Chapter 13: Filling Out FAFSA

The FAFSA filing folder

Start with the aid year on the form

Choose the FAFSA for the academic year you plan to attend. Federal Student Aid says the 2027–28 form uses 2025 tax information and the 2026–27 form uses 2024 tax information. Keep the record-gathering separate from the decision about which year to file.

Original article by Kaashvi, Dartmouth College

Award-year divider2027–28Tax information requested for this form · 2025

The FAFSA filing folder

Aid year

Identify the contributors

Follow the form’s dependency and contributor questions. Each required contributor uses their own StudentAid.gov account to provide information, give consent and sign. If you are unsure which parent participates, use Federal Student Aid’s parent guidance. See Federal Student Aid’s filing instructions.

From The Ivy Institute’s advising records

Keep the aid tasks in separate columns

In one advising follow-up, our team asked a student to compare scholarships by workload, interest and award value. Another review organized potential scholarships in a separate application-document tab. Use that distinction when planning your own aid work. Track scholarship essays in one column and official FAFSA contributor and filing tasks in another, each with its own due date.

The federal checklist identifies the information and accounts applicants and contributors may need. Federal Student Aid’s FAFSA checklist.

Kaashvi’s original notes

Welcome back to The College Countdown! If this is your first time stopping by our blog, I am Kaashvi, your friendly neighborhood college admissions enthusiast and your guide through this series. Whether you’re a returning reader or a newcomer, I’m pumped to have you join us for this thrilling journey. After our last installment on the essentials of need-based financial aid, we are ready to continue the conversation of bankrolling your college education with the next issue in this series: filling out your FAFSA form.

Continue with balancing a college list.

signatures

Gather the right records

Use the federal checklist for the chosen year and note any separate state or college deadlines. Keep tax records and personal identifiers off this worksheet. If finances have changed materially, follow the FAFSA instructions and ask the college’s aid office how it reviews special circumstances.

Keep the federal document checklist nearby when gathering records.

Match the form to the year

Attending in 2026–27

The federal form for that year requests 2024 tax information.

Attending in 2027–28

The federal form for that year requests 2025 tax information.

If income has changed since the tax year

Complete the form using its instructions. Contact the financial aid office about its special-circumstances review and ask which records it needs. Keep those documents in the official channel.

Continue with organizing U.S. applications from Japan.

follow-up

Check what came back

After processing, review the FAFSA Submission Summary and follow the instructions for corrections. Read messages from each college and check whether it needs more documentation. The financial aid offer from the school is the document to review when comparing costs.

Continue with preparing for a consultation.

Prepare a filing slip

Where are you in the process?

Choosing the year Waiting for a contributor After submission

Next administrative task onlyDeadline or office to check

Verified so far

Award year checked Contributors checked School deadlines checked

For individual feedback, review the Institute’s advising services or bring your question to a consultation.