Starting FAFSA prep for high school junior - what should I know for 2025-2026?

Welcome! You're smart to start preparing early. For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, you'll be able to submit starting October 1, 2024. The new simplified FAFSA uses what's called the Student Aid Index (SAI) instead of the old Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Documents to gather now: - 2023 tax returns for you and your spouse (if applicable) - W-2 forms and records of other income from 2023 - Current bank statements and investment records - List of schools your daughter is considering (you can list up to 20 on the new FAFSA) - Your daughter's driver's license number if she has one - Both your and your daughter's Social Security numbers And yes, if your daughter is applying to private schools, many will require the CSS Profile in addition to FAFSA. The CSS Profile opens on October 1 as well, but it's much more detailed and considers assets like home equity that FAFSA doesn't.

just went thru this with my son who's a freshman now. the CSS profile is a PAIN, way more invasive than fafsa. they want to know everything about your finances. start early bc it takes forever

One important thing that nobody mentioned yet - create your FSA ID for both you and your daughter NOW. Don't wait until October when everyone else is doing it. The system gets overwhelmed and verification can take days or weeks. Having your FSA IDs ready to go will save you headaches. Also, the new FAFSA is supposed to be simpler but the rollout this year was a disaster with technical glitches, delayed processing, and calculation errors. Hopefully they'll have the bugs worked out by next cycle, but I'd submit as early as possible to give yourself buffer time in case there are problems. For estimating your SAI, try the Federal Student Aid Estimator tool: https://studentaid.gov/aid-estimator/. It's not perfect but gives you a rough idea.

My daughter's a senior so we just went through all this. One thing to know is that even if your income is high, still fill out the FAFSA! Some merit scholarships require it even if you don't qualify for need-based aid. Also some schools won't consider you for any institutional aid without it.

The FAFSA changes were a COMPLETE DISASTER this year!!! My son is a senior and we submitted in January (couldn't even get in before then because of all the glitches) and it took SIX WEEKS to get our SAI score. Then another three weeks for schools to get our information. Almost missed some financial aid deadlines because of it. If you're dealing with the FSA office next year, save yourself the headache and use Claimyr (claimyr.com). It got me through to an actual human at the Federal Student Aid office in under 10 minutes when I'd been trying for DAYS on my own. They have a video about how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Seriously, it saved my sanity during this nightmare process.

Regarding dependent/independent status - this trips up a lot of families. Your daughter will almost certainly be considered a dependent student, which means your income and assets will be counted. The criteria for independent status are very specific (24+ years old, married, veteran, etc.). Also worth noting that the FAFSA now treats multiple children in college differently than before. The new SAI calculation doesn't give as much of a 'discount' for having multiple kids in college at once as the old system did. So if you have another child who will overlap in college years, be prepared for that change.

make sure ur daughters school counselor knows shes applying 4 financial aid. some schools have special scholarships they only tell certain students about

I wish someone had told me to fill out all the special circumstances forms right away!!! If you have any unusual expenses or income situations (medical bills, job loss, caring for elderly parents, one-time income that makes your tax return look higher than normal), ASK FOR THE SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES FORM from each college financial aid office IMMEDIATELY after submitting FAFSA. We waited and almost missed out on $12,000 in additional aid because we didn't know we could explain our situation. Each school has different forms and processes for this - the FAFSA itself has NO place to explain special circumstances!!!

idk why everyone's so worked up about this. filling out the fafsa took me like 30 min this year. way easier than before. just have your tax stuff ready and it's pretty straightforward

Important tip: The 2025-2026 FAFSA will use your 2023 tax information, but if your financial situation has changed significantly since then (job loss, major income decrease, etc.), you'll need to complete the FAFSA with the 2023 info first, then contact each school's financial aid office to request a professional judgment review. Also, don't pay anyone to fill out the FAFSA for you. There are plenty of free resources: - Your daughter's high school probably has FAFSA completion events - Many states have free FAFSA help hotlines - The Federal Student Aid Information Center: 1-800-433-3243 The only thing worth paying for might be something to help you actually reach a human at the FSA office if you run into problems, since their phone lines get overwhelmingly busy during peak season.