Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA, 2025-26 award year)

Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. The student's legal first name, exactly as it appears on their Social Security card if they have one.

Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. The student's legal middle name, if any.

Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. The student's legal last name, exactly as it appears on their Social Security card if they have one.

Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. The student's date of birth. Age (as of the application) is one of the factors that determines whether the student is a dependent or independent applicant.

Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. The student's nine-digit U.S. Social Security number, e.g. 123-45-6789. Leave blank if the student does not have an SSN; some eligible applicants (for example certain eligible noncitizens) complete the FAFSA without one.

Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. The student's personal email address. Used to create or match the student's StudentAid.gov account (FSA ID) and to receive FAFSA notifications.

Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. The student's mobile phone number.

Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. The student's permanent home mailing address.

Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

Two-letter USPS state or territory abbreviation (e.g. CA, NY, TX). Leave blank for a foreign address; record the country and province in the address lines.

U.S. ZIP code in 5-digit or ZIP+4 format (e.g. 90210 or 90210-1234). Leave blank for a foreign address.

Country of the permanent mailing address when it is outside the United States. Leave blank for a U.S. address.

The student's marital status as of the date the FAFSA is signed. If 'married' (and not filing 2023 taxes jointly with the current spouse), the spouse is a contributor and must provide consent and a signature.

Whether the student is a U.S. citizen, an eligible noncitizen (e.g. a permanent resident with a Permanent Resident Card), or neither. Only U.S. citizens and eligible noncitizens can receive federal student aid.

Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. The student's USCIS Alien Registration Number (A-Number), required only when citizenship status is 'eligible-noncitizen'.

Two-letter USPS abbreviation of the U.S. state or territory the student legally resides in. This determines which state's poverty guideline is applied and which state grant agency receives the application.

Check (true) if, during the 2025-26 award year, the student will be enrolled in a master's, doctoral, or other graduate/professional program. Graduate/professional students are automatically independent and do not provide parent information.

Check (true) if the student is currently serving on active duty in the U.S. armed forces for purposes other than training, or is a veteran of the U.S. armed forces. Either makes the student an independent applicant.

Check (true) if the student has children, or other people (excluding a spouse), who live with the student and receive more than half of their support from the student now and through 30 June 2026. This makes the student an independent applicant.

Check (true) if, at any time since the student turned 13, both parents were deceased, or the student was in foster care, or was a dependent/ward of the court. This makes the student an independent applicant.

Check (true) if a court in the student's state of legal residence has declared the student an emancipated minor or placed the student in a legal guardianship. This makes the student an independent applicant.

Check (true) if, since 1 July 2024, the student was an unaccompanied youth who was homeless, or was self-supporting and at risk of being homeless. This makes the student an independent applicant.

Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Required for dependent students only. The first name of the contributor parent the student invites to complete the parent section. The invited parent provides their own consent, federal tax information, and signature.

Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Required for dependent students only. The last name of the contributor parent.

Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. The contributor parent's nine-digit U.S. Social Security number, e.g. 123-45-6789. Leave blank if the parent does not have an SSN; a parent without an SSN can still be invited and create a StudentAid.gov account.

Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Required for dependent students only. The contributor parent's date of birth, used to match or create their StudentAid.gov account.

Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Required for dependent students only. The contributor parent's email address; FSA uses it to invite the parent to complete and sign their section of this FAFSA.

The number of people in the family. For 2025-26 this is initially derived from the federal tax information (number of tax exemptions/dependents); the applicant confirms it or reports a different number if the household has changed.

The number of people in the family size who will be enrolled in college during 2025-26. Reported for context; it no longer divides the Student Aid Index but may be used in a school's professional-judgment review.

Check (true) if the student, or anyone in the family size, received a means-tested federal benefit during 2023 or 2024 — for example the Earned Income Tax Credit, federal housing assistance, SNAP, TANF/free or reduced-price lunch, SSI, Medicaid, WIC, or a Marketplace premium tax credit. May affect Pell Grant eligibility.

Whether the student filed a 2023 U.S. federal income tax return (IRS Form 1040 / 1040-NR), did not file, or filed a foreign or U.S. territory return. When the student consents to FA-DDX and filed a U.S. return, the return values are transferred automatically from the IRS and are not entered here.

Total annual child support received in the last calendar year for all children in the family size, in U.S. dollars. Manually entered. Enter 0 if none.

The current total balance of cash and of savings and checking accounts, in U.S. dollars. Always manually entered (not transferred from the IRS). Enter 0 if none.

The net worth (current value minus debt owed against them) of investments, in U.S. dollars — including real estate that is not the primary residence, and qualified education savings accounts. Excludes the home the family lives in and retirement accounts. Manually entered. Enter 0 if none.

The net worth (current value minus debt) of businesses and investment farms, in U.S. dollars. Under the FAFSA Simplification Act all business and farm net worth is now reported (the small-business and family-farm exclusions were removed). Manually entered. Enter 0 if none.

One or more colleges or career schools the FAFSA information should be sent to, identified by Federal School Code (a six-character code, e.g. 001234 or B12345) or by complete school name and address. Up to 20 schools may be listed on the online form (10 on the paper form). Provide codes as a comma-separated list.

The student must consent and approve (true) the IRS disclosure of their federal tax information to FSA via the FUTURE Act Direct Data Exchange. Each contributor (spouse, parent, parent's spouse/partner) must separately provide this consent in their own section. Without consent from every contributor, the student is not eligible for any federal (Title IV) student aid, even if the family did not or was not required to file taxes.

The student signs the FAFSA (true) by certifying the Statement of Educational Purpose and signing online with their StudentAid.gov account (FSA ID), or with a physical signature on the paper form. Each contributor also signs their own section. The signature certifies the information is correct and that federal aid will be used only for educational purposes.