FAFSA opened early. I’d use the weekend.

Hi there,

If you were waiting for October 1 to complete the FAFSA, here’s the update: the 2027–28 FAFSA opened to everyone on September 23.

It went through an early beta-testing period first, but this is now the official FAFSA. There is no separate beta form you need to find. And if your student already submitted successfully during beta testing, you do not need to submit it again.

If you have some time this weekend, I would go ahead and get started.

Not because there is a prize for being first, but because doing it now gives you time to work through any account or contributor issues before October gets busy—and before your colleges’ and state’s priority financial-aid deadlines start coming. Federal Student Aid recommends completing the FAFSA as early as possible because some state and college aid has earlier deadlines.

1. Start at FAFSA.gov.
I recommend having the student begin their own form.

2. Make sure every required contributor can access their own StudentAid.gov account.
Parents and students should not share an account.

3. Pull up your student’s college list.
Check whether each school also requires the CSS Profile, a separate financial-aid application that participating colleges use to award their own institutional aid. The CSS Profile opens October 1, and individual colleges set their own deadlines.

Start the FAFSA here

When college applications and financial-aid portals start multiplying, use one dedicated college-planning email system that both the student and parent can monitor—whether that means a separate email account or forwarding important messages to a parent.

The student should still own the application, but you do not want a request for financial-aid information sitting unread in an inbox. Missing a requested document can hold up a school’s financial-aid review.

I’m sharing a $20,000 national scholarship whose first round requires no essay, transcript, or recommendation.

I’ll also show you the kind of student the sponsor says it is looking for—and one quick exercise your student can do before applying that will help with scholarships and college applications.

Until Next Week . . .

Angela Robles
College Funding & Essay Coach
The College Cost Hack

Please forward this email to them.

Families should not have to know a college counselor personally to get clear information about college and how to pay for it.