The 2025–26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA^®) form will be available to students and contributors on or before Dec. 1, 2024. Get ready now so you can complete the FAFSA form as soon as it’s available at fafsa.gov. Here’s what you’ll need to access and complete your form:

1. Your StudentAid.gov account
2. Your contributor information
3. Your and your contributor’s federal income tax return (accessible online)
4. Records of your and your contributor’s child support received
5. Records of your and your contributor’s assets
6. List of school you’re interested in attending

1

Your StudentAid.gov Account

You’ll need to create a StudentAid.gov account to access and fill out the FAFSA form online.

Your contributors will each need their own StudentAid.gov account too. A contributor refers to anyone (you, your spouse, your biological or adoptive parent, or your parent’s spouse) required to provide information on your FAFSA form.

Your StudentAid.gov account allows you to sign legally binding documents, meaning only you can use it. Giving someone else access to your account or sharing an account is like having another person forge your signature. Additionally, your email address and phone number can be associated with only one StudentAid.gov account, so they can’t be used with another contributor’s account.

As a student, you’ll be required to enter your Social Security number (SSN) to create a StudentAid.gov account unless you’re a citizen of the Freely Associated States. However, your contributors who don’t have an SSN can create a StudentAid.gov account to complete their sections of your FAFSA form.

Tip: You can find your SSN on your Social Security card. If you don’t have access to it or don’t know where it is, you can request a new or replacement Social Security card from the Social Security Administration.

We recommend that you and your contributor(s) each create your own StudentAid.gov account now so you’re ready to complete the FAFSA form as soon as it launches.

You can review additional tips and guidance on how to create a StudentAid.gov account before you begin.

2

Your Contributor Information

When you fill out the FAFSA form, you’ll answer questions that will determine who needs to be a contributor on your form. However, you may be able to identify your contributor(s) now to get a head start on collecting the information you’ll need to invite them to your form.

If you’re a dependent student and your parents are married (and not separated) and filed taxes jointly, only one parent will be required to be a contributor on your FAFSA form. If you invite both parents to your form, the parent who accepts the invitation first will report information for both parents on the FAFSA form.

To find out which of your parents will be a contributor on your FAFSA form, check out the Who’s My FAFSA Parent? wizard. The tool takes most people less than 10 minutes to use and asks a series of questions to determine which parent(s) will need to participate on your form. These questions may include the following:

• Are your parents married?
• Do your parents live together?
• Which parent provided more financial support over the past 12 months?
• Which parent has greater income and assets?
• Has your parent remarried?

You can also review the Is My Parent a Contributor When I Fill Out My FAFSA^® Form? infographic.

If you are married (and not separated) and filed taxes jointly with your spouse, then you will report your spouse’s information on the FAFSA form, but they will not be identified as a contributor. But if you’re married (and not separated) and didn’t file taxes jointly, your spouse will be considered a contributor on your FAFSA form.

To invite contributors to your FAFSA form, you’ll be asked to provide their

• first and last name,
• SSN (if they have one),
• date of birth,
• email address, and
• mailing address (if they don’t have an SSN).

Note: Being identified as a contributor on the FAFSA form won’t make your family member responsible for paying for your education costs.

3

Your Federal Income Tax Return

You and your contributors must provide consent and approval to have your federal tax information transferred directly from the IRS into your FAFSA form. Providing consent and approval is mandatory, even if you or your contributors don’t have an SSN, didn’t file a tax return, or filed a tax return outside the U.S.

If you or your contributors don’t provide consent and approval to have your federal tax information transferred into the FAFSA^® form, you won’t be eligible for federal student aid.

While most of your financial information will be imported directly from the IRS when you provide consent and approval, you and your contributors should have your tax returns on hand when you fill out the FAFSA form. You may still need your tax records to answer additional questions.

Before you begin the FAFSA form, you can check what year’s income and tax information you’ll be required to report. Do not use a different year’s tax information.

We understand that for some families, the income year you’re required to report doesn’t accurately reflect your current financial situation, and you may have special financial circumstances. Examples of special financial circumstances include a loss of employment or pay cuts, tuition expenses at an elementary or secondary school, and high amounts of medical expenses. If you or another contributor on your form had a significant change in income, you should still complete the FAFSA form as instructed. Then, contact the financial aid office at the school where you plan to attend and request an aid adjustment (or professional judgment). Your school will ask for more information and documentation of the change in income. School officials can assess your situation and may adjust your FAFSA form if warranted.

Note: You can’t update your processed FAFSA form yourself with new tax information, including an amended return. Any adjustments need to be made through your school’s financial aid office.

4

Records of Child Support Received

You and your contributors may need to provide information about any child support received.

Remember: You can check what tax or calendar year information you’ll use to answer these questions before beginning the FAFSA form.

5

Records of Your Assets

The FAFSA form will ask you and your contributors questions about your assets and investments, so make sure you have those records on hand. This includes the current balances of your cash, checking, and savings accounts; the current net worth of your businesses and/or investment farms; and the current net worth of your investments. Your cash, checking, and savings account balances are considered assets, but are not investments. Use the chart below to understand what is and isn’t considered an investment.

Considered an investment on the FAFSA® form

Not considered an investment on the FAFSA® form

• real estate (don’t include the home in which you live) • rental property (includes a unit within a family home that has its own entrance, kitchen, and bath rented to someone other than a family member) • vacation homes • trust funds • Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA) and Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) accounts • money market funds • mutual funds • certificates of deposit • stocks • stock options • bonds • securities • installment and land sale contracts (including mortgages held) • tax shelters • qualified education benefits or education savings accounts

• the home in which you (and if married, your spouse) live • cash, savings, and checking accounts • Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) accounts • the value of life insurance and retirement plans (401[k] plans, pension funds, annuities, noneducation IRAs, Keogh plans, etc.) • UGMA and/or UTMA accounts for which the student is the custodian but not the owner • qualified education benefits or education savings accounts for other children (not the student)

You and your contributors will report the current amounts of your assets as of the date you sign the FAFSA form, rather than reporting the tax year amounts.

6

List of Schools You’re Interested in Attending

Be sure to add any colleges, career schools, or trade schools you’re considering, even if you haven’t applied or been accepted yet. You can list up to 20 schools on the online FAFSA form.

Even if there’s only a slight chance you’ll apply to a school, list it on your FAFSA form. You can always remove a school later if you decide not to apply, but if you wait to add a school, you could miss out on financial aid.

After your FAFSA form is processed, the schools you list on the form will receive your FAFSA results electronically. They’ll use your FAFSA information to determine the types and amounts of financial aid you may be eligible to receive.

If you add a school to your FAFSA form and later decide not to apply for admission, that’s OK! The school likely won’t offer you aid until you’ve been accepted anyway.

Tip: Several states require you to list schools in a particular order to be considered for state aid. For instance, you might need to list a state school first. Find out whether your state has a requirement for the order you list schools on your FAFSA form.

Ready to apply for federal student aid?

Once the FAFSA form becomes available, you can start your form at fafsa.gov. Learn more about filling out the FAFSA form on the “How To Fill Out the FAFSA^® Application” page.

Reminder: Any information you and your contributors provide on the FAFSA form is protected. Additionally, completing and signing the FAFSA form doesn’t mean you or your contributors are legally bound to accept federal student loans.