement accounts, such as brokerage accounts and 529 plans
- Net worth of businesses larger than 100 employees or investment properties
Remember: retirement accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs are not reported, and neither are qualifying family businesses, farms, or fishing operations. If you want to understand how your assets translate into your aid eligibility, our resource on reducing your SAI before filing the FAFSA explains which numbers matter and which do not.
5. Build the School List
The FAFSA lets your student list up to 20 colleges, and every school on the list receives the results. There is no downside to listing a school your student is only considering, and there is a real downside to leaving one off: the school cannot build an aid offer without it. Over the summer, have your student draft the list, including a couple of financial safety schools where the net cost is likely to be low.
6. Map Your State and School Deadlines
Spend twenty minutes looking up two things for each school on the list: the state aid deadline for your home state and each college's priority financial aid deadline. Put the earliest one on your calendar, then plan to file the FAFSA well before it.
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Already Have a Student in College? Renewal Is About to Get Easier
If you have an older child already in school, the 2027-28 form should be your easiest renewal yet. Their data will be pre-populated from last year's application, and if a younger sibling is filing for the first time, you will be able to reuse your parent information across both applications. File both students' forms in the same sitting to keep your family's aid picture consistent.
Put the FAFSA Inside a Bigger Plan
The FAFSA is the front door to federal aid, but it is only one piece of the plan. New federal loan limits that took effect on July 1, 2026 make early planning more important than ever. Parent PLUS loans are now capped at $20,000 per year and $65,000 total per student, so families can no longer count on borrowing whatever the bill says. Grants, scholarships, the right school list, and a realistic budget have to do more of the work.
A good summer plan looks like this: set up the FAFSA pieces above, then build a school-by-school cost picture so October's aid offers land in context. Create your free CollegeLens plan to estimate your net cost at each school on your student's list and see your funding gap before the first aid offer ever arrives. For the bigger picture on this year, our financial planning guide for families with a rising senior covers the full senior-year timeline.
Quick Answers for Busy Families
When does the 2027-28 FAFSA open?
The Department of Education says the form is on track to open by October 1, 2026. Watch StudentAid.gov for the official launch announcement.
Which tax year does the 2027-28 FAFSA use?
The 2025 tax year. That is the return your family filed in spring 2026, so no new tax paperwork is needed before you file.
Does my student have to file the FAFSA even if we think we earn too much?
In most cases, yes, it is worth filing. The FAFSA is the gateway to more than Pell Grants. Federal student loans, work-study, and many state and school scholarships all require it, and some merit awards do too. For the 2026-27 year, the maximum Pell Grant is $7,395, but plenty of aid flows to families well above Pell income levels.
Can filing early ever hurt us?
No. Aid offers are based on the information in the form, not on how quickly you filed. Filing early only adds options, including more time to correct mistakes and respond if your student is selected for verification.
The Bottom Line
The 2027-28 FAFSA is expected to open by October 1, 2026, and this year's version should be the smoothest yet: pre-populated renewals, plainer language, and less retyping for parents with multiple students. The families who benefit most will be the ones who show up ready. Create your StudentAid.gov accounts, settle any contributor questions, locate your 2025 tax return, know your asset numbers, finalize the school list, and mark the earliest deadline that applies to you.
When the form opens, file the FAFSA as early as your family reasonably can. Ten weeks of small steps this summer can mean a calmer October and, for many families, more aid.
Paying for college is stressful, and senior year piles on quickly. Getting the FAFSA groundwork done early is one thing your family can fully control.
-- Sravani at CollegeLens
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