FAFSA & CSS Profile Timeline (With Checklist)

The 2027-28 FAFSA covers aid for college attendance from July 1, 2027, through June 30, 2028. The U.S. Department of Education made that form available to the public on September 23, 2026. College and state deadlines are often much earlier than the federal filing window. A missed school or state deadline can reduce aid at that school or in that state. The effect depends on the program.

CSS Profile deadlines are set by each college that uses the form. They are not the same as the FAFSA open date.

Note: Confirm every date on StudentAid.gov, College Board, and the financial aid page of each college. This guide is the 2027-28 pattern, not a substitute for a school's own instructions.

Quick navigation

Understanding the two forms
Who files what
Month-by-month timeline (September–February)
The full documents checklist
Filing FAFSA step by step
CSS Profile step by step
Error-prevention checklist
Worked example: the Torres family
Edge cases
Related reads

Understanding the two forms

FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is the federal form. Colleges use it for federal student aid and, in many cases, for state and institutional aid as well. Completing it produces a Student Aid Index (SAI). The SAI is an eligibility index used in need analysis. It is not the family's bill, and it is not the amount a college must award.

Federal aid that depends on financial need includes the Pell Grant, Direct Subsidized Loans, and Federal Work-Study. A Direct Unsubsidized Loan does not require demonstrated financial need. A student still files the FAFSA to be considered for it. Colleges build their own offers. They do not have to meet the full difference between their cost of attendance and the SAI.

CSS Profile is College Board's application for institutional aid at participating colleges. Not every college uses it. The form asks for financial details the FAFSA does not, which can include home equity. It does not produce a second "CSS Profile SAI." Each college applies its own method to the information it receives.

	FAFSA	CSS Profile
Who requires it	Students seeking federal student aid. Many states and colleges also use it.	Only colleges and programs on College Board's participating list
Who reads it	Federal Student Aid, and the schools and states the student lists	The colleges the student sends it to
What it is used for	Federal aid eligibility, and often state or institutional aid	That college's own institutional aid review
2027-28 availability	Public on September 23, 2026	Confirm the open date on College Board. College deadlines still control.
Deadline that matters first	Each college and state deadline	Each college's CSS deadline, which may differ from its application deadline
Fee	No fee	College Board provides automatic fee waivers for eligible domestic undergraduate students under its published criteria. If no waiver applies, the first report is $25 and each additional report is $16.
Tax information	Contributor consent and approval for federal tax information to transfer from the IRS	Information the CSS Profile asks the family to enter from their records

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Who files what

FAFSA contributors. Anyone required to provide information on the student's FAFSA is a contributor. That can include the student, a parent, a parent's spouse, or the student's spouse. Each required contributor uses their own StudentAid.gov account. Accounts are not shared.

A dependent student usually invites a parent. If the parents filed a joint tax return, one parent may be able to complete the parent section with that joint information. If the parents did not file jointly, both may be required contributors. If the legal parents are unmarried and live together, both participate as the FAFSA requires. If the parents are divorced, separated, or were never married and do not live together, the contributor is the parent who provided more financial support during the last 12 months. If that support was exactly equal, use the parent with the greater income and assets. Divorce or separation by itself does not name the contributor. A stepparent can also be a required contributor when that parent has remarried. Follow the contributor questions on the form for other household situations.

File the FAFSA if the student wants to be considered for federal student aid. A family that does not expect a need-based grant may still file, because a Direct Unsubsidized Loan requires a FAFSA and does not require demonstrated need.

CSS Profile. Check College Board's participating list and each college's aid page. Filing is required only where that college says so. If the parents are divorced or separated, some colleges require a separate CSS Profile from the noncustodial parent, and some do not. College Board's help center says to check the participating list and the college's own site. A college that requires the noncustodial form may also have its own waiver process. A waiver request is not an approval.

State aid. Some states use the FAFSA alone. Some have another application or an earlier deadline. Use the deadline for the student's state of residence.

Month-by-month timeline (September–February)

This timeline is for the 2027-28 cycle. The FAFSA uses 2025 tax information.

Month	What to do
Before you file	Each required contributor creates or confirms a StudentAid.gov account. Gather 2025 tax records, current asset balances, and the college list. Create or sign in to the College Board account if any college requires the CSS Profile.
September 23, 2026	The 2027-28 FAFSA is available to the public. File when the required contributors can complete their sections and give tax-information consent. Do not wait for a universal October filing date.
As soon as the form is open	The student starts the FAFSA, invites every required contributor, and lists colleges. Each contributor signs in with their own StudentAid.gov account, completes their section, and consents to federal tax information transfer. If a college requires the CSS Profile, start it after College Board opens that application and submit it by that college's deadline.
Early Action and Early Decision	Ask each college whether the FAFSA, the CSS Profile, or both are due with the application or on a later aid deadline. Do not assume both forms are due on the application date.
After submission	The student reviews the FAFSA Submission Summary after the form is processed. Most FAFSA forms are processed immediately, but some can take one to three days. Only the student can open that summary. Watch each college's portal for document requests.
Winter	Review the FAFSA Submission Summary for displayed answers and next steps. Use an online correction only when that summary or the college says it is the right path. Ask the financial aid office about an amended return. Confirm every required CSS Profile college has the application. Send state forms by the state deadline.

