June 15, 2020, by midnight CT. For priority consideration, submit your FAFSA form by May 1, 2020.

If you’re applying for financial aid for the 2021–22 school year, you should file a 2021–22 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form. If you’re applying for financial aid for the 2020–21 school year, you should file a 2020–21 FAFSA® form.

The 2021–22 FAFSA form is available beginning Oct. 1, 2020. You should fill it out as soon as possible on or after Oct. 1 on StudentAid.gov.

The 2020–21 FAFSA form covers courses that begin between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021. If you plan to attend school during the summer months, contact your school’s financial aid office to confirm which year’s FAFSA form you need to complete.

If you’re applying for financial aid for the 2020–21 school year, you should file a 2020–21 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form. If you’re applying for financial aid for the 2019–20 school year, you should file a 2019–20 FAFSA form.

Federal FAFSA Deadline for the 2021-22 Academic Year The final date to file the FAFSA for the 2021-2022 academic year is June 30, 2022 , but you can lose spring and fall financial aid—including federal student loans—by filing this late. That means you may be eligible only for federal student loans for summer classes.

If you miss the end-of-June federal deadline, you’re no longer eligible to submit that year’s FAFSA form.

While it’s worth checking with your college aid administrator or state agency about your situation, there’s no guarantee there will be any financial aid left. But you can still submit the FAFSA throughout the year and potentially qualify for federal aid or student loans for the next school year.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form applies to a single academic year. That means you need to submit a FAFSA form each year—and make sure you meet the FAFSA deadlines for state and college aid to maximize the aid you could receive.

FAFSA deadlines for colleges may be earlier than either the state and federal deadlines. Most schools will list their priority deadlines on their financial aid pages or you can contact the aid office directly. If you miss the end of June federal deadline, you’re no longer eligible to submit that year’s FAFSA form.

A trove of data released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics shows 72 percent of undergraduate students received some form of financial aid in the 2015-2016 academic year, up from 71 percent in 2011-2012.

Among the Class of 2019, 69% of college students took out student loans, and they graduated with an average debt of $29,900, including both private and federal debt. Meanwhile, 14% of their parents took out an average of $37,200 in federal parent PLUS loans.

The 50 colleges that offer the most student aid

The amount of money you can get by filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) depends on your financial need. But, the maximum amount can be in the low tens of thousands of dollars per year. Average amounts are about $9,000, with less than half of that in the form of grants.