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How to Make FAFSA Corrections and Updates
As of April 16, students and families can make corrections to their 2024-25 FAFSA forms.
Anna Helhoski is a senior writer covering economic news and trends in consumer finance at NerdWallet. She is also an authority on student loans. She joined NerdWallet in 2014. Her work has appeared in The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Washington Post and USA Today. She previously covered local news in the New York metro area for the Daily Voice and New York state politics for The Legislative Gazette. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Purchase College, State University of New York.
Karen Gaudette Brewer joined NerdWallet with 20 years of experience working in newsrooms and leading editorial teams, most recently as executive editor of HealthCentral. She launched her journalism career with The Associated Press and later worked for The (Riverside) Press-Enterprise, The Seattle Times, PCC Community Markets and Allrecipes.com. Her writing has been honored by the Society for Features Journalism and the Society of Professional Journalists. In addition, she’s written two books about the Pacific Northwest.
Eliza Haverstock Lead Writer | Student loan repayment, paying for college
Eliza Haverstock is NerdWallet's higher education writer, where she covers all aspects of college affordability and student loans. Previously, she reported on billionaires and investing for Forbes in New York, and she also covered private markets for PitchBook in Seattle. Eliza got started at her college newspaper at the University of Virginia and interned for Bloomberg, where she spent a summer writing a feature story about plastic straws. She is based in Washington, D.C.
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When can I update my FAFSA application? The redesigned FAFSA for the 2024-25 academic year is available at FAFSA.gov. After major delays, the FAFSA corrections process opened on April 16 to students and families who submitted incorrect or incomplete forms.
You can still submit the 2023-24 FAFSA until June 30, 2024.
If you made a mistake on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) — for example, leaving a question blank or answering it incorrectly — you can fix it after the Education Department processes your form.
The corrections process for the new 2024-25 FAFSA became available to students and families on April 16, following a months-long delay. More than one million FAFSAs — roughly 16% of the 7 million forms submitted so far — include user errors that must be corrected, the Education Department said on April 9.
To make a FAFSA correction, log into your StudentAid.gov account and navigate to your main dashboard. Scroll down to the “My Activity” section and select the form you want to fix. A summary of your processed FAFSA will pop up. At the top right corner of that page, select “Actions,” then select “Make Corrections.”
If you’re a dependent student, and the correction impacts information about your parents, a parent must sign the FAFSA again.
There are some specific, common errors affecting students who filled out the 2024-25 FAFSA. You should correct your FAFSA if:
You’re a dependent student, but you didn’t provide parent information.
Your form is missing a contributor’s consent or signature.
You used an incorrect Social Security number.
For step-by-step instructions on fixing these specific FAFSA errors, visit the StudentAid.gov FAFSA corrections help page. In most cases, you may also contact the college you plan to attend and ask them to make the FAFSA corrections on your behalf.
NerdWallet ratingNerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula for student loan products takes into account more than 50 data points across multiple categories, including repayment options, customer service, lender transparency, loan eligibility and underwriting criteria.
Fixed APR
3.99-17.99%
College Ave Student Loans products are made available through Firstrust Bank, member FDIC, First Citizens Community Bank, member FDIC, or M.Y. Safra Bank, FSB, member FDIC.. All loans are subject to individual approval and adherence to underwriting guidelines. Program restrictions, other terms, and conditions apply. As certified by your school and less any other financial aid you might receive. Minimum $1,000. Rates shown include autopay discount. The 0.25% auto-pay interest rate reduction applies as long as a valid bank account is designated for required monthly payments. If a payment is returned, you will lose this benefit. Variable rates may increase after consummation. This informational repayment example uses typical loan terms for a freshman borrower who selects the Flat Repayment Option with an 8-year repayment term, has a $10,000 loan that is disbursed in one disbursement and a 7.78% fixed Annual Percentage Rate (“APR”): 54 monthly payments of $25 while in school, followed by 96 monthly payments of $176.21 while in the repayment period, for a total amount of payments of $18,266.38. Loans will never have a full principal and interest monthly payment of less than $50. Your actual rates and repayment terms may vary. This informational repayment example uses typical loan terms for a freshman borrower who selects the Deferred Repayment Option with a 10-year repayment term, has a $10,000 loan that is disbursed in one disbursement and a 8.35% fixed Annual Percentage Rate (“APR”): 120 monthly payments of $179.18 while in the repayment period, for a total amount of payments of $21,501.54. Loans will never have a full principal and interest monthly payment of less than $50. Your actual rates and repayment terms may vary. Information advertised valid as of 7/10/2024. Variable interest rates may increase after consummation. Approved interest rate will depend on the creditworthiness of the applicant(s), lowest advertised rates only available to the most creditworthy applicants and require selection of full principal and interest payments with the shortest available loan term.
