Key Takeaways
- The 2027-28 FAFSA opens to everyone on October 1, 2026, using your 2025 tax return.
- A redesigned contributor-invite flow targets the parent/spouse confusion of past cycles.
- Returning students get pre-filled renewal data; families with multiple kids can reuse parent info.
- Retirement accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs still don't count as assets on the FAFSA.
The 2027-28 FAFSA opens to everyone on October 1, 2026, and it runs on your 2025 tax return. Beta testing for the form actually started August 5, 2026, but October 1 is when every family gets access.
I went through what the Department of Education actually changed this cycle, and a few of the updates genuinely fix problems that tripped families up in past years.
What’s Actually New in the 2027-28 FAFSA
The biggest change is a redesigned contributor invitation flow. In past cycles, inviting a parent or spouse to complete their section of the form was a common breaking point — families would get stuck not knowing who needed to log in or what they were supposed to do. The new flow is built to make that clearer.
Returning students also get pre-populated renewal data, so a lot of last year’s information carries over automatically instead of being re-typed from scratch. Families with more than one kid in college can now reuse parent financial details across each child’s application rather than entering the same numbers repeatedly.
There’s also a faster account-verification process for new StudentAid.gov users — though first-time filers should expect some identity-verification checks as part of new fraud-prevention measures. The Department also added an earnings indicator showing how a school’s graduates’ pay compares to typical high school graduate earnings, and rewrote large parts of the form in plainer language.
It Still Runs on Last Year’s Taxes — Here’s Why That Matters
The 2027-28 FAFSA uses your 2025 federal tax return, pulled in automatically through the IRS Direct Data Exchange once you consent. For most families, that means there’s nothing to manually calculate — the figures transfer straight from the return you already filed.
If you filed your 2025 return late or on an extension, make sure that return has actually been processed by the IRS before you sit down to file the FAFSA, since the data exchange needs a completed return on file to pull from. If you still haven’t filed, free options like IRS Free File can get that squared away first.
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The OBBBA Asset and Pell Changes Carrying Into This Cycle
A few asset-calculation changes from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) that started with the 2026-27 FAFSA carry forward into 2027-28. Family-owned businesses with 100 or fewer employees, farms the family actually lives on, and commercial fishing operations are excluded from the asset calculation, though their income still counts.
On the flip side, foreign earned income that used to be excluded now gets added back into the income figure used to calculate Pell Grant eligibility, which can reduce the benefit of that exclusion for some families. For 2026-27, a Student Aid Index at or above $14,790 makes a student ineligible for a Pell Grant — I’d expect a similar (likely slightly higher, inflation-indexed) threshold for 2027-28, but I’ll update this once the Department confirms the exact number.
One thing that hasn’t changed and is worth repeating: retirement accounts like the ones covered in my 401(k) and IRA contribution limits guide still aren’t counted as reportable assets on the FAFSA, even though withdrawals from them during the tax year do count as income.
Two Families, Two Different Filing Experiences
The Ortiz family has a daughter who’s now a sophomore, so this is her second FAFSA. Because of the pre-populated renewal data, most of the household’s information carries over automatically this year, and they mainly just need to confirm figures and update anything that changed.
Jordan is a first-time, independent filer heading into freshman year without parents to add as contributors. Jordan should create a StudentAid.gov account early, since first-time filers now go through additional identity verification that can take a few extra days to clear before the FAFSA can actually be submitted.
Key Dates to Watch
Beta access opened in phases starting August 5, 2026, but October 1, 2026 is the real date that matters for most families — that’s public launch. Many state grant programs and college aid offices award their own funds first-come, first-served, so filing in October rather than waiting until December or January can matter for aid beyond just federal loans and Pell Grants.
Looking Ahead: The 2028-29 FAFSA
The Department has already signaled it wants to keep building on this year’s changes — expect the 2028-29 cycle (which will run on your 2026 tax return) to lean further into pre-filled data and the same contributor-invite redesign. I’ll cover that form in detail once its own beta period opens, likely around mid-2027.
Common Issues to Watch Out For Before You File
I get questions about FAFSA timing every fall, and the same handful of issues come up.
Contributor confusion. Even with the redesigned flow, families sometimes aren’t sure whether a stepparent, a remarried spouse, or a noncustodial parent needs to be added as a contributor. When in doubt, check the FAFSA’s own contributor guidance rather than guessing.
FSA ID delays. First-time filers — students and parents alike — need their own StudentAid.gov account and FSA ID before they can complete their section. Don’t wait until the night before a deadline to create one.
SAI vs. the old “EFC.” If you filed FAFSAs years ago for an older child, you may remember the term “Expected Family Contribution.” That’s now the Student Aid Index (SAI), and it doesn’t work exactly the same way, so don’t assume your old EFC intuition still applies.
Missing state and school deadlines. The federal FAFSA deadline is generous, but plenty of state grant programs and individual colleges have their own, much earlier priority deadlines tied to when you file, not just whether you file by June.
Assuming retirement savings count against you. As covered above, 401(k)s and IRAs aren’t counted as assets — don’t let that fear talk you out of contributing to retirement accounts while your kids are in school. If you’re also setting money aside for a younger child through a Trump Account, that’s a separate long-term savings track from paying for college now.
This isn’t personalized financial aid advice — every family’s contributor situation and state deadlines are different, so confirm specifics with your school’s financial aid office. And if you’re weighing education tax breaks alongside financial aid, my guide to the Child Tax Credit and education credits covers those separately from anything on the FAFSA itself.
