You Don't Need to File the FAFSA on Dec. 1
This week is great for a lot of things: spending time with friends and family, eating, pulling out holiday decorations, cleaning up after your Thanksgiving guests leave, exercising, ... It will most likely NOT be great for filing the FAFSA, so you probably don't want to spend your time on that. (Although the Department of Education had announced that the FAFSA would be available Dec. 1, it is in fact available now.)
Financial aid is allocated by colleges. That means that until they process your application, they won't do anything with your FAFSA. And federal financial aid-- Pell grants, student loans and work study-- are allocated according to formula, not first come, first served. That means that if you are eligible, you get it, regardless of when you file your FAFSA as long as it's before the deadline-- which is 11:59pm central time on June 30, 2025.
Why should you not file the FAFSA on the first day? Because it's a mess. Millions of people think they need to do it the first day, so the site crashes or glitches or hangs constantly on the first day. Add to that the complexities of fixing the new FAFSA that rolled out last year and you can reasonably expect that at least the first few days of FAFSA availability will be a complete dumpster fire.
When should you file it? Check with the colleges you're applying to for their FAFSA deadlines and be sure to file by the earliest deadline. Specifically, you want to file before the deadline to get your financial aid award with your acceptance. This varies by college, and without real rhyme or reason. For example, here in Oregon, the University of Oregon's deadline is March 1, but Oregon State University's is Feb. 28. And if you applied Early Decision, your deadline is earlier.
And if you're eligible for any state-based aid, check the deadline for that. You'll also want to know whether funds are limited and therefore allocated first come, first served, in which case you'll want to file as soon as possible.
You probably don't want to wait until the last minute, either, but you do want to plan to file on the best possible date. Since assets are valued on the day you file, consider the following:
When do you pay your mortgage, rent, credit card or other big bills? File after you've paid those.
Do you have any RSUs or stock options that are vesting? If so, file before you get those.
Have you made Roth IRA contributions for this year? If not, make them before you file.
Can you wait until after Jan. 1 and make your 2025 Roth IRA contribution before filing?
If you have multiple children, have you allocated all the funds you can to 529s? You only count the student's 529 as an asset on the FAFSA-- not their siblings'-- so putting money into siblings' 529s will reduce your assets.
Does your student have money in their bank account that can be moved either to their 529 (if it will be used for college) or a Roth IRA?
Are there any major purchases that you intend to make anyway that you can make before filing?
Here's something else to do now to make your FAFSA filing go more smoothly: create your FSA ID. Student and parent both need one; you can both create them on studentaid.gov by clicking on the Create an Account button.
Whatever date you file, you'll use your 2023 tax return, so there is nothing you can do at this point to change your income.
Here's hoping that this year's rollout is smoother than last year's!
P.S. Want some strategies to optimize for the FAFSA and potentially get thousands of dollars more financial aid? Check out my College Financial Plan Masterclass! In honor of the FAFSA coming out, use the discount code FAFSA50 for $50 off between now and Dec. 8! It's almost like a Black Friday sale!
