Financial Aid Deadlines (2024)

FAQs

What are the 3 most common FAFSA mistakes? ›

Some states and schools continue to award aid to FAFSA latecomers, but your chances get much slimmer, and the aid is often lower. You may still be eligible for a Federal Pell Grant. If you miss the June 30 federal deadline, you're no longer eligible to submit that year's FAFSA form.

The federal government gives students a deadline of June 30 after the school year in which they need aid.

This is question 37 on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA^®) PDF. Add the account balances of your (and if married, your spouse's) cash, savings, and checking accounts as of the day you submit your FAFSA form. Enter the total of all accounts as the total current balance.

State FAFSA deadline

FAFSA.gov provides a list of state deadlines, which also include Canadian provinces and US territories. As with federal student aid, many states have limited funds and hand out assistance on a first-come, first served basis. You do not need to apply directly to your state to qualify for aid.

Some of the most beneficial financial aid funds are first-come, first-served. Students are twice as likely to receive financial help for college if they file the FAFSA early. Historically, the FAFSA has been available beginning October 1 each year.

To be considered for federal student aid for the 2023–24 award year, you can complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA^®) form between Oct. 1, 2022, and 11:59 p.m. Central time (CT) on June 30, 2024.

Sometimes people forget to file the FAFSA on time putting them at reduced eligibility for many need based grant programs. However, the Pell grant program remains open and available all through the academic year, as long as the FAFSA form is filed.

Do both parents have to fill out FAFSA 2024-25? ›

If your (the student's) parents are married, remarried, or unmarried and living together, you must invite at least one parent as a contributor with the option to invite the other parent as well. If you only invite one parent, that person will be the parent contributor on your FAFSA form.

Students selected for verification of their FAFSA form may wonder, “Does FAFSA check your bank accounts?” FAFSA does not directly view the student's or parent's bank accounts.

Parent Assets: These questions are about the student's parent(s). FAFSA Question #88. As of the day you first submitted the 2021-2022 FAFSA, what is your parents' total current balance of cash, savings, and checking accounts?

You'll have a better chance at receiving money for college if you avoid several common mistakes when filling out your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form. Such mistakes include not completing the form on time, not filling it out correctly, or forgetting to sign and submit.

Cars, computers, furniture, books, boats, appliances, clothing, and other personal property are not reported as assets on the FAFSA. Home maintenance expenses are also not reported as assets on the FAFSA, since the net worth of the family's principal place of residence is not reported as an asset.

Assets that are not counted by FAFSA when determining your SAI include: 401(k) and Roth and traditional IRA accounts (though withdrawals from Roth IRA accounts will be counted as untaxed income) Cash values of whole life insurance policies and qualified annuities. SIMPLE, KEOGH, and pension plans.

Money in checking accounts, cash and savings accounts. Real estate. While FAFSA does not consider your parent's primary residence as an asset, you need to declare the net worth of any additional property. That includes a vacation home, a second apartment building, or a rented-out property.

Student income is weighted more heavily than parent income in the federal financial aid formula, so any monetary gifts you receive could impact the amount of aid you will be eligible for.