Can I pre-register for 2025-2026 FAFSA before Dec 1st deadline?
Hey everyone, I'm super anxious about getting my FAFSA submitted early for my son who's heading to college next fall (2025-2026 year). I know the application doesn't officially open until December 1st, but I'm wondering if there's any pre-registration or account setup I can do now? I've heard horror stories about the website crashing when everyone tries to apply at once, and I really don't want to miss out on anything because of technical issues. Can I create FSA IDs for myself and my son now? Or maybe start gathering documents? Any tips from people who've been through this before would be super helpful!
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Tristan Carpenter
Yes, you absolutely can (and should) set up FSA IDs for both you and your son right now! This is one of the smartest things you can do before the application opens. Go to studentaid.gov and create both accounts. This process can sometimes take 1-3 days to fully verify, so doing it early is wise. As for document gathering, start collecting these now: - 2023 tax returns and W-2s for both you and your student (if they worked) - Records of untaxed income (if applicable) - Current bank statements and investment records - Social Security numbers for both of you - List of colleges your son plans to apply to (with their school codes) One other tip: take screenshots of the confirmation page when you eventually submit the FAFSA. You'd be surprised how often there are system glitches where applications seem to disappear.
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Maya Jackson
•Thank you so much for this detailed info! I'm going to set up our FSA IDs tonight. Quick question - my son worked a summer job but made less than $3,000. Does he still need to report that even though he didn't file taxes?
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Amaya Watson
My daughter just started her freshman year and we did the FAFSA last year. DEFINITELY create the FSA IDs now!!! We waited until opening day and the verification emails took forever to come through and we couldn't submit until 5 days after opening. So frustrating!!
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Maya Jackson
•Oh no, that sounds terrible! Thanks for the warning - I'm setting up our IDs tonight for sure.
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Grant Vikers
You can also download the FAFSA worksheet PDF from the studentaid.gov website to get familiar with all the questions they'll ask. That way you can fill it out offline first and then just transfer all the info once the application opens. Made the process WAY faster for us last year!
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Giovanni Martello
To add to what others have said, the 2025-2026 FAFSA will use your 2023 tax information (they always use the tax info from two years prior). If you used the IRS Data Retrieval Tool last year, it'll be even easier this time. Also, just to clarify: while you can and should set up FSA IDs now, you cannot actually start the FAFSA form until December 1st. The system won't allow access to the new year's form until it officially opens. One important thing to understand about the new FAFSA is that they've replaced the EFC (Expected Family Contribution) with the SAI (Student Aid Index). The calculations are somewhat different, so don't be surprised if your aid amounts look different from what you might have calculated using old formulas.
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Maya Jackson
•Thanks for explaining the SAI vs EFC change! I was reading about that but wasn't sure how it would affect us. Do you know if the SAI typically results in more or less aid compared to the old system?
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Giovanni Martello
•It really depends on your specific financial situation. The SAI calculation changes how they count certain income and assets. Generally, families with multiple college students might see less favorable results since the "sibling discount" works differently now. But families with lower incomes might benefit from some of the changes. There's no one-size-fits-all answer - you'll just have to wait and see your specific calculation.
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Savannah Weiner
just an fyi the site ALWAYS crashes on dec 1st. stay up til midnight and try to be one of the first ones in or wait a few days. mid December is usually pretty quiet and everything works better. i did this last yr for my twins
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Levi Parker
I remember trying to call the Federal Student Aid help line last year when the site crashed and I couldn't get through for DAYS. This year I found a service called Claimyr that got me through to an actual FSA agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. Totally worth it when you're dealing with deadline stress. Their site is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Just sharing because dealing with FAFSA tech issues can be so frustrating when the deadlines are looming.
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Maya Jackson
•Oh that's really good to know! I bet we'll need this if the site crashes on opening day. I'm bookmarking this for December, thank you!
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Libby Hassan
idk why everyone is so worried about filing on day 1... colleges don't even start looking at fafsa info until like february or march... you have plenty of time!
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Giovanni Martello
•This is incorrect information that could harm students' financial aid chances. Many colleges and universities have priority filing deadlines that can be as early as January, and some state grant programs operate on a first-come, first-served basis until funds are depleted. Filing late could mean missing out on thousands in potential aid. Always check the specific deadlines for each school and your state's grant programs.
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Libby Hassan
•oh really? my kid got the same package even tho we filed in february last year. guess it depends on the school
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Amaya Watson
Anyone else finding the whole parent vs contributor thing confusing in the new FAFSA? Like I'm divorced and my ex has to fill out stuff too but he's not really a "contributor" financially if you know what I mean lol
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Tristan Carpenter
•Great question about the contributor situation! For divorced parents, the FAFSA now requires information from the parent who provides the most financial support to the student, regardless of who the student lives with. The other parent is not required to provide information unless they're still married to the providing parent. This is different from the CSS Profile (used by some private schools), which often requires information from both biological parents regardless of marital status.
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Maya Jackson
Thank you all SO MUCH for the helpful advice! I've created our FSA IDs (still waiting on the verification email for my son's account), downloaded the worksheet PDF, and started gathering our 2023 tax documents. I feel much more prepared now. I'll definitely be trying to submit early on December 1st, but it's good to know about that Claimyr service if we run into technical issues. And I appreciate the clarification about the contributor vs parent situation - that could have been confusing! One last question - does anyone know if scholarships my son already won (a $5,000 merit scholarship from his top choice school) need to be reported on the FAFSA?
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Tristan Carpenter
•The merit scholarship from the school doesn't need to be reported on your FAFSA. The school already knows about it since they awarded it, and they'll factor it into your overall financial aid package. You only need to report external scholarships (like from community organizations, private companies, etc.) to the school directly, not on the FAFSA. Congratulations to your son on earning that scholarship!
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