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# When Should I File a FAFSA

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## Video: When Should I File a FAFSA

[Watch (HLS stream): When Should I File a FAFSA](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/9OH4jIkz.m3u8) (1:46)

![When Should I File a FAFSA](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/9OH4jIkz/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2016-01-05. MONEY senior writer Kim Clark discusses the dates in which you should file a FAFSA._


---

Jul 27, 2023 7:24 PM UTC

---

## More From This Series

[All Videos](https://time.com/video/)

[FAFSA: How to a Create FAFSA ID](/video/xXTR9o0Q/)

### FAFSA: How to a Create FAFSA ID

[FAFSA Advice from The FAFSA Lady](/video/eO0Nes3s/)

### FAFSA Advice from The FAFSA Lady

[Why Should I File a FAFSA?](/video/MMyXl3ax/)

### Why Should I File a FAFSA?

---


## Transcript

[ MUSIC ] You don't ever actually have to file a FAFSA but if you want grants, scholarships or student loans you do have to file a FAFSA and as soon as possible. Here's the schedule for 2015 and 2016 the federal government starts accepting FAFSA's in January, January 1st. That means nine months before the beginning of the school year that you're applying for. And they accept the FASFAs all the way through the school year, all the way to June 30th. So that means, if you're in school right now, and you've already paid your bills, let's say for the following 2015 semester, You can actually still apply for that semester's FAFSA.

You can still fill out the 2015- 2016 FAFSA, and you might get a student loan or a federal Pell grant. So, that means you might actually get money reimbursed for money you've already paid. So, you should file those FAFSAs as soon as possible. For those who are planning to go to school in the fall of 2000 You should also file as soon as possible, and that's because a lot of states' scholarship foundations and colleges award aid on a first come, first serve basis. In other words, they run out of money by February or March. So go ahead and start filling out the FAFSA in January. Now that's a problem maybe, because you haven't finished your taxes, and FAFSA asks a lot of questions from your tax form.

What you can do is go ahead and fill it out using estimates. You can look at your 2014 tax forms and sort of estimate how much income you had, for example, or how much taxes you paid. Fill it out, file it, and then when you finally do your 2015 taxes, you can go back into your FAFSA and make corrections. [ MUSIC ]

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