--- title: The 2026-27 FAFSA Is Live — One Week Ahead of Schedule description: After a beta test period, the Department of Education opened the 2026-27 FAFSA early. Students can apply now for college financial aid. authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy has eight years of experience in personal finance journalism. At Money, he’s written extensively about student loans, including guides, explainers and breaking news. MuckRack named Adam one of the top 10 journalists covering student loans in the nation. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 501 covers: - Education - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ editors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Education - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2025-09-25T17:40:35.000Z' modified: '2026-06-10T12:34:20.000Z' section: Education tags: - News word_count: 839 canonical: https://money.com/2026-fafsa-opens-changes/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Photo-illustration of FAFSA on a phone screen](https://img.money.com/2025/09/News-FAFSA-Early.jpg) The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, is officially live — one week early. The Department of Education released the 2026-27 FAFSA Wednesday ahead of its traditional Oct. 1 launch date. The FAFSA is a crucial document that allows students pursuing higher education to apply for federal, state and institutional funding. Nearly 20 million students submit the form annually. “The Trump administration is launching the earliest FAFSA form in history,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in an [announcement video](https://x.com/EDSecMcMahon/status/1970911124850913505). The formal debut comes one week after the Education Department expanded its [FAFSA beta test](https://money.com/fafsa-early-access-beta-testing/) to allow all students and families to submit the form early. The department says 43,531 people started a FAFSA during the testing period, which began Aug. 3. Of those, over 27,000 forms were submitted, and 23,840 were successfully processed without rejection. The new form is available on the [Federal Student Aid website](https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/fafsa-support). It covers the academic periods between July 1, 2026, and June  30, 2027. Under the Biden administration, the previous two FAFSA cycles were plagued by [delays](https://money.com/new-fafsa-delays-college-financial-aid-letters/), [glitches](https://money.com/fafsa-delays-change-deadlines-accepted-students/) and [errors](https://money.com/fafsa-college-financial-aid-delay-2025/) largely because former President Joe Biden's Education Department was tasked with overhauling the form as part of the [FAFSA Simplification Act](https://money.com/fafsa-simplification-pell-grants-spending-bill/), which was signed into law during President Donald Trump's first term. As part of this overhaul, the FAFSA form has shrunk from over 100 questions to about 30 or 40. And while McMahon's claim that the FAFSA has not been released this early before is true, most of the required changes to the form were already handled by the previous administration. The Education Department tells Money in a statement that the new FAFSA can be submitted in as few as 15 minutes and that there is “no difference” between the beta version of the form and the official one. That means families who successfully submitted the beta form since last month won’t need to make any changes or resubmit it. ## FAFSA 2026-27: What’s changing this year The FAFSA has a reputation of being a notoriously hard-to-complete form that requires families to track down obscure financial documents. The 2026-27 version is the latest effort in a years-long endeavor to make it simpler to fill out. Some updates include small changes intended to make the FAFSA more accessible and easier to understand, according to Stacey MacPhetres, senior director of education finance at College Coach, an admissions consulting firm. She also highlights a streamlined identity-verification process for students and guardians who are creating a [studentaid.gov](http://studentaid.gov) account, which is required to fill out the FAFSA. According to the Education Department, when using a Social Security number, this verification process is now instant. Parents and guardians without a Social Security number can still proceed and will be asked a series of questions about their identity for verification through [the credit bureau TransUnion](https://money.com/transunion-data-breach/). It’s also getting easier for dependent students to invite their parents to complete their sections of the FAFSA. Now, students can share a code for them to type in instead of needing to input personal contact details and dates of birth of their parents. “This redesign will improve completion rates, increase satisfaction and reduce call center volume,” the Education Department says. MacPhetres also notes two changes from Trump’s recent [One Big Beautiful Bill Act](https://money.com/trump-law-student-loan-repayment-changes/) that affect federal aid eligibility. Assets for