FAFSA timing for 2025 high school grad - Can I list colleges before applications?

Yes, you can absolutely list colleges on the FAFSA before your daughter has applied to them! In fact, this is the normal process. When you complete the FAFSA in October 2024, you'll list all the schools she's considering applying to. The FAFSA will send her financial information to those schools, and then when she applies to the colleges later (usually November-January), they'll match her application with the FAFSA information they already received. This is actually ideal because many schools have priority financial aid deadlines that are earlier than their application deadlines. Getting the FAFSA done early ensures she'll be considered for the maximum aid possible. You can list up to 10 schools initially, and you can always add more schools later if needed.

The previous commenter is right - you absolutely list potential schools before applying. Just want to add that for the 2025-2026 school year, the FAFSA becomes available on December 1, 2024 (not October). This is different from previous years when it opened October 1. The Department of Education made this change starting with the 2024-2025 FAFSA. Also, make sure you understand that colleges will be able to see all the other colleges you listed on the FAFSA, so some people suggest being strategic about the order. Some say list your top choice first (though officially FSA says order doesn't matter for federal aid).

THEY MADE THE FAFSA SO MUCH WORSE!!!! I filed for my son this year (2024 grad) and it was a NIGHTMARE. They changed everything and the website kept crashing and then we got an error about my husband's "contributor" account and had to call FSA over and over for WEEKS. Nobody could help!!! The hold times were like 2+ hours every time and half the time we got disconnected. My advice? Start trying to create your FSA ID accounts for both you and your spouse NOW (both parents need IDs if married) because that process can take weeks if there are ANY issues. DO NOT wait until December!

When I went through this with my son last year, I found using Claimyr really helpful for getting through to FAFSA agents when we had issues with our application. The website claimyr.com basically holds your place in line and calls you when an agent is available. Saved us hours of waiting on hold. They have a video demo that explains it better than I can: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Regarding your timeline question, here's what worked for us: 1. Created FSA IDs in summer before senior year 2. Filed FAFSA in early December (first day it opened) 3. Listed 10 potential schools 4. Added more schools later after my son decided on additional applications The colleges all received his information automatically once he applied, even the ones we added later.

i submitted fafsa before appling to any schools last year and it was fine lol. but u should check each college's financial aid website bc some have extra forms besides fafsa like the css profile for private schools and that has different deadlines. also the SAI is different from the old EFC and some ppl are getting confused about that part

My twins are graduating in 2025 too. Their college counselor told us to attend a FAFSA workshop in September (school is hosting one) because the new version has so many changes. Maybe check if your daughter's school offers something similar? Also wondering about the 10 school limit - what happens if your kid is applying to more than 10 schools?

Thank you all SO much! This has been incredibly helpful. I'm going to check if my daughter's school offers a FAFSA workshop like someone mentioned. I'll definitely set up our FSA IDs this summer so we're prepared when the FAFSA opens in December. I'm relieved to know we can list schools before she applies - that was really confusing me. Sounds like the best approach is to get the FAFSA done early in December. Now I need to research which schools require the CSS Profile too!