Guides
FAFSA over winter break: a checklist for parents
Updated November 2026
Winter break is a good time to sit down with your student and do the FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. If your student is a dependent (the form works this out), you have a part to complete too. StudentAid.gov says people typically finish their section in 12 minutes or less. This checklist walks you through your part in order. It is a plain summary of the official page, “Filling Out the FAFSA Form”.
Check which parent fills it in (opens the official site in a new tab)Know this first
- The 2027-28 FAFSA form is for school between July 1, 2027 and June 30, 2028. It asks for 2025 tax information.
- The FAFSA is free. Use only the official .gov site. If a site asks you to pay, you are on the wrong site.
- Some state and school aid is limited, so do not wait for the federal date. Deadlines are in step 7.
1. Find out if you are a “contributor”
A contributor is anyone who has to add information to the student’s form, sign it, and consent to share federal tax information. For a dependent student, that is a legal parent (biological or adoptive, or a legal parent under state rules) and, in some cases, the parent’s spouse. Which parent depends on your situation:
- Parents married to each other (and not separated) who filed taxes together: only one parent has to be a contributor, and that parent reports for both.
- Parents married to each other (and not separated) who did not file taxes together: both parents are contributors.
- Parents not married but living together: both are contributors.
- Parents divorced, separated or never married, and not living together: the parent who gave more financial support in the last 12 months. If equal, or neither gave support, the parent with the greater income and assets.
- Parent widowed: that parent.
Not sure? The official wizard tells you:
A stepparent counts as a parent only if they adopted your student. If not, the form may still ask for the stepparent’s information, depending on the parent’s tax filing status. Grandparents, foster parents, legal guardians, older brothers or sisters, uncles and aunts are not “parents” on the FAFSA unless they legally adopted the student. Read the official “Reporting Parent Information” page for your situation.
2. Make your own StudentAid.gov account (your FSA ID)
Each contributor needs their own account. StudentAid.gov calls it a StudentAid.gov account and still shows “FSA ID” on some pages: it is the same username and password. Do not use your student’s account. If you already made one, use it again: you can have only one.
You will give your name (exactly as on your Social Security card, if you have one), date of birth, email address and Social Security number (if you have one). A parent without an SSN can still make an account. Make it at StudentAid.gov’s create-account page, never on WealthNutz.
See our guide: FSA ID and FAFSA contributors. StudentAid.gov also has a “Who needs a StudentAid.gov account for the FAFSA form?” tool on its Filling Out the FAFSA Form page that takes less than a minute.
3. Your student invites you to their form
Your student starts the 2027-28 form at StudentAid.gov (Start New Form, pick 2027-28, log in, then select “Student”). Later in the form, at the “Invite a Parent or Spouse” step, they type in your email address and select “Send Invite”. You get an email invitation. Your student also gets an invite link and code they can share with you.
Log in with your own StudentAid.gov account to fill in your section. Your student cannot submit the form until you have finished and signed your section. If the email does not arrive, ask your student to share the invite link and code, or check the official page.
4. Get your tax and money details ready (usually less than you think)
StudentAid.gov says most people can start, and usually finish, without finding documents, because federal tax information can be brought in directly from the IRS. The form tells you if it needs something. Things you might need:
- Tax returns
- Records of child support you received
- Current balances of savings and checking accounts
- Current amount of cash, if more than $1,000
- Value of, and debt on, non-retirement investments, businesses and farms
Keep these records. Do not mail them to anyone. The 2027-28 form asks for 2025 tax information.
5. Give consent for your federal tax information to be shared
Every contributor is asked to agree that the U.S. Department of Education can get their federal tax information from the IRS, use it to work out the student’s aid, and share it with the student’s schools and state agencies. From the official page:
- If you do not have an SSN, did not file taxes, or filed outside the U.S., you still need to give this consent.
- If a contributor does not give consent, the student will not be eligible for federal student aid. This is true even if they type tax figures in by hand.
- Your federal tax information does not show on the FAFSA site or on the student’s FAFSA Submission Summary.
6. Sign and submit your section
Agree to the terms and sign electronically, then submit. The form is not complete until everyone required (the student and every contributor) has finished their section, given consent and signed. After the last person submits, it goes for processing.
Did your finances change (a job loss, big medical bills)? File the form as it is, then contact the financial aid office at the school your student plans to attend. The school may adjust. The official page says the school’s decision is final and cannot be appealed to the U.S. Department of Education.
7. Know the deadlines (federal, state, school)
- Federal 2027-28 deadline: 11:59 p.m. Central time on June 30, 2028. Corrections and updates: 11:59 p.m. Central time on September 12, 2028.
- Each state and each school can have its own date, so check both. Example from the official list: Texas says to submit by January 15, 2027 for priority consideration (private and two-year institutions may have different deadlines). Check your state on the official page, and ask the school for its date.
More: FAFSA deadlines for 2027-28.
What happens next
- If the form is processed right away, the student sees the FAFSA Submission Summary (estimated eligibility and Student Aid Index) at once. If not, they see a page saying processing takes one to three days, and they get an email when it is done.
- The summary is only an estimate. Each school sends its own official aid offer after your student applies and is admitted.
- Watch email, including spam, for messages from the U.S. Department of Education or the school.
- A school may ask for more proof: Selected for verification.
- Wondering about grants? Pell Grant eligibility and amount.
- Spotted a mistake? The official “How To Review and Correct Your FAFSA Form” page explains how.
Unusual situations
If your student cannot contact their parents, or contacting them would put the student at risk (for example, parents who are incarcerated, or the student left an abusive home), the form has a question for this. The student may be treated as provisionally independent and can skip the parent questions, then talks to the school’s financial aid office about proof. Read the official “Reporting Parent Information” page. Do not guess.
Official links
Next steps
Education only, not financial advice. WealthNutz is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid or any school, and this is a summary, not an official page. WealthNutz earns no commission. We never ask for your SSN or your login. Checked on November 15, 2026. Rules and dates can change, so confirm on StudentAid.gov.