FAFSA 101: What You Need To Know About the 2026-27 FAFSA Application

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is a free application available to current and prospective college students seeking federal financial assistance for their education. The application collects personal and financial information to determine eligibility for federal grants, work-study, and/or loans.   

You can complete the application online right now! We recommend you file by November 10 if you applying Early Decision 1, January 10 if you are applying Early Decision 2 or by February 1 if you are applying Regular Decision.

If you are a U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or other eligible non-citizen, you will need to complete the FAFSA to determine your eligibility for federal aid.

The FAFSA will ask you to provide personally identifiable information (date of birth, SSN, email address, etc.) along with 2024 tax and asset information. It may also ask for the information of your parent(s) or guardian(s) depending on your dependency status. Don’t worry though! As you complete the FAFSA, the application will ask questions that help you determine who should be included.  

Everyone who is required to provide information on your FAFSA is called a contributor. This means that they are contributing information to your application.  Contributors may include parents, step-parents, and/or spouses. It is important to note that a contributor has no obligation to pay for the student’s education, but rather the individual’s information is required to help determine a student’s overall eligibility for federal aid.

You and your FAFSA contributors will need to register for an FSA ID. The FSA ID is a unique, personal username and password that allows each of you to access the FAFSA as well as other applications associated with StudentAid.gov, and to provide consent and approval to submit the application. 

All contributors are able to register for an FSA ID right now, and we suggest you do so as early as possible. It may take a few business days for your FSA IDs to be processed. You and your contributors will need to provide your Social Security Numbers and other verifiable information in the registration process, however, if a contributor does not have a Social Security Number, they are still eligible to create an FSA ID by providing alternative identifiable information. 

Register for an FSA ID

When a FAFSA contributor provides consent and approval, they are agreeing to have the personal information they provided on the FAFSA shared with the IRS in order to transfer their Federal Tax Information from the IRS to the FAFSA. All contributors are required to provide consent and approval on the FAFSA – including contributors who did not file taxes or who filed taxes outside of the United States.

Once the FAFSA has been completed and signed by all contributors, you will receive a FAFSA Submission Summary. This will provide a summary of your application and provide further instruction if there are additional steps that are required for your specific application.

If you are admitted to NYU, you will receive a letter which will detail your financial aid eligibility.

For more information regarding how to be prepared for the 2026-2027 FAFSA, go to Federal Student Aid’s YouTube channel and check out the playlist titled Preparing for the FAFSA Form. 

If you have any questions, you are encouraged to contact the NYU Office of Financial Aid at [email protected]. We are more than happy to help you navigate the financial aid process!