Student: finish your part
Your part of the FAFSA has six moves. Take them in order. When you are done, your section is finished. The whole FAFSA may still be waiting on someone else.
1. Make your own StudentAid.gov account
You need your own account. Do not share one account with a parent. Each person has their own login, and each person signs their own part.
Use an email address you can keep after high school. If you already have an account, recover it. Do not make a second one.
2. Check your identity information
The FAFSA needs your name, birth date, and Social Security number to match your official records.
Check your Social Security card before you type anything. Do not guess.
3. Find out who else must fill out a part
A contributor is a person the FAFSA requires to complete part of your form. You are one, because you do the student section. A parent, stepparent, or spouse may be one too.
Use the Who's My FAFSA Parent? tool on StudentAid.gov. If your family situation is complicated, ask your counselor or a financial aid office. Being a contributor does not mean that person has to pay your college bill.
4. Gather what you need
For the 2027 to 28 FAFSA, the form uses 2025 federal tax information. Find the 2025 tax return and any records the form asks for.
Make a list of the colleges you want to send your FAFSA to. You can list a school even if you have not decided to go there. Adding a school is not the same as applying for admission.
5. Invite your contributor
If someone else is required, use the Contributor Invite section in the FAFSA. Sending the invitation only starts their part. It does not mean they are finished.
Check My Activity in StudentAid.gov to see whether they finished.
6. Review and sign your own section
Review and Sign is the last check. You sign your own section. Each required person signs theirs.
A finished student section is not always a finished FAFSA. If one required section is missing, the whole form is still waiting. Next, read: Is the FAFSA really sent?
Keep your account safe
Never share your StudentAid.gov password or verification codes. File the FAFSA only at StudentAid.gov.
Checklist
- I have my own StudentAid.gov account and I can sign in.
- I checked that my name, birth date, and Social Security number match my records.
- I know who else must fill out a part of my FAFSA.
- I found the required tax records and made my list of schools.
- I invited each required contributor.
- I reviewed and signed my own section.