FAFSA Deadlines
There are three sets of deadlines, and the earliest one is the one that pays.
The FAFSA has more than one deadline. That trips up a lot of families. There is a federal deadline, a state deadline, and a deadline for each school. The federal one is the latest. The state and school ones come much sooner. If you only watch the federal date, you can miss real money.
2026-27 FAFSA deadlines by state
Below are the state deadlines, word for word from the official FAFSA form. Notice how many states just say to file as soon as possible. That is because their aid is first come, first served. So treat every date here as a last resort and file earlier if you can. A date is the latest you can be considered, not a promise the money will still be there.
| State or territory | 2026-27 deadline |
|---|---|
| Alabama | Check with your financial aid office. |
| Alaska | Alaska Education Grant: as soon as possible after Oct. 1, 2025; awards made while funds exist. Alaska Performance Scholarship: for priority consideration, submit by June 30, 2026; awards made while funds exist. |
| Arizona | Arizona Promise Program: for priority consideration, submit by April 1, 2026. |
| Arkansas | Academic Challenge: July 1, 2026. ArFuture Grant: fall term, July 1, 2026; spring term, Jan. 10, 2027. |
| California | Most state aid programs: March 2, 2026 (date postmarked). Cal Grant also needs a school-certified GPA by March 2, 2026. Additional community college Cal Grants: Sept. 2, 2026 (date postmarked). |
| Colorado | Check with your financial aid office. |
| Connecticut | For priority consideration, submit by Feb. 15, 2026. Check with your financial aid office. More forms may be required. |
| Delaware | May 30, 2026. |
| District of Columbia | For priority consideration, submit by June 25, 2026. DC Tuition Assistance Grant: submit the DC OneApp and supporting documents by July 1, 2026 for priority consideration. |
| Florida | May 15, 2026 (date processed). |
| Georgia | As soon as possible after Oct. 1, 2025. Check with your financial aid office. More forms may be required. |
| Hawaii | Check with your financial aid office. More forms may be required. |
| Idaho | Opportunity Scholarship: for priority consideration, submit by March 1, 2026. Check with your financial aid office. More forms may be required. |
| Illinois | As soon as possible after Oct. 1, 2025; awards made while funds exist. Check the Illinois Student Assistance Commission website for current Monetary Award Program (MAP) dates. |
| Indiana | Frank O'Bannon Grant and 21st Century Scholarship: April 15, 2026. Adult Student Grant and Workforce Ready Grant: as soon as possible after Oct. 1, 2025; awards made while funds exist. |
| Iowa | July 1, 2026; earlier priority deadlines may exist for certain programs. More forms may be required. |
| Kansas | For priority consideration, submit by April 1, 2026. Check with your financial aid office. More forms may be required. |
| Kentucky | As soon as possible after Oct. 1, 2025; awards made while funds exist. |
| Louisiana | July 1, 2027 (Feb. 1, 2026 recommended). |
| Maine | May 1, 2026. |
| Maryland | Howard P. Rawlings Educational Excellence Awards (EEA): March 1, 2026. |
| Massachusetts | For priority consideration, submit by May 1, 2026. |
| Michigan | Michigan Competitive Scholarship and Michigan Tuition Grant: for priority consideration, submit by July 1, 2026. |
| Minnesota | State Grant and North Star Promise: by the 30th day of the term. All other aid: check with your financial aid office. More forms may be required. |
| Mississippi | MTAG and MESG grants: Oct. 15, 2026. HELP Grant: April 30, 2026. |
| Missouri | For priority consideration, submit by Feb. 2, 2026. Applications accepted through April 1, 2026. |
| Montana | For priority consideration, submit as soon as possible after Oct. 1, 2025. Check with your financial aid office. More forms may be required. |
| Nebraska | Check with your financial aid office. |
| Nevada | Silver State Opportunity Grant: as soon as possible after Oct. 1, 2025; awards made while funds exist. Nevada Promise Scholarship: April 1, 2026. All other aid: check with your financial aid office. More forms may be required. |
| New Hampshire | Check with your financial aid office. More forms may be required. |
| New Jersey | 2025-26 Tuition Aid Grant recipients (renewal): April 15, 2026. All other applicants: fall and spring terms, Sept. 15, 2026; spring term only, Feb. 15, 2027. |
| New Mexico | Check with your financial aid office. |
| New York | June 30, 2027. A separate TAP application is required. More forms may be required. |
| North Carolina | For priority consideration: June 1, 2026 (UNC System), Aug. 15, 2026 (community college), or as soon as possible after Oct. 1, 2025 (private institution). Awards made while funds exist. |
| North Dakota | As soon as possible after Oct. 1, 2025; awards made while funds exist. |
| Ohio | Oct. 1, 2026. |
| Oklahoma | Check with your financial aid office. |
| Oregon | Oregon Opportunity Grant: as soon as possible after Oct. 1, 2025; awards made while funds exist. OSAC private scholarships: March 1, 2026. Oregon Promise Grant: contact the state agency. More forms may be required. |
| Pennsylvania | First-time applicants at a community college, business/trade/technical school, hospital nursing school, designated open-admission institution, or nontransferable two-year program: Aug. 1, 2026. All other applicants: May 1, 2026. More forms may be required. |
| Rhode Island | Check with your financial aid office. More forms may be required. |
| South Carolina | SC Commission on Higher Education need-based grants: first come, first served; awards made while funds exist. SC Tuition Grants (SC independent institutions only): Aug. 1, 2026. |
| South Dakota | Check with your financial aid office. More forms may be required. |
