Many colleges and states use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly known as the FAFSA, to determine students’ eligibility for nonfederal need-based aid — additional funds students can use to pay for school.
But making a mistake on the FAFSA or submitting the application late can result in processing delays or limit the amount of loans, grants and other aid awarded to a student, experts say.
Here are eight common missteps to avoid:
1. Not Registering for an FSA ID Before Filling Out the FAFSA
Students and any contributor — which can be a biological or adoptive parent, or a spouse — each need to create an FSA ID in order to complete and sign the FAFSA. However, creating an ID can take up to three days while information is confirmed through the Social Security Administration.
Without the FSA ID, applicants can’t correct information online. Parents or spouses without a Social Security number can create an FSA ID under certain conditions, and there are additional identity verification steps.
2. Missing Deadlines
Parents and students can typically complete the FAFSA as early as Oct. 1 for the following academic year. However, the 2025-2026 form opened in late November 2024 — marking the second consecutive year with a delayed release date.
While the application deadline isn’t until June 30 for each academic year, financial aid administrators recommend applying early since some states and colleges have earlier deadlines and limited funds.
[Read: States Requiring FAFSA for High School Seniors]
“Don’t hold off on submitting your FAFSA until you get an admission decision,” says Lauren Sullivan, executive director of student financial services at Bentley University in Massachusetts. “Because if you’re using that to apply for need-based aid, you want to give the universities and the colleges that you’re applying to as much time to review your application to ensure you get a timely award letter that you can go over before you have to make a deposit.”
Note that filing before the release date results in completing the form for the wrong award year. That would mean that a new form would have to be filed for the correct year.
3. Not Listing Schools Where You Plan to Apply
Applicants can list up to 20 schools on the online FAFSA and 10 on the paper version. If you don’t include a school where you’re planning to apply, that college or university won’t receive your information.
“You would still be considered for federal aid because you have, in that case, filled out and submitted the FAFSA,” says Kate Wood, lending expert at NerdWallet, a personal finance company. “So your federal student loans — your overall things that would be the same regardless of what school you attended — you would still have that. But you would not be up for anything that was specific to that college or university, or that was specific to that school system.”
To change the list of colleges on the FAFSA, applicants need to log in to their account and select “Add or Remove Schools.” While it doesn’t affect federal aid, some states require schools to be listed in a certain order.
“Don’t get too worried about your list of schools that you’re sending it to,” Wood says. “If you’re not sure whether you’re going to apply to a school, it is OK to just put them on your list. Worst case if you don’t end up applying, they’ve received your information and they don’t do anything with it because it’s an incomplete application. Going back and adding schools isn’t even considered a correction.”
4. Not Consenting to the IRS Direct Data Exchange
The FAFSA requires tax information from the prior prior year. That means families will need tax information from 2023 when they’re completing the FAFSA for the 2025-2026 academic year.
To qualify for federal financial aid, applicants must consent to the FUTURE Act-Direct Data Exchange, which automatically transfers federal income tax information to the online FAFSA from the Internal Revenue Service.
Any changes in financial circumstances, like unemployment and income loss, can be directly reported to financial aid offices at colleges where a student is applying.
5. Submitting Incorrect Personal Information
Don’t use a nickname or other variations of your name, experts say. A contributor’s name on the application must match government documents, such as a birth certificate or Social Security card.
[Read: How to Renew the FAFSA.]
“Typically when students are putting in their FAFSA information, they have to put in their info, their parents’ info and so on,” says Andrew Wright, senior associate vice president for enrollment management at San Jose State University in California. “Numbers get mixed and names get into the wrong field. We do see some Social Security number issues, mismatching of names, dates of birth challenges and even email mistakes. So we strongly encourage students to double-check all of the personal information before they enter everything into the FAFSA.”
Depending on the mistake, students can refer to the Federal Student Aid website, StudentAid.gov, for questions about how to correct the form. They can also reach out to a school’s financial aid office.
6. Not Renewing the FAFSA Each Year
Students must complete and submit the FAFSA annually to be considered each school year for federal work-study and funds such as the Pell Grant, federal student loans and the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant. States and many colleges also use the form to determine their own aid.
“File the FAFSA,” says Brian Ehrlich, vice president for enrollment management at Florida Institute of Technology. “I’m amazed at the amount of families that say, ‘Oh, well, I don’t think we’re going to get anything. I don’t think it’s going to help us, so we’re just not going to do it.’ … Even if you think it’s not going to apply, you should still do the FAFSA and work with your university on it, especially for new students.”
[READ: 19 Questions College Financial Aid Officers Wish Parents Would Ask]
7. Listing Parental Marriage Status Incorrectly
If you’re filing as a dependent student, the Education Department wants to know the marital status of your legal parents as of the day the FAFSA is completed.
For applicants with divorced, never-married or separated parents who don’t live together, the parent who provided the most financial support over the last 12 months is considered the contributor. If it’s the same amount for each parent, the contributor is the parent with the highest income and assets. And if this parent has remarried and didn’t file their taxes jointly, the stepparent is also considered a form contributor.
8. Forgetting to Sign Your Application
If an applicant or contributor doesn’t sign the FAFSA, the form is considered incomplete and won’t be processed.
“The one thing kind of good about the missing signature mistake is that you know pretty quickly,” Wood says. “When you go back in to StudentAid.gov to check on the status of your FAFSA, it’ll show up as action required because this is a pretty common error. They know exactly what you’re missing and what you need. So that’s a relatively easy one to fill in and get dealt with.”
Applicants need their FSA ID to sign electronically. All contributors can find a link to obtain a FSA ID through StudentAid.gov. While many applicants submit the form online, applicants can also print pages seven through 20, which includes the signature page, and submit them via mail.
The online FAFSA is processed by the Education Department within one to three days, while the paper form takes up to 10 days.
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8 Common Mistakes Made on the FAFSA originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 01/16/25: This article was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
