When is FAFSA Due for the 2024-25 School Year? Deadlines & FAQs for Students
Categories: Blog, For Students, For Cosigners, For College Students, For High School Students, For Parents and Cosigners
Every year, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) opens for students to apply for their financial aid package for the following school year. Included in your financial aid package is a combination of scholarships, grants, and federal student loans you may be eligible to receive.
Whether this is your first time filing the FAFSA application or not, we’ve gathered key deadlines and sourced the top common questions from students to help you file this year.
Know the Deadline for the 2024-2025 School Year
Starting December 31, you may begin filing your FAFSA application for the 2024-2025 school year through June 30, 2025.
The FAFSA opens on December 31 this year for every state. For the 2024-2025 academic school year, applications opened on December 31, 2023, and will close on June 30, 2025.
Keep in mind that your financial aid award amount can be directly impacted depending on when you choose to apply. We’ll dive into this a little more in the next section.
School Year |
FAFSA Open Date |
FAFSA Deadline (Federal) |
2023 – 2024 |
October 1, 2022 |
June 30, 2024 |
2024 – 2025 |
December 31, 2023 |
June 30, 2025 |
Understand the Benefits of Filing Early
Filing your FAFSA application not only gives you access to federal student loans but you may also be awarded federal grants. Most grants are free money that doesn’t need to be paid back, and they’re usually the first to go. If you file your FAFSA application early, you’ll have a better chance of being awarded grants instead of just federal student loans.
There’s another benefit to filing early. If you submit your application before the spring semester ends (around May for most schools), you may be offered financial aid to cover your fall and spring semesters.
However, suppose you wait to file until after the spring semester ends. In that case, you may only be offered federal aid to cover classes for the summer. If you don’t plan on taking summer classes, this may mean a lot of time and energy wasted.
Be sure you file as early as possible and stay on track to meet the federal and state deadlines.
Set Reminders for Federal & State Deadlines
Although FAFSA applications open on December 31 and close on June 30 this year, your deadlines may differ depending on where you live. Some states have individual FAFSA deadlines which may mean getting your application in before the federal June 30 deadline.
For example, for the 2021-2022 academic year, Connecticut had a deadline of February 15, 2021, and Delaware asked students to submit their applications by April 15, 2021. Stay up to date on federal and state FAFSA deadlines by setting reminders on your phone or keeping a sticky note on your laptop.
Other Financial Aid Opportunities to Keep in Mind
Knowing when to apply is key to staying on track to submitting your FAFSA application early. Still, there are other things to keep in mind:
- You can log in and make updates to your FAFSA application at any time, as long as the deadline hasn’t passed.
- Consider applying for the CSS Profile. While the FAFSA offers federal grants and student loans, the CSS Profile awards financial aid, grants, and scholarships offered by your school. The CSS Profile deadline varies by school, so make sure you know when to apply.
- Apply for other scholarship opportunities. Winning scholarships could help cover the cost if your FAFSA award amount was smaller than you were anticipating. Companies like Ascent offer scholarship giveaways all year long, so be sure to enter for your chance to win.
- Look into private student loans. Beyond the FAFSA and scholarships, you may want to consider applying for private student loans with a cosigner or student loans without a cosigner.
As you prepare to start your FAFSA application, check out our FAFSA 101 guide for more tips and advice.
When does FAFSA open?
The FAFSA opens on December 31 this year. Then you may file your FAFSA application for the 2024-2025 school year through June 30, 2025.
When to apply for FAFSA?
The federal FAFSA deadline is June 30 every year. Depending on where you live, your state may have an alternative deadline date that is before or after the federal deadline.
Keep in mind that your financial aid award packages may be impacted by the number of grants you’re offered. File as early as possible and stay on track to meet the federal and state deadlines.
Should you apply to FAFSA before applying for college?
There’s no right or wrong order to submit your FAFSA application and apply to your top schools. More than likely, your school won’t build your financial aid package until you’ve been accepted. Just make sure you submit your FAFSA as soon as possible.