| Tennessee | State Grant: prior-year recipients who reapply by April 1, 2026; other awards to neediest applicants while funds exist. Tennessee Promise: April 1, 2026. State Lottery: fall term, Sept. 1, 2026; spring term, March 1, 2027; summer term, May 1, 2027. |
| Texas | For priority consideration, submit by Jan. 15, 2026. Private and two-year institutions may differ; check with your financial aid office. More forms may be required. |
| Utah | Check with your financial aid office; awards made while funds exist. More forms may be required. |
| Vermont | As soon as possible after Oct. 1, 2025; awards made while funds exist. More forms may be required. |
| Virginia | As soon as possible after Oct. 1, 2025. Deadlines vary by institution; check with your financial aid office. |
| Washington | As soon as possible after Oct. 1, 2025. Check with your financial aid office. |
| West Virginia | Promise Scholarship: March 1, 2026 (new applicants submit an extra form). WV Higher Education Grant: April 15, 2026. WV Invests Grant: for priority consideration, April 15, 2026. |
| Wisconsin | Check with your financial aid office. |
| Wyoming | Check with your financial aid office. More forms may be required. |
| American Samoa | Check with your financial aid office. More forms may be required. |
| Guam | Check with your financial aid office. More forms may be required. |
| Northern Mariana Islands | For priority consideration, submit by April 30, 2026. More forms may be required. |
| Puerto Rico | Check with your financial aid office. |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | Check with your financial aid office. More forms may be required. |
Verified June 2026 against the official StudentAid.gov 2026-27 FAFSA deadlines. State deadlines change every year, so always confirm with your state grant agency or your college financial aid office before you rely on a date.
The three deadlines
The federal deadline
The 2026-27 FAFSA opened on September 24, 2025. The federal submission deadline is June 30, 2027. That is a long window. But do not let the late date fool you into waiting. The federal deadline is almost never the one that costs you money. The earlier ones are.
State deadlines
Each state sets its own deadline for state grant and scholarship money. These come much sooner than the federal date. Some states have a deadline as early as October 1. Many state programs hand out money until it runs out. That means once the pot is empty, it is empty, even if you are still inside the date.
Check your own state's deadline as soon as you can. A missed state deadline often means losing free grant money you would have gotten just for filing on time.
School deadlines
Each college also sets its own date for its own aid. Some schools set their FAFSA date early so they can build aid offers and hand out their own grants. If you are applying to more than one school, write down each school's date. Then file by the earliest one. That way you are safe everywhere.
Why early filing is real money
This is the part people miss. A deadline tells you the last day you can file. It does not promise the money will still be there. A lot of aid is given out in the order people apply. State grants, school grants, and work-study can all run dry. So the student who files in October can end up with more aid than the same student who files in March, even though both beat the deadline.
Think of it like seats on a bus. The deadline is when the bus leaves. But the good seats fill up fast. Get on early and you get a better seat. Filing early is not about rushing for no reason. It is about getting your share before the money is gone.
There is no special reason to wait, either. The 2026-27 form uses your 2024 tax data, and most of that comes straight from the IRS through the consent step. So you are not waiting on a tax return to be done. Everything you need is already in the past. That is part of why early filing is so easy to do once you sit down to start.
What if you are running late?
File anyway. A late FAFSA is far better than no FAFSA. You may miss some first-come money, but you can still qualify for loans and some aid. The worst choice is to skip it because you think you are too late. As long as you are inside the federal date, your form still counts.
If you have already missed a state or school deadline, do not give up on that money either. Call the financial aid office and ask. Sometimes there is a little flexibility, and sometimes other funds open up later in the year. You will never know unless you ask, and asking costs you nothing.
Set a reminder for next year
The FAFSA comes around every year you are in school. The same early-filing rule applies each time. So once you find your state and school deadlines, write them down for next year too. Many families lose money in year two or three simply because they forgot the form resets. A note on your calendar can save you hundreds of dollars down the road.
A simple plan
- Find your state deadline first. It is usually the soonest.
- Find each school's deadline next.
- File by the earliest of all of them.
- Do not wait for the federal date. It is the last resort, not the goal.
The dates feel confusing, but the rule is simple. The sooner you file, the more aid is still on the table. Pick the earliest deadline that applies to you, and beat it. Then you have done your part to grab every dollar you can.
Ready to start? Our step-by-step how to apply guide walks you through the whole form.
Start your FAFSA →Frequently asked questions
It opened on September 24, 2025. The federal submission deadline is June 30, 2027.
Much aid is first-come, first-served. State grants, school grants, and work-study can run out before the deadline. Filing early helps you get your share before the money is gone.
Each state sets its own, and they are far earlier than the federal date. Some are as early as October 1. Check your own state right away.
File anyway. As long as you are inside the federal deadline of June 30, 2027, your form counts. You may miss some first-come money, but you can still qualify for loans and other aid.