By Eddy Ciobanu and Joe Price-Gault with Juno
The Quick Summary for Parents
Complete the FAFSA even if you think your family earns too much to receive financial aid. It can help eligible students access federal loans, and some colleges require it for certain scholarships.
The biggest things to get right are your deadlines, the required parent information, and accurate income and asset reporting. For students attending college in fall 2027, the 2027–28 FAFSA uses 2025 tax information. Reportable assets, however, reflect their value on the date you complete the form. Your primary home and retirement account balances generally are excluded.
After submitting, remember that your Student Aid Index is not your college bill or financial aid offer. Compare each college’s actual costs and awards, and ask about an appeal if your financial circumstances have changed.
Your next step: Gather your records, check each college’s financial aid deadline, and build a plan for all four years before deciding how much to borrow. Keep reading for the webinar’s practical guidance on each step.
Understanding the FAFSA Is Part of Your College Funding Plan
Completing the FAFSA is an important step in paying for college. Understanding what it asks, what it leaves out, and what happens afterward can help your family make better decisions.
That was the focus of The College Funding Coach’s specialty webinar on FAFSA tips and strategies. Hosted by Brock Jolly, founder of The College Funding Coach, the discussion featured Eddy Ciobanu, Juno’s undergraduate partnerships manager, and Joe Price-Gault, Juno’s director of student loans and refinancing.
Drawing on experience in admissions, college counseling, and education financing, the presenters shared a practical message: understand the process, ask questions, and build a funding plan before committing to a college.
Key Takeaways
- Complete the FAFSA even if you think your income is too high to qualify for need-based aid.
- Track college, state, and federal deadlines separately.
- Understand the difference between the tax year used for income and the date used to report assets.
- Report only the assets the form requires, with careful attention to account ownership.
- Treat your Student Aid Index as a starting point, not a college bill or financial aid offer.
- Ask about an appeal when your family’s financial circumstances have changed.
- Compare the full cost of college and any borrowing needs across all four years.
Should You Complete the FAFSA If You Think You Will Not Qualify for Aid?
Yes. Families should generally complete the FAFSA rather than rule themselves out based on income alone.
The FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, helps determine eligibility for federal financial aid. States and colleges also use FAFSA information for certain aid programs.
During the webinar, Eddy explained why families who do not expect need-based grants may still benefit from filing:
- A college may have institutional resources that make aid available beyond what a family expects.
- Eligible students may access federal student loans even if they do not qualify for federal grants.
- Some colleges require a FAFSA on file to process certain merit scholarships.
The practical lesson is simple: check each college’s requirements before deciding you do not need the form.
Submit through StudentAid.gov. The FAFSA itself is free.
When Should Parents and Students Submit the FAFSA?
Submit before the earliest deadline that applies to your student, rather than relying on the final federal deadline.
College applications and financial aid applications follow separate timelines. An admissions deadline does not automatically tell you when the FAFSA or other aid documents are due.
Eddy encouraged families to file early because some funding is limited. Federal Student Aid similarly advises families to pay attention to state deadlines and available funding. Federal Student Aid’s parent guide.
Create a simple deadline tracker with:
- Each college’s admissions deadline.
- Its financial aid priority deadline.
- Any CSS Profile or supplemental form requirements.
- Your state’s aid deadline and application requirements.
- Confirmation that required documents were received.
For students applying early, check financial aid deadlines at the same time you review the admissions application. A general goal of filing by Thanksgiving should never replace an earlier school deadline.
Who Needs to Provide Information on the FAFSA?
The student completes a FAFSA, and required contributors provide their information within that application.
A contributor is someone whose information, consent, and signature are needed to complete the form. Being a contributor does not, by itself, obligate that person to pay for college.
One point the presenters emphasized is that FAFSA dependency status follows its own rules. A student does not become independent simply because a parent stops claiming them on a tax return or because the student pays their own expenses. Federal Student Aid’s student guide.
Family circumstances matter when identifying the correct parent information.
For divorced or separated parents who do not live together, the required parent generally is the one who provided more financial support during the preceding 12 months. If support was equal, or neither parent provided support, the parent with greater income and assets is used. A required parent’s remarriage can also mean stepparent information must be included.
