FAFSA 2025-2026 already open? Missed the announcement completely
Wait, did I totally miss that the FAFSA for 2025-2026 is already available?! I thought they weren't opening applications until December like last year after that whole redesign disaster. Has anyone started their application yet? Are they still using that new FAFSA format with the SAI score instead of EFC? I'm so behind - my daughter's a high school senior and I haven't prepared ANY of our tax documents or created those FSA IDs yet. Should I rush to fill it out now or is it better to wait until I have all my documentation perfectly organized? Last year I made mistakes that took months to fix!
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Sofia Peña
The 2025-2026 FAFSA isn't open yet lol. They typically open October 1st but after last year's mess they might delay again. You've got plenty of time to get your docs together.
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Hunter Hampton
•Oh thank goodness! My heart literally dropped thinking I was months behind already. Do you know if they're sticking with the October 1 target date this year? I'm not finding clear info on studentaid.gov
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Aaron Boston
Financial aid advisor here - the 2025-2026 FAFSA isn't open yet. The Department of Education hasn't officially announced the opening date, but they're aiming for October 1, 2024. After last year's challenges with the redesigned form, they've been making additional improvements. Start preparing now by: 1. Creating FSA IDs for you and your dependent student if you don't have them 2. Gathering your 2023 tax information (they use prior-prior year) 3. Making a list of schools your daughter is applying to (you can list up to 20) And yes, they're continuing to use the Student Aid Index (SAI) instead of the old Expected Family Contribution (EFC).
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Sophia Carter
•do they still ask about all ur assets and stuff? i heard they simplified it to just use tax info now?
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Chloe Zhang
I HATE how they keep changing everything! first it was EFC now SAI, different questions, different dates, different calculations. How are regular families supposed to keep up with all this??? My son is applying this year and I feel like I need a masters degree in FAFSA just to fill out one stupid form. Maybe colleges should just stop being so expensive instead of making us jump through all these hoops 😡
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Brandon Parker
•I feel your pain - the new form IS actually supposed to be simpler (fewer questions, more data imported directly from the IRS), but the rollout was a disaster. Last year we couldn't even log in for weeks after it opened. The SAI is basically the same as EFC, they just renamed it because "expected family contribution" was misleading.
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Adriana Cohn
Does anyone know if we'll be able to access our previous FAFSA information to use as a reference? My daughter is starting her sophomore year and I'd love to not have to re-enter everything.
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Jace Caspullo
•Yes, much of your previous information will carry over if you use the same FSA ID. However, you'll still need your 2023 tax information since they use prior-prior year data. The form autofills some information from the IRS data retrieval tool, but you should verify everything before submitting.
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Aaron Boston
One tip - don't wait until the last minute once it does open. I know the October-December timeframe gets crazy with college applications, but some schools have priority deadlines for certain scholarships. Some state grants are first-come, first-served too.
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Hunter Hampton
•This is exactly what I'm worried about! My daughter is applying to 12 schools and some have scholarship deadlines in November. What happens if the FAFSA opens late again like last year?
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Jace Caspullo
Last year was a nightmare trying to reach anyone at Federal Student Aid when the FAFSA had all those technical problems. I spent HOURS on hold and got disconnected repeatedly. Eventually I used a service called Claimyr that got me through to an agent in about 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ and their website is claimyr.com. Totally worth it when you're dealing with urgent financial aid issues and can't wait on hold all day.
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Hunter Hampton
•I hadn't heard of that service before. Did they actually help resolve your issues? I'm saving this just in case we run into problems with our application - with my luck, we probably will!
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Jace Caspullo
•Yes! Once I actually got connected to a human at FSA, they helped fix the account access problem I was having. The service just helps you skip the hold time, which was literally 3+ hours when I tried calling directly.
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Sofia Peña
Anyone else think its weird they use 2023 tax info for the 2025-2026 school year? My parents income in 2023 has nothing to do with what theyll make in 2025 lol
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Aaron Boston
•That's why they have a process called Professional Judgment (PJ) where financial aid offices can adjust your FAFSA if your family has had significant financial changes since the tax year used. If your family's financial situation changes significantly (job loss, medical expenses, etc.), contact the financial aid office directly about their PJ process.
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Hunter Hampton
Thank you all for the helpful information! I'm going to start gathering our documents now and create FSA IDs for both of us. One more question - my daughter's father and I are divorced, and he claimed her on his 2023 taxes even though she lives with me most of the time. Who should fill out the FAFSA?
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Aaron Boston
•Great question! For the FAFSA, the parent who provides more financial support (usually the parent the student lived with most during the past 12 months) completes the form. Tax dependency doesn't matter for FAFSA purposes. If your daughter lived with you more, you should complete it, regardless of who claimed her on taxes. If you've remarried, your current spouse's information must also be included. If you have questions about your specific situation, you can contact the financial aid offices at the schools your daughter is applying to for guidance.
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Sophia Carter
do u think theyll fix the contributor stuff this time? my stepdad couldnt add himself as contributor cuz the system kept crashing and we had to submit without his info which messed up our SAI calculation
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Chloe Zhang
•OMG the contributor section was IMPOSSIBLE! We had the same problem with my husband (student's stepdad) and had to call like 10 times to get it fixed. Hopefully they actually tested the system this time 🙄
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Brandon Parker
I know we're all a bit traumatized from last year's FAFSA launch, but I've heard from colleagues at the Department of Education that they've completely overhauled the technical infrastructure after last year's issues. They're doing extensive testing before the launch this time, so hopefully it'll be much smoother. The new SAI calculation is actually more generous for many families than the old EFC was, especially for those with multiple students in college.
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Hunter Hampton
•That's reassuring to hear! I've been reading that the new calculation doesn't give as much of a break for multiple students in college though? Is that accurate?
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Brandon Parker
•Yes, that's correct - I should have been clearer. The new SAI calculation is generally more favorable for lower-income families, but you're right that they removed the significant discount for multiple students in college that existed under the old system. Families with multiple college students may see higher SAI numbers than they would have under the old EFC calculation. Each student gets their own SAI now.
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