family farms and small businesses are now excluded from FAFSA reporting, she says. In addition, foreign income is now automatically included in earnings calculations for the Pell Grant. ## When should you fill out the FAFSA? The 2026-27 FAFSA is open now through June 30, 2027. Corrections must be submitted by Sept. 12, 2027. That federal deadline is far off, but financial aid experts recommend students fill out the FAFSA as soon as possible to ensure they meet all priority deadlines set separately by [colleges](https://money.com/best-colleges/). Some state- and college-level aid is also awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. So: The sooner the better. "Even if you think you might not qualify for federal need-based aid, the FAFSA can open doors to other types of aid that make college more accessible and affordable," Melanie Storey, president and CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, says in a statement shared with Money. Colleges and trade schools, for instance, set their own deadlines. For incoming students who have not yet committed to a school, the Education Department recommends double-checking with each institution they're interested in to find out what its FAFSA timeline is. For state-level grants provided by Alaska, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia and Washington, the states recommend applying as soon as possible. Submission [deadlines](https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/fafsa-deadlines#fafsa-deadlines-2026-27) for most other states range between 2026 and early 2027. Only two states have submission deadlines as late (or later) than the federal one: New York (Jun. 30, 2027) and Louisiana (Jul. 1, 2027). "The biggest mistake you can make," Storey says, "is not applying." ## Compare Student Loan companies to find the right fit ### Cover up to 100% of your college costs ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/24903/medium_b6089714-807b-4b5a-88f9-defb35d74711.png) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/21d1835d8325?bidid=4122298274&pmeta=p129-c550-u24512&ptid=671474359&ptoken=8de98826d042ac75539e139697ea52b7) ### Apply online in minutes ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/29957/medium_1bf2c50c-d2fe-4492-bad2-f4bca2475954.webp) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/24ac053bf3ad?bidid=4122298269&pmeta=p129-c550-u24512&ptid=671474359&ptoken=62a3039cc141a97748f19a5e0c59878c) ### No fees ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/38573/medium_5a7ddb75-a315-44cf-8526-1594057ec7d6.webp) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/50dd9d0b8894?bidid=4122298283&pmeta=p129-c550-u24512&ptid=671474359&ptoken=f2b71abc0f90b781ff6983581d9a6352) ### Provides customized private loan options for students ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/38575/medium_3b0e137f-8ec1-4f32-a340-85efa53e0aab.webp) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/12754b7286da?bidid=4122298280&pmeta=p129-c550-u24512&ptid=671474359&ptoken=d3b86af925cb470245d7519d5beed6c4) ### Rates starting at 2.99% ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/38576/medium_d3a42618-1276-44ce-95cf-561a8f89efa8.webp) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/9eba9b463629?bidid=4122298289&pmeta=p129-c550-u24512&ptid=671474359&ptoken=adf19fcbe25049a076270f396d9c8ad0) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/24903/medium_b6089714-807b-4b5a-88f9-defb35d74711.png) Reach new academic heights with College Ave [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/y61180a308af?ap_referrer=%2F2026-fafsa-opens-changes%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/2026-fafsa-opens-changes/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Education", "item": "https://money.com/education/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Student Financial Aid", "item": "https://money.com/student-financial-aid/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The 2026-27 FAFSA Is Live — One Week Ahead of Schedule" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/2026-fafsa-opens-changes/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/2026-fafsa-opens-changes/", "name": "The 2026-27 FAFSA Is Live — One Week Ahead of Schedule", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2025-09-25T17:40:35.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/2026-fafsa-opens-changes/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/2026-fafsa-opens-changes/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2026-06-10T12:34:20.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "The 2026-27 FAFSA Is Live — One Week Ahead of Schedule", "articleSection": "Education", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2025/09/News-FAFSA-Early.jpg", "width": 2800, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-FAFSA-Early" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Hardy", "url": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/#author", "description": "Adam Hardy has eight years of experience in personal finance journalism. 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