School and state priority dates often fall in the fall or winter. The federal window stays open longer. Aid at a particular college or in a particular state follows that earlier date, not the last federal day.

Documents checklist

Gather records before you start. They help you answer questions the FAFSA asks you to enter yourself, and they are what the CSS Profile asks you to type in. Federal tax information that the IRS transfers is not shown on the FAFSA Submission Summary, so these papers are not a way to check that transfer there.

Parent financial documents

2025 federal tax return (Form 1040) for each person whose tax information the form requires
W-2 forms for those jobs
Schedules the return actually includes, such as business, capital gains, rental, or farm income
Records of untaxed income the form asks about, which can include child support received and certain benefits
Current balances for cash, savings, and checking
Current values of investments the form asks about. FAFSA does not count retirement accounts or the family's primary home.
Other real estate only if the form asks for it. CSS Profile may ask about primary-home equity. FAFSA does not.
Business or farm records only as the current FAFSA and CSS Profile instructions require. Follow the question on the form rather than an older small-business exclusion.

Student financial documents

Student's 2025 federal tax return, if the student filed one
Student W-2 forms, if any
Student cash, savings, and checking as of the day you file

Identity and account documents

A StudentAid.gov account for every required FAFSA contributor, not one shared parent login
Social Security numbers for the student and for contributors who have one. A contributor without a Social Security number can still create a StudentAid.gov account when the form allows it.
Eligible noncitizen documentation, such as an A-Number, when that applies to the student
College list for the FAFSA, which the student can update later
College Board account if any college requires the CSS Profile. College Board recommends that the custodial parent use the student's account. A primary parent who does not want to share financial information through that account may create a separate account with the parent's own information. A noncustodial parent uses a separate account when a college requires that parent to file.

CSS Profile items some colleges ask for

Home value and mortgage balance, if the CSS Profile asks about the primary home
Noncustodial parent information, only for colleges that require it
Unusually high medical expenses or private K-12 tuition, if those questions appear

Jump to the documents checklist

Filing FAFSA step by step

Step 1. Create StudentAid.gov accounts

Every required contributor needs their own StudentAid.gov account. The student should not file with a parent's login, and contributors should not share one account. Create the account at StudentAid.gov. The name should match the Social Security record when the person has a Social Security number.

Identity matching can take time. Create accounts before the day you intend to submit.

Step 2. Consent to federal tax information transfer

On the 2027-28 FAFSA, each required contributor completes their own section and gives consent and approval for federal tax information to be transferred from the IRS into the FAFSA. Do not log in with IRS account credentials. The transfer happens inside the FAFSA after that consent.

Consent is required even if that person did not file a U.S. tax return. Without the required consent, the student will not be eligible for federal student aid.

This form uses 2025 tax information, as the screen instructs. If the relevant return is unfiled, on extension, or IRS data cannot be transferred, follow the FAFSA prompts and any instructions from the college's financial aid office. Do not guess or invent figures. If the FAFSA asks you to enter tax information manually, use the requested records and follow the form's instructions. Ask the college's financial aid office if you are unsure what to enter.

Step 3. Family information

Answer the contributor questions the form asks.

Who the parent contributor is: For divorced, separated, or never-married parents who do not live together, use the parent who provided more financial support during the last 12 months. If that support was exactly equal, use the parent with the greater income and assets. If unmarried legal parents live together, both participate as the form requires. A stepparent can be required after a remarriage. Divorce or separation alone does not pick the contributor.
Family size: The FAFSA starts from the people on the relevant tax return. If family size has changed since that return, update it the way StudentAid.gov instructs. Do not add a college roommate or a relative the form does not include.
Assets: Use the balances the form asks for on the day you file.

Step 4. List colleges

Add every college that should receive the FAFSA. Listing a college does not affect the admission decision. The student can add or remove colleges later. The information goes to those colleges electronically.

Step 5. Submit and read the FAFSA Submission Summary

Save the confirmation. After processing, the student opens the FAFSA Submission Summary from the StudentAid.gov dashboard. Contributors cannot open that summary for the student. Use it to review the FAFSA answers that are actually displayed and the next-step notices. Federal tax information transferred from the IRS is not on that summary. Make a correction there only when the summary or a college tells you that an online correction is the right path.

