By Zach Skillings
Zach Skillings is the Scholarships360 Newsletter Editor. He specializes in college admissions and strives to answer important questions about higher education. When he’s not contributing to Scholarships360, Zach writes about travel, music, film, and culture. His work has been published in Our State Magazine, Ladygunn Magazine, The Nocturnal Times, and The Lexington Dispatch. Zach graduated from Elon University with a degree in Cinema and Television Arts.
Reviewed by Caitlyn Cole
Caitlyn Cole is a college access professional with a decade of experience in non-profit program and project management for college readiness and access organizations.
Edited by Maria Geiger
Maria Geiger is Director of Content at Scholarships360. She is a former online educational technology instructor and adjunct writing instructor. In addition to education reform, Maria’s interests include viewpoint diversity, blended/flipped learning, digital communication, and integrating media/web tools into the curriculum to better facilitate student engagement. Maria earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from Monmouth University, an M. Ed. in Education from Monmouth University, and a Virtual Online Teaching Certificate (VOLT) from the University of Pennsylvania.
Updated: September 16th, 2024
Many ask themselves the following question: “Can I make corrections to my FAFSA?” If you submitted your FAFSA form and then realized you need to make a correction, there’s no need to worry. You can edit your FAFSA even after you submit it. This means you can correct mistakes, update information, and add or delete schools. It’s important that your FAFSA is accurate and up to date, so we’re here to walk you through any edits you need to make.
If you made a simple mistake (such as checking the wrong box for your citizenship status or year in college), the error could affect your financial aid eligibility. Update your information by signing into FAFSA.gov with your FSA ID (Federal Student Aid ID) and correct the mistake by following the directions outlined below.
It’s critical that you triple check that information on your FAFSA before submitting. However, if you entered the wrong social security number, you can log back into your FAFSA using your FSA ID and make a correction with your proper SSN. This is one of the harder changes to make since it is such important information so you may want to contact FSA and determine if it would be easier to start a new FAFSA using your correct SSN. Remember, this changes the process date of your FAFSA. If you’ve passed your school’s priority deadline, contact the university’s financial aid office and ask their advice on how to update your FAFSA.
Throughout most of the calendar year, the FAFSA is actually available for two academic years. If you completed the FAFSA for the wrong academic year, you’ll need to fill out a new application for the correct year. Unfortunately, you can’t simply change the year on your original application.
You’re allowed to add and remove schools from your FAFSA after submitting the form. Just keep in mind that you can list no more than 20 schools on the FAFSA at once. To add or delete schools, log into FAFSA.gov with your Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID. From there, you’ll be able to make updates to your list of schools.
Some students experience a change in dependency status between submitting their FAFSA and receiving their financial aid. You would have a different dependency status if (1) you become pregnant or become a parent, (2) you enter a legal guardianship, or (3) you’ve become an emancipated minor . If any of this applies to you, log into your FAFSA to update your information.
Changes to marital status are the exception. If you’ve married or divorced since submitting the FAFSA, contact the financial aid offices at the schools listed on your FAFSA. Remember, you’ll most likely have to provide documentation of your change to your financial aid office, so keep any copies of court papers you might receive.
If (and only if) you’re selected for FAFSA verification , you will receive information about questions on your FAFSA that need to be re-confirmed. A couple common examples of verification are confirming household size or citizenship status. Verification is the process your school uses to confirm that the data reported on your FAFSA form is accurate, it doesn’t mean that you did anything wrong. Some students are selected for verification randomly, while some schools verify all students’ FAFSA forms. Remember that you only need to make applicable changes if you’re selected for verification.
Your contributor must complete the following steps:
Reminder! No more than 20 schools can be listed on the FAFSA form at one time. If you have 20 schools listed and then add any additional school codes, it will replace one or more of the school codes already listed.
Unfortunately, most information submitted on the FAFSA form cannot be edited because it should be accurate for the day you originally signed the FAFSA form.
However, if there is a significant change to your situation, you should speak with the financial aid office at the institution you plan to attend.
Ultimately, no matter what type of change you need to make to the FAFSA you can approach it one of the following ways:
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In some cases, the FAFSA won’t let you update certain fields online even if your information has changed. When this happens, contact the school’s financial aid office in order to correct or update your information. If you encounter any of the following situations, contact the financial aid offices of the schools listed on your FAFSA.
You cannot correct federal tax information directly from the IRS. If you filed an IRS Form 1040-X amended return, contact your institution’s financial aid office to discuss whether it would be appropriate for the school to adjust the information on your FAFSA form.
As mentioned previously, you cannot update changes to your marital status online. If you get married or divorced after submitting your FAFSA, speak with your school’s financial aid office to see if an updated FAFSA is required.
The FAFSA uses tax return information from two years prior, so your financial situation may be different at the time of application. Speak to the financial aid office if there will be a significant change in your financial situation that can’t be reported on the FAFSA form.
For student aid consideration for the 2025-26 award year, you must complete the FAFSA between Dec. 1, 2025 and June 30, 2025 (deadlines could vary by school). Remember to submit all corrections or updates by 11:59 p.m. CT on September 14, 2025.
However, many states and colleges have earlier deadlines. Find your state’s deadline here . Because of the variation in state and college deadlines, you should fill out the FAFSA as soon as possible after Dec. 1 to ensure you don’t miss out on available aid and if you need to make a correction, complete it as soon as possible.
While there is no official data to answer this, a common known mistake is forgetting to put in a zero rather than leaving a blank space.
There is technically no limit to the number of times you can correct the FAFSA. However, you cannot submit a correction until FAFSA has processed the original request.
FAFSA corrections made directly through the fafsa.gov website are usually processed within one to three days .
A mistake on the FAFSA can delay the financial aid application process which can cost you in the long run. So, try and review the FAFSA before submitting it to ensure there are no mistakes! Additionally, try and submit your FAFSA as early as possible so you are prepared if any corrections need to be made.
You must submit the FAFSA form every school year if you want to apply for federal aid. Rather than submitting a completely new FAFSA, you can use the FAFSA renewa l to help you save time while re-submitting the FAFSA for a new school year.