Use the official guidance rather than assuming the parent the student lives with is automatically the correct contributor. Federal Student Aid’s parent information rules.
Each required contributor needs their own StudentAid.gov account. Before filing, identify who must participate and make sure everyone can access their account.
Which Income Year Does the FAFSA Use?
The FAFSA generally uses income information from two years before the beginning of the academic year for which aid is requested.
For a student starting college in fall 2027, the 2027–28 FAFSA uses 2025 tax information, even if the family completes the application in fall 2026.
Required contributors must provide consent and approval for the transfer of federal tax information, even when they did not file a tax return. Federal Student Aid’s FAFSA instructions.
This creates an important distinction: the income reflected on the application may differ substantially from what your family earns today.
Perhaps a parent lost a job, reduced work hours, or closed a business after the relevant tax year. Complete the FAFSA using its required information, then ask the college how to document those changes.
Do not substitute a different income year on your own.
Which Assets Should You Report on the FAFSA?
When asset reporting is required, use current values as of the date you complete the form and follow its instructions for each asset category.
The webinar emphasized that income and assets operate on different timelines. Tax information looks backward. Asset reporting captures a current snapshot.
The presenters discussed commonly reportable assets such as cash, checking and savings balances, investments, and real estate beyond the primary residence. They also highlighted commonly excluded items, including the primary home, retirement account balances, and personal possessions such as cars.
For investment property, the relevant figure generally is net worth: current market value minus debt associated with the property.
For example, a rental property worth $500,000 with $300,000 in associated debt has $200,000 in net worth. Reporting the full property value would overstate that asset.
Business and farm reporting rules require particular care. Follow the instructions for the FAFSA year you are completing rather than relying on a prior year’s application.
How Do 529 Plans Affect the FAFSA?
Account ownership and the student beneficiary matter. Do not assume every education savings account receives the same treatment.
The webinar highlighted several distinctions, and the FAFSA instructions provide an additional clarification for student-owned accounts:
- For a dependent student, a parent-owned 529 designated for that student generally is reported as a parent asset.
- A dependent student’s own 529 account generally also is reported as a parent asset, rather than an ordinary student asset.
- Parent-owned 529 accounts designated for other children are not combined into that student’s reported education savings.
- A grandparent-owned 529 generally is not reported as a student or parent asset on the FAFSA.
The treatment of a dependent student’s own account is explained in the Federal Student Aid Handbook.
The CSS Profile and individual colleges may ask different questions, so a FAFSA exclusion does not automatically mean an account is irrelevant to every school’s aid process.
Brock also encouraged families to evaluate whether an asset change would meaningfully affect aid before taking action. Income can be a substantial driver of the calculation, and reducing reportable assets does not guarantee additional assistance.
Before changing account ownership or moving funds, understand the potential effect on aid, taxes, and your broader financial plan.
Should You Make Necessary Purchases Before Filing?
The timing of an already necessary expense may affect your reported cash balance, but spending money solely to pursue more aid can leave your family worse off.
Eddy used examples such as repairing a leaking roof or replacing a vehicle needed for work. If a family already needs to pay that expense, completing it before filing may change the assets available on the reporting date.
His caution was equally important: this is not an invitation to go on a spending spree.
Parent assets generally have a more limited effect on the formula than families may expect. A large purchase could produce only a modest change in the Student Aid Index, with no corresponding increase in aid.
Protect your emergency reserves, meet necessary expenses, and report your financial position truthfully.
What Does Your Student Aid Index Actually Mean?
Your Student Aid Index, or SAI, helps colleges assess financial need. It is not your financial aid offer or the amount your family must pay.
This was one of the webinar’s clearest messages.
Two colleges can receive the same FAFSA information and offer very different aid packages. Their costs, resources, and financial aid policies differ.
When offers arrive, compare:
- Total cost of attendance.
- Grants and scholarships.
- The conditions for renewing those awards.
- Loans included in the offer.
- Work-study opportunities.
- The remaining amount your family must fund.
Work-study is earned through employment. Loans must be repaid. Neither should be treated as equivalent to a grant or scholarship.
