Public Comment Period Now Open for 2026-27 FAFSA

By Maria Carrasco, NASFAA Staff Reporter

The Department of Education (ED) on Tuesday announced via the Federal Register that the upcoming 2026-27 FAFSA is now open to public comment.

Under the comment period, members of the public have until Monday, April 7, to submit comments on a draft version of the 2026-27 FAFSA.

“Only comments regarding the FAFSA form and related forms should be submitted during this comment period. Federal Student Aid (FSA) will only be responding to comments related to the FAFSA form or the FAFSA Submission Summary,” the announcement reads. “Comments related to topics such as the FSA ID or verification process should not be submitted during this comment period as they are outside the scope of this collection.”

The department also noted that comments related to state deadlines should not be submitted since those dates are only placeholders; final state deadlines will be included during the next round of public comments.

ED has also provided updated draft documents for the 2026-27 FAFSA form and included instructions to download those files in another electronic announcement.

Publication Date: 2/5/2025

Max G | 2/13/2025 8:1:54 AM

It'd be helpful to add a question regarding student’s housing plans to the 2026-27 FAFSA. This will assist our financial aid team in providing a more accurate representation of a students COA. Thank you!

Brenda W | 2/6/2025 1:48:20 PM

Please add a question regarding the student's housing plans to the 2026-2027 FAFSA so we can more accurately determine their budget group and COA.

Alison Z | 2/6/2025 11:53:30 AM

Please add a question regarding student’s housing plans to the 2026-27 FAFSA, so we may more accurately determine COA.

Brad W | 2/5/2025 5:34:56 PM

Please continue to advocate for removing the Free & Reduced Price Lunch item from the 9 federal benefits question. California families are totally confused by this question because it is a universal program in CA.

Kimberly G | 2/5/2025 3:32:00 PM

Please add a question regarding student’s housing plans to the 2026-27 FAFSA, so we may more accurately determine COA. Thanks!

Skylar C | 2/5/2025 1:31:34 PM

Please fix the contributor issues with no SSN. It took three months to fix a student's link between them and their parents. If you're going to allow this than it needs to be smoother, colleges are losing student over this problem because they can't get their aid.

Melanie M | 2/5/2025 12:22:12 PM

Please add a question regarding the student's housing plans to the 2026-27 FAFSA, so we may more accurately determine COA. Thank you!

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Public Comment Period Now Open for 2026-27 FAFSA

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