CSS Profile step by step

Step 1. Use the College Board account

If the student already has a College Board account from the SAT, PSAT, or AP, that account can be used. Otherwise create one. College Board recommends that the custodial parent use the student's account. A primary parent may instead create a separate account with the parent's own information if they do not want to share financial details through the student's account. A noncustodial parent creates a separate account when a college requires that parent to complete a CSS Profile.

Step 2. Add only the colleges that require it

Check the participating list and each aid office. College Board provides automatic fee waivers for eligible domestic undergraduate students under its published criteria, including income, an SAT fee waiver, and certain orphan or ward-of-the-court cases. If no waiver applies, the first report is $25 and each additional report is $16. The fee, when one is due, is charged at submission.

Step 3. Complete the sections the form shows

The CSS Profile can ask about home equity, a business or farm, and a noncustodial parent. Those sections appear based on the family's answers and the colleges selected. A noncustodial section is not universal. If a selected college requires it, that parent files separately. If contact with that parent is not possible, ask that college whether it accepts a waiver. The college decides.

You can save the application and return to it.

Step 4. Submit, then watch the dashboard

College Board says the submit time is Eastern Time. The dashboard shows the receipt and later steps, which can include a document upload through IDOC. Some colleges also request tax forms in their own portal. Adding another college later is a separate report.

If you need to change an answer after submission, use College Board's correction path on the dashboard.

Error-prevention checklist

Before you submit:

After you submit and the form is processed, the student reviews the FAFSA Submission Summary. Use it for the answers and next steps that are actually displayed. Do not use it to compare federal tax information transferred from the IRS. That information is not on the summary.

Worked example: the Torres family

Profile: One parent provides the student's financial support. She earned $72,000 in 2025 wages. Two children live with her. One is applying for fall 2027. Savings are $15,000. They own a primary home.

What they did for 2027-28:

Before filing: Maria and Diego each created a StudentAid.gov account. They did not share a login. They gathered the 2025 tax return, W-2s, and current bank balances.

After September 23, 2026: Diego started the 2027-28 FAFSA and invited Maria as the parent contributor. Maria signed in with her own account, completed her section, and consented to the federal tax-information transfer. They listed nine colleges. They read the FAFSA Submission Summary as an eligibility record. They did not treat the SAI as the amount the family would pay or as the grant a college had to offer.

CSS Profile: Four of the nine colleges required it. Maria used Diego's College Board account, which is the path College Board recommends. She could have created her own parent account instead. One of those four colleges also required a noncustodial CSS Profile. The other three did not. They confirmed that split on each college's aid page before anyone started a second form.

Early Action: The top-choice college's aid page said the CSS Profile was due with the application. Another college had a later aid deadline. They followed those two dates instead of assuming both forms were due everywhere on November 1.

Later: One college asked for the 2025 return and W-2s in its portal. Maria uploaded them. Award letters, when they arrived, were each college's own offer. The SAI did not force those offers to match.

Edge cases

What if the 2025 tax return is not filed yet? The 2027-28 FAFSA asks for 2025 tax information in the way the screen instructs. If the return is unfiled or on extension, or if IRS data cannot be transferred, follow those prompts and any instructions from the college's financial aid office. Do not guess or invent figures. If the FAFSA asks you to enter tax information manually, use the requested records and follow the form's instructions. Ask the college's financial aid office if you are unsure what to enter. Do not delay the FAFSA past a school or state deadline only because a return is unfinished, unless the form itself stops you.

What if the tax return was amended, or the transferred information needs a financial change? Review the FAFSA Submission Summary for the answers and next steps it actually shows. Federal Student Aid says an update tied to an amended tax return is handled through the college's financial aid office, not as an ordinary correction in the student's StudentAid.gov account. Contact that office. Do not log in to the IRS from the FAFSA.

What if income changed after 2025? File the FAFSA with the required 2025 information. Then ask each college's financial aid office about a professional judgment review for a later change, such as job loss, divorce, or a death. The college decides whether to use that information. See How to Appeal Financial Aid.

What if a parent or the student has no Social Security number? A contributor without a Social Security number may still be able to create a StudentAid.gov account and complete a section. An eligible noncitizen student uses the document StudentAid.gov asks for, which can include an A-Number. Students who are not eligible noncitizens are not eligible for federal student aid. State or institutional aid is a separate question for that state or college.

What if the parents are divorced or separated? If they do not live together, use the parent who provided more financial support during the last 12 months. If that support was exactly equal, use the parent with the greater income and assets. If unmarried legal parents live together, both participate as the form requires. Include a stepparent when the form requires that spouse. Do not add the other parent unless that person is a required contributor. On the CSS Profile, ask each college whether it wants a noncustodial parent application.

What if the student is independent for federal aid? The categories are limited. They include being 24 or older, married, a veteran, a graduate student, or meeting another specific condition such as emancipation or homelessness. A parent who refuses to help does not, by itself, make the student independent. Independent students do not invite parent contributors.