Compare the actual offers before deciding which college is affordable.
Can You Appeal a Financial Aid Offer?
Yes. An appeal may be appropriate when your circumstances have changed or a college needs additional information about your ability to pay.
The presenters encouraged parents to view an appeal as a normal conversation with the financial aid office.
Circumstances worth discussing include:
- Job loss or reduced work hours.
- A business closure.
- Significant changes in family income.
- Financial pressure from having multiple children in college.
Having multiple children enrolled no longer automatically divides the parent contribution within the federal SAI formula. Still, the webinar encouraged families to ask whether a college can consider that burden through its own review.
A merit scholarship reconsideration is a different conversation. Eddy described respectfully sharing a stronger offer from a comparable institution and explaining why additional assistance would help the student attend.
For either type of request, be specific, provide documentation, and follow the college’s process. Additional aid is not guaranteed.
You can begin asking about special circumstances before an offer arrives. The financial aid office can explain when and how to submit supporting information.
How Should Families Plan for Student Loans?
Start by reducing the amount you need to borrow, then compare the terms and repayment responsibilities of the available loans.
Brock emphasized planning, saving, and finding affordable options before turning to debt. Eddy and Joe explained that, when borrowing is necessary, families should understand the available choices.
The webinar also addressed new Parent PLUS limits. For borrowers subject to the new rules, borrowing is capped at $20,000 annually and $65,000 in total per dependent student, shared across parent borrowers.
Some families with qualifying borrowing for the student’s existing program before July 1, 2026, may retain the previous limits for up to three academic years or the remaining expected program length, whichever is shorter. Having an older child with qualifying loans does not automatically extend that exception to a younger child. Ask the college to confirm eligibility for each student. Juno’s federal loan updates.
Parent PLUS approval also involves an adverse credit history check and other eligibility requirements. Completing the FAFSA does not guarantee loan approval. Federal Student Aid’s Parent PLUS guidance.
These limits make a four-year plan especially important. Borrowing $20,000 in each of the first three years would leave only $5,000 under the $65,000 cap for the fourth year.
When comparing federal and private options, review interest rates, fees, repayment terms, borrower protections, and who is legally responsible. A lower advertised rate does not answer every question.
Frequently Asked Questions About the FAFSA
Do we complete the FAFSA only once?
No. Submit a FAFSA for each academic year in which the student seeks aid. Family circumstances, college costs, and aid eligibility can change.
Does the FAFSA require us to use retirement savings for college?
Retirement account balances generally are excluded from FAFSA assets. That exclusion also reinforces the importance of considering college funding alongside retirement planning.
Is the FAFSA the same as the CSS Profile?
No. They are separate applications. Some colleges require the CSS Profile for institutional aid and may evaluate information, such as home equity, differently.
Does the order of colleges on the FAFSA matter?
It can matter for certain state aid programs. Check your state’s current instructions instead of assuming the same ordering rule applies everywhere. Federal Student Aid’s school-list guidance.
Can my student work on campus without federal work-study?
Yes. Eddy explained that colleges may offer other student employment opportunities. Not qualifying for federal work-study does not automatically prevent a student from finding a campus job.
What should we do after submitting the FAFSA?
Confirm processing, review the FAFSA Submission Summary, check for errors or requests for additional information, and monitor each college’s financial aid portal. Then compare actual aid offers when they become available.
The Bottom Line
The FAFSA is one part of a complete college funding plan.
The webinar’s central lesson was to understand the rules, report accurately, meet deadlines, and ask questions when your family’s circumstances need further explanation.
For parents, the next steps are practical: organize your deadlines, identify the correct contributors, gather financial records, review your submission, and compare what each college will actually cost.
Then look beyond the first tuition bill. A college needs to fit your family’s finances throughout the student’s education.
Connect With The College Funding Coach
You do not have to navigate college funding alone.
The College Funding Coach helps families understand their options and build a plan for paying for college while considering their other financial goals.
If you have questions about the FAFSA, financial aid offers, appeals, or how college fits into your family’s budget, connect with The College Funding Coach to schedule a free initial consultation.