Hey Taylor - My son just started his senior year, and his guidance counselor already told the whole class that the FAFSA opened and we should “get on it now.” College feels like it’s still a year away, and I haven’t even toured half the schools on his list yet. Is it actually worth doing anything about financial aid this early, or is this just one more thing being pushed on parents too soon? - Renee
Hey Renee - Your counselor’s timing is actually right, even if it doesn’t feel that way yet. The FAFSA for the 2027-28 school year opened on September 23, which is the earliest launch in the program’s history, for the second year in a row. It’s worth treating as a real deadline, even with tours and applications still in progress, because of what the calendar does for your aid.
Filing early can mean real money, not just less stress. Aid research consistently shows that students who submit in the first few months of the window end up with roughly twice the grant money, on average, compared to families who wait. Grant funding at many schools and states is limited and given out as applications come in, so a form filled out in October can carry more weight than the same form filled out in February.
It’s a shorter form than you remember. The FAFSA has been redesigned over the past couple of years, and many families can now get through it in around 15 minutes, especially if this isn’t your first time filling one out. If the length of the form is what’s been holding you back, it may be worth sitting down and just looking at it before assuming it’s a bigger project than it is.
An early estimate may help your whole budget, not just tuition. You don’t need a final college list to file; the form goes out to schools your son is still considering, and it gives you a rough sense of what aid might look like well before decisions are due. Knowing that number sooner rather than later can keep a big tuition surprise from landing on top of everything else already on your plate this fall, like activity fees and holiday spending.
Filling this out before the college list is finalized lets you see the numbers while you still have time to plan around them. Thanks for the question!
