Fafsa help?

Why does it say that the FAFSA opens on October 1st? I can fill it out now without any trouble. I’m kind of concerned as to why it says it isn’t open yet. Does it have to deal with which year’s tax returns you use?

Where do you see that it opens on 1 Oct? Are you sure that’s not for a prior year?

October 1 is the first day you can file the FAFSA for 2017-2018 (a new, earlier date this year). I assume it’s still available to be filed for this year (2016-2017), for whatever it’s worth.

From the studentaid.ed.gov website:

The 2016–17 FAFSA has been available since Jan. 1, 2016, and the 2017–18 FAFSA will launch on Oct. 1, 2016.

Correct. The FAFSA that is available now is for the 2016-2017 academic year. The FAFSA for academic year 2017-2018 will be available on October 1, 2016.

The FAFSA for the current academic year 2016-2017 will be available for filing until June 2017. this would be for students who perhaps decide to file later for getting a Direct Loan. It uses the 2015?tx year info.

The 2017-2018 FAFSA will be available October 1. It will also use 2015 tax year info…as FAFSA and Profile are moving to prior prior year tax info beginning then.

@“Erin’s Dad” @thumper1 @BelknapPoint @poblob14 so if I’m applying to be a freshman in the 2017-2018 school year, I should wait until October 1st to start?

YES.

Be sure to check the school year when you go to fill out the FAFSA. The 2016-2017 FAFSA will still be available online till June 30, 2017. That is to accommodate students who start school in Spring 2017 or for any reason are filing what seems to be late in the year.

So, to repeat, there will be FAFSA’s for two different school years online on Oct. 1, 2016. Make sure you click the right one.

Yes…the 2017-2018 FAFSA is not yet available. If that is the school year when you will be looking for aid…you need to wait until October. That one isn’t there…yet.

When October comes…make sure you are completing the 2017-2018 FAFSA as the other one will,still be on the FAFSA site.

For now you and one parent can apply for a FSA ID and make sure there are no hiccups with that.
The tax returns for 2015 should be completed and any amounts owed paid.

That way everything will be ready for you to fill out the 2017/18 FAFSA in October.

https://fsaid.ed.gov/npas/index.htm

^Site to get your FSA ID, write down the info in a safe place so you have it when you need it.