Simple FAFSA mistakes can delay financial aid—or even affect how much aid your student receives. Here are eight common FAFSA mistakes I see families make and how to avoid them.
Updated for the 2027–28 FAFSA
The FAFSA is an important part of the college financial aid process, and every year I talk to families who have made simple mistakes that created a tremendous amount of unnecessary frustration. In some cases, those mistakes can delay financial aid or cause families to miss out on valuable opportunities.
The good news? Many FAFSA mistakes are completely avoidable.
As FAFSA season gets underway, here are eight of the most common mistakes I see, and what you can do to avoid them.
1. Assuming You Don’t Need to Complete the FAFSA
One of the biggest mistakes is not completing the FAFSA at all.
I talk to families every year who are convinced they won’t qualify for need-based financial aid, so they decide to skip it. But the FAFSA isn’t only about need-based grants. Colleges and other programs may use FAFSA information when awarding different types of financial aid, and completing it also provides access to federal student loans.
There’s often more downside to not filing than families realize.
I’ve written more about this in Why Submitting the FAFSA Is Important.
Don’t decide for yourself that you won’t qualify. File the FAFSA and let the financial aid process determine your eligibility.
2. Not Creating Your StudentAid.gov Accounts First
Do yourself a favor: set up the necessary StudentAid.gov accounts before you sit down to complete the FAFSA.
The student needs their own StudentAid.gov account, and every person identified as a required FAFSA contributor needs their own account as well. Depending on the family’s circumstances, contributors may include a parent, stepparent, or student’s spouse.
Taking care of this ahead of time makes the actual FAFSA process much smoother and gives you time to address any account or identity issues before you’re facing a financial aid deadline.
3. Entering Personal Information Incorrectly
This sounds simple, but it causes more problems than you might expect.
When creating your studentaid.gov account, the Social Security Administration performs an identity check using three key factors, so it’s important to enter the correct information. Make sure to enter the full name as it appears on your Social Security card. The date of birth and Social Security Number will also be verified and must match the information on file with the Social Security Administration.
Also, don’t create your student’s account using the parent’s contact information simply because the parent is the one managing the college process.
Student = student’s account and contact information
Parent = parent’s account and contact information
I’ve worked with families who mixed these up and then found themselves trying to untangle login and account issues when all they wanted to do was complete the FAFSA.
A few extra minutes getting the accounts right at the beginning can save a lot of frustration later.
4. Leaving Required Questions Blank
If the FAFSA asks for a dollar amount and the correct answer is zero, enter 0 rather than simply leaving the required question unanswered.
For example, if you’re asked to report child support received and you received none, enter zero.
This may sound insignificant, but incomplete information can prevent you from successfully completing your section of the FAFSA.
And remember: every required contributor must complete their own section, provide the required consent and approval, and sign the FAFSA in order for it to be processed. Continued…
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