For everyone who’s hyper-focused right now on stimulus checks and all manner of payments from the federal government, there’s at least one demographic that’s racing to win a chunk of federal money that has absolutely nothing to do with stimulus payments. The window is now open for prospective as well as current college students to submit out their Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, application, in the hopes of grabbing as much as $30,000 in aid — exponentially larger than any stimulus check funds. So for everyone who’s curious about the FAFSA deadline for 2022 in addition to various stimulus checks, read on — we’ll tell you the key details here.
FAFSA deadline 2022 — what you need to know
First things first, let’s get a couple of dates out of the way.
According to studentaid.gov, for the 2021-22 academic year? The FAFSA form must be submitted by 11:59 pm, Central Time, on June 30, 2022. Any corrections or updates are due by 11:59 pm Central Time on September 10, 2022. And if you want to go ahead and get a jump on the 2022-23 academic year? Just replace “2022” in the due dates above with “2023.”
For the 2022-23 academic year, the form is due at the same time, on the same days. Just pushed forward one year. Also extremely important: Take note of the state FAFSA deadline on the Federal Student Aid website, here. States, as well as individual colleges, also have deadlines of their own to be aware of.
Now, having said that? Another important date actually just arrived, a few days ago.
Why October 1 is so important
October 1 is the first day when students can complete FAFSA forms for the 2022-2023 school year. “October 1 is incredibly important when it comes to paying for college because the FAFSA is the gateway to $150 billion in aid to help pay for higher education, including scholarships, grants, work-study, and federal student loans,” Ashley Boucher, who recently served as director of corporate communications for Sallie Mae, told CNBC. “But some of that aid is limited, some of it is first-come, first-serve, and so families want to be among the first in line to apply for their fair share of aid and that means preparing for this October 1st application date.”
Don’t wait, in other words, for the FAFSA deadline for 2022 to draw close before you think about completing the necessary forms. Just to reiterate: Experts say that students and their families miss out on billions of dollars every year. That’s because schools often hand out financial aid on a first-come, first-served basis. And those disbursements are determined by the date when students complete their FAFSA application.
If you have a college-age student in your house, meanwhile, also check out this recent post of ours, about a stimulus check you could be entitled to. It won’t give you a FAFSA amount of money, but every little bit no doubt helps.
