A one-page handout to give parents at a school FAFSA Night, or to read at your own kitchen table. Print it, copy it, send it home. There is no signup and nothing to buy. The 2027-28 FAFSA is open now (it opened September 23, 2026), the form for this year's seniors, the Class of 2027.
Counselors: print one per family. You are welcome to hand it out under your own school's name.
The FAFSA is the free federal form that unlocks grants, work-study, and low-cost federal loans. Filling it out is how your family finds out what college will actually cost. It is always free. You never pay to file it.
Bring these
Your FSA ID. The student and one parent each need their own account (username and password) from studentaid.gov. Create them a few days early, because a new account can take a little time to verify.
Social Security numbers for the student and parents, or your Alien Registration number.
Your most recent federal tax return. The form can pull it in automatically, but have it handy.
Records of any untaxed income, plus current balances for bank and investment accounts.
The names of the colleges you are considering. You can add several to one form.
What happens tonight
Create or confirm your FSA IDs. This is the step families get stuck on, so we start here.
Work through the form together, section by section, with someone to ask.
Sign and submit. The student and one parent each sign with their own FSA ID.
Leave with a clear next step, whether you finish tonight or need one more session.
Common mistakes to avoid
Using a nickname. Names must match the Social Security card exactly.
Guessing at a Social Security number. One wrong digit stalls the whole form.
Forgetting to sign. The form is not submitted until both required people sign it.
Leaving it saved but not submitted. Saved is not the same as submitted.
Paying a site to file it. The real form at studentaid.gov is free.
After tonight
Watch for your FAFSA Submission Summary, which recaps what you sent.
Each college sends its own aid offer later. Compare them carefully: free money first, then what you actually pay.
Ask your counselor for help reading an award letter, or if a cost looks off.
Where to get free help
Your school counselor.
studentaid.gov/help.
The Federal Student Aid Information Center: 1-800-433-3243.
Free to file, always, at studentaid.gov. Prepared by your school counselor with ClaimYourCollege.
For counselors
This page is the parent handout, free and open, so you can link it in a newsletter or print a stack for the sign-in table. The counselor side of the kit, a run of show with a prep checklist and a sample ninety-minute agenda, lives in the counselor board.
If you want the rest of the year handled the same way, the board tracks every senior's deadlines, flags who is falling behind, and matches students to money. The roster is free and unlimited.
Linking to this handout
You are welcome to put this on a school resource page, in a newsletter, or in an email to families. It is free, it stays free, and there is no signup, so nothing behind this link can embarrass you later. Linking rather than re-hosting means families always get the current year's dates.
The link
https://claimyourcollege.com/fafsa-night/
For a web page, ready to paste
<a href="https://claimyourcollege.com/fafsa-night/">FAFSA Night: what to bring, what to expect (free printable handout)</a>
Prefer to hand it out under your own school's name? Do that instead. The footer of the printed sheet says it was prepared by your school counselor, which is the point.
For families
After the form is in, the next question is what each college will actually cost you. The free guide walks a senior year in order, and the award letter guide shows how to read an offer so a loan is never mistaken for a grant.
Nothing you enter is ever sent to us. The tool runs on your own device, with no account.
Not filing tonight? Take the dates with you.
Leave an email and I will send the FAFSA and aid deadlines that actually matter this school year, starting with a copy of this handout. The 2027-28 FAFSA is open now.
For parents and counselors. This is a mailing list, not an account. It holds your email and nothing else. Nothing a student enters into the guide is ever sent to us, and this address is never connected to it. One-click unsubscribe on every email, and it is never sold.
Reviewed as of September 24, 2026. The U.S. Department of Education opened the 2027-28 FAFSA to all students on September 23, 2026, ahead of the October 1 date required by law. It is open now; October 1 was never a deadline to file by. Federal and state aid rules change, so always confirm specifics at studentaid.gov and with each college's aid office. Educational information, not financial or admissions advice.