When is the FAFSA opens for 2027-28 aid year?

October 1, 2026. Nothing is lost on this exact day, but every week you wait after the form opens is a week closer to your state's and your colleges' much earlier aid cutoffs, and some aid is handed out first-come, first-served until the money runs out.

When is the CSS Profile opens for 2027-28 aid year?

October 1, 2026. Only applies if one of your colleges requires it, but at a college that does, skipping the CSS Profile means you are simply not considered for that school's own grant aid, which is often the largest single piece of an award letter.

When is the Decision Day: pick your college and pay the deposit?

May 1, 2027. Miss the date on your offer letter and the college can give your place to somebody on the waitlist. A deposit paid before the reply date is usually refundable if you change your mind; after it, it almost never is. This is the last decision in the whole process that costs real money to get wrong.

When is the FAFSA 2026-27 federal submission deadline?

June 30, 2027. After this date you are permanently locked out of federal grants, work-study, and federal loans for the 2026-27 school year, and most colleges will not release their own need-based aid either.

When is the FAFSA 2026-27 corrections deadline?

September 11, 2027. An error left uncorrected after this date is frozen permanently, which can mean your aid for 2026-27 is calculated on wrong numbers and cannot be recalculated.

When is the FAFSA 2026-27 verification documents deadline?

September 18, 2027. If verification is not completed, the college must cancel any federal grant or loan money not yet paid out, and you can be billed back for aid already applied to their account.

College application and financial aid deadlines

Every date below is checked against the official page it came from, and that page is linked next to it. Free to read, no sign-up.

Deadlines that apply to everyone

Federal dates, whichever schools you apply to.

FAFSAOctober 1, 2026in 2 days
FAFSA opens for 2027-28 aid year
The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is the single form that decides whether you get federal grants, work-study, or subsidized loans. Almost every college also uses it to hand out their own money, so filing it matters even if you are sure you earn too much to qualify. The U.S. Department of Education has publicly committed to releasing the 2027-28 form, the one you need for college starting in fall 2027, by October 1, 2026, and is running public beta tests through August and September 2026 ahead of that release.
If you miss it: Nothing is lost on this exact day, but every week you wait after the form opens is a week closer to your state's and your colleges' much earlier aid cutoffs, and some aid is handed out first-come, first-served until the money runs out.
Start the FAFSA Source: Federal Student Aid (FSA Partners Knowledge Center)
CSS ProfileOctober 1, 2026in 2 days
CSS Profile opens for 2027-28 aid year
The CSS Profile is a second, longer financial aid application run by the College Board (the SAT people), not the government. Roughly a few hundred mostly private colleges and scholarship programs require it on top of the FAFSA because it digs deeper into things like home equity, small business value, and non-custodial parent income, to award their own institutional money. College Board states that students file it starting on October 1 of senior year, and it is free for domestic undergraduate families with income up to $100,000; otherwise it costs $25 for the first college and $16 for each additional one.
If you miss it: Only applies if one of your colleges requires it, but at a college that does, skipping the CSS Profile means you are simply not considered for that school's own grant aid, which is often the largest single piece of an award letter.
Open the CSS Profile Source: College Board (CSS Profile)
DepositMay 1, 2027in about 7 months
Decision Day: pick your college and pay the deposit
This is the day you choose. May 1 is the National Candidates Reply Date, the date most colleges use as the deadline to accept your offer and pay an enrollment deposit, which is what actually holds your seat. Being admitted does not reserve anything on its own. One important catch: colleges set their own reply dates, and since 2019 no organisation enforces May 1, so a school on your list may want an answer earlier or may give you longer. Check the date printed on each offer letter and go by that, not by this one. If you are still waiting on an appeal or a revised aid offer, ask for an extension in writing before the date rather than after it.
If you miss it: Miss the date on your offer letter and the college can give your place to somebody on the waitlist. A deposit paid before the reply date is usually refundable if you change your mind; after it, it almost never is. This is the last decision in the whole process that costs real money to get wrong.
Source: National Association for College Admission Counseling
FAFSAJune 30, 2027in about 9 months
FAFSA 2026-27 federal submission deadline
This is the final federal cutoff for the 2026-27 FAFSA, covering college between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2027. It must reach the Department's FAFSA Processing System by 11:59 p.m. Central Time. If you never filed or never finished, fix it now.
If you miss it: After this date you are permanently locked out of federal grants, work-study, and federal loans for the 2026-27 school year, and most colleges will not release their own need-based aid either.
Start the FAFSA Source: Federal Register / U.S. Department of Education
FAFSASeptember 11, 2027in about 12 months
FAFSA 2026-27 corrections deadline
After you submit a FAFSA, you can go back and fix mistakes: a mistyped income figure, a wrong Social Security number, or a college you added later. This is the last date the government accepts changes for 2026-27, by 11:59 p.m. Central Time.
If you miss it: An error left uncorrected after this date is frozen permanently, which can mean your aid for 2026-27 is calculated on wrong numbers and cannot be recalculated.
Start the FAFSA Source: Federal Register / U.S. Department of Education
DocumentsSeptember 18, 2027in about 12 months
FAFSA 2026-27 verification documents deadline
Verification is an audit: some FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) filers get picked, at random or because something looked inconsistent, and the college asks for paperwork such as tax transcripts, W-2s, or a signed statement, to prove what was reported. Being selected is routine and is not an accusation. This is the outside federal date by which the college must have your documents in hand for the 2026-27 school year; note that your own college will almost always demand them far sooner, and the true deadline is whichever comes first.
If you miss it: If verification is not completed, the college must cancel any federal grant or loan money not yet paid out, and you can be billed back for aid already applied to their account.
Source: Federal Register / U.S. Department of Education

Deadlines by kind

What each round is, what missing it costs, and every date we have for it.

Deadlines by state

State aid applies wherever you enrol, so it is worth reading even if your schools are elsewhere.

Deadlines by school

225 schools, with their own application and aid dates.

Alabama

Arkansas

University of Arkansas5 dates, next November 1, 2026

Post University1 date, next May 1, 2027

District of Columbia

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