The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly known as the FAFSA, can be a tedious task for many students and families.
But once completed, the renewal process for subsequent years can be a much quicker process, as some information autopopulates in the form.
For the 2024-2025 FAFSA, however, significant changes were made. Because of this, the renewal option wasn’t available. That continues to be the case for the 2025-2026 form — which opened November 2024 — so returning students will have to fill out the FAFSA as though it’s their first time, says Caron Jackson, corporate communications manager at Sallie Mae, a consumer banking company that offers private education loans.
“I believe the option is expected to return” for the 2026-2027 school year, she says.
[READ: 7 Strategies for Appealing a College Financial Aid Package.]
How to File the FAFSA as a Returning Student
To file the FAFSA, returning applicants should follow the steps below.
Log Into StudentAid.gov Using Your FSA ID
If filing as a dependent, first-time applicants and other contributors — anyone required to provide information on the FAFSA form — need to create an FSA ID using a Social Security number, email address, full name and date of birth.
However, as of December 2023, a contributor without a Social Security number can create an account to get an ID. This ID is used for every year a student submits a FAFSA form.
To be considered independent, a student must meet at least one of numerous criteria, some of which are: at least 24 years of age by Jan. 1 of the school year for which you are applying for aid; working toward a master’s or doctorate degree; married; homeless or at risk of being homeless; a parent who provides more than half of the financial support; in foster care, an orphan, or ward or dependent of the court since turning the age of 13; a veteran or active-duty military member; or an emancipated minor.
If a returning student or parent does not remember their FSA ID, there’s an option to select either “forgot username” or “forgot password.” Additionally, instead of using a username, applicants can sign on with a verified mobile phone number or email address associated with the ID.
The FAFSA can be accessed on a computer, mobile phone or tablet.
Fill Out the Form’s Questions
Once logged in, students should select the application for the next academic year. Returning students’ basic details tied to their FSA ID account, including their name, date of birth, address and Social Security number, should autopopulate in the form, Jackson says.
Beginning with the 2024-2025 form, every contributor must give consent to allow the IRS to automatically transfer tax information to the online application.
[READ: What’s New on the 2025-2026 FAFSA]
Up-to-date financial and tax information from the “prior prior year” is required. This means that applicants filling out the 2025-2026 form, for instance, will use the 2023 federal income tax return.
Dependent filers report information from their own and their parents’ taxed and untaxed income records, bank statements and investment records, if applicable. Those filing independently report the same things as well as provide a spouse’s information, if married.
Returning students should make sure “their information is correct, that they have their contributor information and (that) those folks who have to be part of the FAFSA (are) engaged so they don’t have any missteps in getting their forms filed as soon as possible,” says Karen LeVeque-Szawara, assistant vice president of financial aid at DePaul University in Illinois. “Continuing awarding is usually done a little bit later.”
Sign and Submit the FAFSA
Before a FAFSA is considered complete, a signature is required by the student and any contributor. This can be done using the FSA ID.
Days or weeks after submission, applicants will receive a FAFSA Submission Summary that summarizes the information disclosed on the form. The report also includes the student aid index, formerly known as the expected family contribution, which determines a student’s estimated eligibility for federal Pell Grants and student loans.
The FAFSA Submission Summary also informs students if they were selected for verification by the Department of Education, a process that requires submission of additional family information and usually delays creation of a financial aid package.
It typically takes one to three days after an online submission and between seven to 10 days for print forms to be processed by the Education Department. Once processed, that information — known as the Institutional Student Information Record, or ISIR — is forwarded to an applicant’s school. The 2024-2025 form experienced processing delays, but that’s not expected this cycle.
“I think we’re all very hopeful that it’s going to be much better” this year, LeVeque-Szawara says. “We’re a month ahead of where we were last year. During the beta (testing), schools were able to see the student aid reports that were being delivered, even if that wasn’t a school that was in the beta. So we know that we’re already receiving information, which is steps ahead of where we were last year.”
[Read: What You Need to Know About College Tuition Costs.]
How Often Should the FAFSA Be Filled Out?
Students should complete the FAFSA for every year they want federal, state or even institutional financial aid. However, 1 in 4 families making less than $100,000 a year chose not to file the FAFSA in the 2023-2024 academic year because they believed their income was too high, according to the annual Sallie Mae/Ipsos survey “How America Pays for College.”
“Most families do qualify for some sort of aid, so to not file would be a huge mistake,” Jackson says. “It’s really important that they file every year and make sure they don’t leave any free money on the table.”
Students have until June 30, 2026 to submit the 2025-2026 FAFSA. State and institutional deadlines vary but are often well before the federal deadline.
“Completing the FAFSA is such a critical step in planning for higher education,” Jackson says. “Some state and school-based aid is first-come, first-served. So we really want to let students and families know the earlier they file, the better it’s going to be to get their share of over a billion dollars of available free money for school.”
If a student or parent has questions about the FAFSA, the Education Department’s Federal Student Aid Information Center, or FSAIC, provides support through phone, email or web chat. The department increased FSAIC staffing and extended weeknight and Saturday contact hours. College financial aid offices also offer assistance.
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Renewing the FAFSA: What to Know originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 12/04/24: This article was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
