From what I understand based on the Department of Education's public statements, the 2025-2026 FAFSA will likely open on December 1st, 2024. This isn't just a temporary change - the December opening is now part of the permanent FAFSA calendar following the implementation of the FAFSA Simplification Act.\n\nThe key dates you should be aware of:\n- December 1, 2024: FAFSA likely opens\n- Using 2023 tax information (prior-prior year)\n- Most state aid deadlines remain in February-March 2025\n- CSS Profile (required by some private schools) typically opens October 1\n\nMy advice would be to prepare your tax documents and other financial information in advance, and set a calendar reminder for December 1st. Also check your specific colleges' financial aid deadlines, as they may have adjusted their timelines to accommodate the new FAFSA schedule.

Thank you for the detailed information! I didn't realize the CSS Profile opens earlier - my son is applying to a couple private schools so that's good to know. I'll mark my calendar for both dates.

anybody notice how the FAFSA is SUPPOSEDLY easier now but somehow gives LESS aid than before?? my nephew got $3400 LESS this year with the "simplified" fafsa and their financial situation is EXACTLY THE SAME!!

Update: I want to thank everyone for their advice. I called both financial aid offices this morning and learned that my twins ARE eligible for additional unsubsidized loans because of our Parent PLUS denial. That will cover about $8,000 of our gap. I've also scheduled appointments to discuss institutional payment plans and possible additional grants based on our medical bill situation. My sister has agreed to look into being an endorser for a smaller Parent PLUS loan to cover the remaining amount. I'm still stressed but feeling like we have a path forward now.

The FAFSA system this year is COMPLETE GARBAGE. My daughter's application has been "under review" for TWO WEEKS after I corrected my signature issue. Meanwhile her priority scholarship deadline passed and they wouldn't extend it!!! $7000 down the drain because this stupid broken system can't process a signature in a reasonable timeframe. I've called FSA six times and get different answers every time. One agent told me there's a huge backlog, another said there was an "issue" but wouldn't tell me what it was, a third said everything looked fine and to just keep waiting. I HATE THIS SYSTEM.

Update: Just wanted to share that our application moved from "review" to "processed" this morning! It took exactly 3 business days after my dad's signature was added. My daughter was able to add all her schools. We also followed the advice to contact the financial aid offices at the schools with close deadlines, and they were very understanding. Both granted us extensions since we could prove we had submitted the FAFSA and were just waiting for processing. Thanks everyone for your help!

Submit a correction immediately. The sooner you fix errors, the less likely they'll cause issues with your financial aid packaging. Yes, corrections can sometimes trigger verification, but it's far better to trigger verification for a correction than to have incorrect information that's discovered later.\n\nSimply log back into studentaid.gov, select \

Thank you! Just submitted the correction. The difference is about $3,200 (reported $24,700 initially but my AGI was actually $21,500). Hopefully this won't delay my aid offer too much.

Has anyone noticed that sometimes the system glitches when you're doing multiple student apps from the same parent account? I swear when I did my second child's FAFSA, some of the parent data randomly disappeared from my first child's application. We ended up having to correct her info after submitting the second kid's form. Just a warning to double-check BOTH applications after you're done!

Quick update on this topic: The Department of Education announced they're working on a "family transfer" feature for the 2026-2027 FAFSA that would allow parent information to be copied between siblings' applications. Unfortunately, that doesn't help for this application cycle, but it's coming in the future. In the meantime, I recommend having both your tax return and your first child's completed FAFSA in front of you while completing the second application. Being methodical about transferring the exact same information will help prevent any verification issues later.