Variable APR
5.59-17.99%
College Ave Student Loans products are made available through Firstrust Bank, member FDIC, First Citizens Community Bank, member FDIC, or M.Y. Safra Bank, FSB, member FDIC.. All loans are subject to individual approval and adherence to underwriting guidelines. Program restrictions, other terms, and conditions apply. As certified by your school and less any other financial aid you might receive. Minimum $1,000. Rates shown include autopay discount. The 0.25% auto-pay interest rate reduction applies as long as a valid bank account is designated for required monthly payments. If a payment is returned, you will lose this benefit. Variable rates may increase after consummation. This informational repayment example uses typical loan terms for a freshman borrower who selects the Flat Repayment Option with an 8-year repayment term, has a $10,000 loan that is disbursed in one disbursement and a 7.78% fixed Annual Percentage Rate (“APR”): 54 monthly payments of $25 while in school, followed by 96 monthly payments of $176.21 while in the repayment period, for a total amount of payments of $18,266.38. Loans will never have a full principal and interest monthly payment of less than $50. Your actual rates and repayment terms may vary. This informational repayment example uses typical loan terms for a freshman borrower who selects the Deferred Repayment Option with a 10-year repayment term, has a $10,000 loan that is disbursed in one disbursement and a 8.35% fixed Annual Percentage Rate (“APR”): 120 monthly payments of $179.18 while in the repayment period, for a total amount of payments of $21,501.54. Loans will never have a full principal and interest monthly payment of less than $50. Your actual rates and repayment terms may vary. Information advertised valid as of 7/10/2024. Variable interest rates may increase after consummation. Approved interest rate will depend on the creditworthiness of the applicant(s), lowest advertised rates only available to the most creditworthy applicants and require selection of full principal and interest payments with the shortest available loan term.
Credible lets you check with multiple student loan lenders to get rates with no impact to your credit score. Visit their website to take the next steps.
NerdWallet ratingNerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula for student loan products takes into account more than 50 data points across multiple categories, including repayment options, customer service, lender transparency, loan eligibility and underwriting criteria.
Fixed APR
4.15-15.49%
Lowest rates shown include the auto debit. Advertised APRs for undergraduate students assume a $10,000 loan to a student who attends school for 4 years and has no prior Sallie Mae-serviced loans. Interest rates for variable rate loans may increase or decrease over the life of the loan based on changes to the 30-day Average Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) rounded up to the nearest one-eighth of one percent. Advertised variable rates are the starting range of rates and may vary outside of that range over the life of the loan. Interest is charged starting when funds are sent to the school. With the Fixed and Deferred Repayment Options, the interest rate is higher than with the Interest Repayment Option and Unpaid Interest is added to the loan’s Current Principal at the end of the grace/separation period. To receive a 0.25 percentage point interest rate discount, the borrower or cosigner must enroll in auto debit through Sallie Mae. The discount applies only during active repayment for as long as the Current Amount Due or Designated Amount is successfully withdrawn from the authorized bank account each month. It may be suspended during forbearance or deferment. Advertised APRs are valid as of 7/12/2024. Loan amounts: For applications submitted directly to Sallie Mae, loan amount cannot exceed the cost of attendance less financial aid received, as certified by the school. Applications submitted to Sallie Mae through a partner website will be subject to a lower maximum loan request amount. Miscellaneous personal expenses (such as a laptop) may be included in the cost of attendance for students enrolled at least half-time. Examples of typical costs for a $10,000 Smart Option Student Loan with the most common fixed rate, fixed repayment option, 6-month separation period, and two disbursements: For a borrower with no prior loans and a 4-year in-school period, it works out to a 10.28% fixed APR, 51 payments of $25.00, 119 payments of $182.67 and one payment of $121.71, for a Total Loan Cost of $23,134.44. For a borrower with $20,000 in prior loans and a 2-year in-school period, it works out to a 10.78% fixed APR, 27 payments of $25.00, 179 payments of $132.53 and one payment of $40.35 for a total loan cost of $24,438.22. Loans that are subject to a $50 minimum principal and interest payment amount may receive a loan term that is less than 10 years. A variable APR may increase over the life of the loan. A fixed APR will not.
