The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which helps college students access financial aid, is opening soon. AL.com prepared this guide with frequently asked questions for college-bound students and their families.

Why do I need to fill out the FAFSA?

Filling out the FAFSA is essential because that is how schools and the federal government determine financial aid. This includes federal loans and grants. Schools use the information to determine scholarships. The FAFSA is a high school graduation requirement in Alabama.

When will the FAFSA be available?

The form will be available on Dec. 1, but preparing now is essential. The most critical first step families can take now is to get a federal student aid ID, which takes several days to process, according to Chandra Scott, executive director of Alabama Possible.

Both the student and parents should create an ID. She recommends using a non-school affiliated email address and separate email addresses for the parent and student.

The deadline to fill out the FAFSA is June 30, 2025, but it’s best to fill it out as soon as possible when applying for college for the fall of 2025.

What documents and information do I need to prepare for the FAFSA?

According to the Federal Student Aid site, students should gather:

• Parents’ Social Security Numbers if they have SSNs and you’re a dependent student
• Tax returns
• Records of child support received
• Current balances of cash, savings, and checking accounts
• Net worth of investments, businesses, and farms

Much of this information will be imported electronically. However, it’s a good idea to gathering these documents in case of any problems.

Are FAFSA issues fixed?

Last year’s FAFSA form was released later than expected, like this year’s. The form is usually available in October to help families and educational institutions prepare for next year.

When families sat down to fill out the FAFSA last year, many people encountered errors and contradictory information. Scott said systems weren’t communicating with each other, and information “was just going to a black hole.”

“It was just creating havoc and nightmares for families and students and heartache for students, because their dreams were just fading away in front of them,” Scott said.

Not only were families feeling the sting from problems with the FAFSA, but school administrators were also frustrated.

“I think there was anxiety everywhere, not just in the living rooms with the families, but also at the institutions, because they didn’t know how many students they had really coming because there was no way to just have people commit,” said Jim Purcell, executive director of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education. “And nobody was going to commit until they had an aid package. An aid package requires basically the FAFSA as the base.”

This year’s FAFSA is undergoing multiple rounds of beta testing to counter any problems from last year. Alabama Possible is one of the non-profits chosen for beta testing.

“We were able to recruit families and students who were willing to give their time,” Scott said.

Some good news: testing went smoothly for the more than 60 participating families. Many were able to complete the FAFSA in 18 to 25 minutes.

Scott said she’s been getting updates from other beta tests, and things have improved.

“So far, we’re hearing good things back,” Scott said. “It’s not as traumatic as it was last year and the process of being able to fix things. There’s a better feedback loop in place. They have hired more help desk individuals to take on these unique situations.” A unique situation includes divorced parents or parents who file taxes separately.

Alabama Possible will host another round of beta testing and hopes to recruit families with unusual financial situations to help work out any further kinks in the system.

How can I get assistance and more information on the FAFSA?

Besides the federal student aid site, which provides comprehensive information for the 2025-2026 FAFSA, Alabama residents can get help from Alabama Promise’s “Alabama Goes to College” program, where students can get help with financial aid and learn how to fill out the

FAFSA.

ACHE has information on where to fill out the form and allows students to report any issues.

What else can families do to prepare?

Purcell said that students and families should go ahead and apply for colleges and see what institutions can offer them financially.

Besides gathering documents and creating an FSA ID, Scott recommends preparing for potential problems. She said not to avoid filling out the form but that it wouldn’t be perfect or seamless.

“I think the big thing is not to be get frustrated by problems,” Purcell said. He said changes within the federal government are big undertakings, and the federal government recognizes the mistakes from last year.

Statewide, the FAFSA completion rate last year was 57%, down 2% from the previous year, according to ACHE. Nationally, FAFSA completion rate dropped significantly. The rate was 46%, an 11.6% drop according to the National College Attainment Network.