About Financial Aid
National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit association that provides professional development & services for financial aid administrators, advocates for public policies that increase student success in postsecondary education, and conducts legislative & regulatory analysis related to federal student aid programs.
The first mistake many students and families make is assuming they can't afford college. Don't be discouraged by the sticker price of college until you know how much financial aid may be available to you. Financial aid can significantly reduce the cost of college, but it can be tricky to estimate how much student aid you will get. Two factors are generally used to determine who gets student aid and how much they get: need and merit.
- "Merit-based" aid is given to students who do something exceptionally well (like music, athletics, or academics) or to students who plan to have a career in an area that will benefit the community or the country (like teaching, science, math, and engineering).
- "Need-based" aid is given to students who demonstrate a lack of financial resources to pay for college.
Some student aid programs use a combination of need and merit to determine eligibility.
It all starts with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). With this one application, you can apply for financial aid at multiple colleges and from multiple funding sources (federal, state, institutional and private providers of assistance). Mistakes can delay your application, potentially limiting the amount of aid you are eligible to receive. As you prepare to fill out your FAFSA, keep this list of FAFSA Tips and Common Mistakes To Avoid handy.
Completing Your FAFSA
You will need to fill out the FAFSA once for each academic year that you will attend school. The farther in advance you do it, the better!
2027-28 Academic Year
Federal Student Aid (FSA) officially launched the 2027-28 FAFSA on September 23, 2026, one week before the October 1 deadline. According to FSA, for a second year in a row, this is the earliest launch of the FAFSA in the program’s history.
2026-27 Academic Year
After more than a month of beta testing, the Department of Education on September 24, 2025 officially launched the 2026-27 FAFSA, one week ahead of its October 1 deadline, marking the earliest launch in the program’s history.
