FAFSA Deadlines

Financial aid applications, such as the FAFSA, should be submitted as soon as possible after January 1, but no sooner. You cannot submit the form before January 1, because the need analysis process uses your financial information from the prior tax year when calculating eligibility for the upcoming award year.

For example, if it is now November 1, 2009, and you are applying for financial aid for the 2010-2011 academic year (running from August 2010 through May 2011), you must wait until January 1, 2010 to submit the FAFSA. If you try submitting it early, it will not be processed and you'll have to resubmit it.

Federal Student Financial Aid Deadlines

The 2009-2010 School Year (July 1st, 2009 - June 30th, 2010):

The 2010-2011 School Year (July 1st, 2010 - June 30th, 2011):

• FAFSA on the Web applications must be submitted by midnight Central Daylight time:
  • 2009-2010 year deadline is June 30, 2010
  • 2010-2011 year deadline is June 30, 2011
• Corrections on the Web forms must be submitted by midnight Central Daylight time:
  • For the 2009-2010 award year no later than September 17, 2010.
  • For the 2010-2011 award year no later than September 16, 2011.

Note: Your school must have your complete and correct information by your last day of enrollment in the 2009-2010 school year and/or the last day of enrollment in the 2010-2011 school year.

Pay close attention to deadlines! Ask your school about their definition of an application deadline - whether it is the receipt date and time or the process date and time of the application.

Your state agency can give you important information about state aid—including aid from the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP) Program, funded jointly by states and the U.S. Department of Education.

State deadlines are normally much earlier than Federal deadlines. To find your state's deadline, go to www.fafsa.gov and under FAFSA ALERTS click on “State Deadlines”. This will indicate the deadline for each state or check with your financial aid office at the college you plan to attend.

TIP: State forms do not replace filling out the FAFSA. You must fill out the FAFSA to receive federal student aid.

Note: Date received means received by Federal Student Aid unless otherwise indicated. Remember to apply early before funds run out. The FAFSA is available after January 1st of each year. The FAFSA should be completed as soon as possible (at least before March 1st of each year) in order to comply with the state financial aid deadlines. If federal taxes have not been filed it is recommended to use estimated income from the W-2’s or year-to-date paystubs in order to have the FAFSA processed. The FAFSA must be corrected once the federal tax returns are filed; check with your financial aid office for clarification.

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Some of the content on this page is from Federal Student Aid's website http://www.fafsa.gov/ which is, an office of the U.S. Department of Education.