Variable APR
5.37-15.70%
Lowest rates shown include the auto debit. Advertised APRs for undergraduate students assume a $10,000 loan to a student who attends school for 4 years and has no prior Sallie Mae-serviced loans. Interest rates for variable rate loans may increase or decrease over the life of the loan based on changes to the 30-day Average Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) rounded up to the nearest one-eighth of one percent. Advertised variable rates are the starting range of rates and may vary outside of that range over the life of the loan. Interest is charged starting when funds are sent to the school. With the Fixed and Deferred Repayment Options, the interest rate is higher than with the Interest Repayment Option and Unpaid Interest is added to the loan’s Current Principal at the end of the grace/separation period. To receive a 0.25 percentage point interest rate discount, the borrower or cosigner must enroll in auto debit through Sallie Mae. The discount applies only during active repayment for as long as the Current Amount Due or Designated Amount is successfully withdrawn from the authorized bank account each month. It may be suspended during forbearance or deferment. Advertised APRs are valid as of 7/12/2024. Loan amounts: For applications submitted directly to Sallie Mae, loan amount cannot exceed the cost of attendance less financial aid received, as certified by the school. Applications submitted to Sallie Mae through a partner website will be subject to a lower maximum loan request amount. Miscellaneous personal expenses (such as a laptop) may be included in the cost of attendance for students enrolled at least half-time. Examples of typical costs for a $10,000 Smart Option Student Loan with the most common fixed rate, fixed repayment option, 6-month separation period, and two disbursements: For a borrower with no prior loans and a 4-year in-school period, it works out to a 10.28% fixed APR, 51 payments of $25.00, 119 payments of $182.67 and one payment of $121.71, for a Total Loan Cost of $23,134.44. For a borrower with $20,000 in prior loans and a 2-year in-school period, it works out to a 10.78% fixed APR, 27 payments of $25.00, 179 payments of $132.53 and one payment of $40.35 for a total loan cost of $24,438.22. Loans that are subject to a $50 minimum principal and interest payment amount may receive a loan term that is less than 10 years. A variable APR may increase over the life of the loan. A fixed APR will not.
Credible lets you check with multiple student loan lenders to get rates with no impact to your credit score. Visit their website to take the next steps.
How to add or delete a school on your FAFSA
When you submit the FAFSA, you can list up to 20 schools to receive your financial information.
You can add or remove different institutions after submission. If you’ve already included 20 schools, each addition must replace an existing school on your list. Remember that schools you remove from the application won’t receive any information about further updates to your FAFSA.
Here’s how to update your school list:
Go to the “My Activity” section of your dashboard and select your processed 2024-25 FAFSA form.
At the top-right corner, select “Actions”, then select the “Add or Remove Schools”.
Search for the school by entering either the state, city and/or school name, then select “Search.” If you don’t see the schools you want to add via the search function, type in their federal school codes.
Select the schools you want to add from the search results.
Submit the update.
When is the FAFSA corrections deadline?
For the 2023-24 FAFSA, the Education Department’s deadline for corrections is Sept. 14, 2024. For the 2024-25 form, you have until Sept. 14, 2025 to make corrections.
Don’t delay, though: it’s important to submit the FAFSA (and any necessary corrections) as soon as possible. Most states and colleges set their FAFSA submission and correction deadlines earlier than the Education Department does. Plus, some aid comes from a limited pool and is first-come, first-serve.
If you have trouble, contact your school’s financial aid office. They may be able to make FAFSA changes for you.
How to update tax information on the FAFSA
Starting with the 2024-25 form, families must consent to the IRS directly transferring their federal tax information to their FAFSA form. As a result, you cannot change or correct tax information on the form manually.
However, if you filed an amended tax return, your financial aid eligibility could change. In this case, reach out to your college’s financial aid office to discuss next steps. The school can adjust your FAFSA information if necessary.
What if my financial situation changed after I filed the FAFSA?
The financial information on your FAFSA must be accurate as of the day you submitted the form. So, if your circumstances have changed since then — maybe your family income or dependency status changed — that's not a reason to update or correct your FAFSA.
Instead, reach out to your college’s financial aid office to explain your situation and ask about next steps. They can work with you to update your financial aid package.
You can also ask your financial aid office about submitting a financial aid appeal letter, if your offer is not what you expected.