For the 2011-2012 school year, your FAFSA application must be submitted no later than June 30, 2012. For the 2012-2013 school year, you must wait until January 1, 2012 to submit the FAFSA but no later than June 30, 2013.
The Federal FAFSA Deadline is June 30 each year. The U.S. Department of Education deems an application’s receipt date and time to be when the application (correction, if any) has been successfully submitted.
In general, most schools, agencies and scholarship providers will expect that your financial aid applications are completed no later than June 30 or filed no later than April 1 in order to meet the “priority” deadline.
It’s also important for you to understand the difference between state1 and federal deadlines. FAFSA deadlines differ by state, with the earliest on Feb. 15 in Connecticut, quickly followed by California, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland and Michigan in early March, to name a few.
There are also six (6) states — Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vermont that award state grants on a first-come, first-served basis until the money runs out.2
Typically the FAFSA deadline for the state and school may be earlier than the federal deadline, so it’s wise to check with the financial aid office of the school(s) you are interested in attending as each school may have a different deadline for FAFSA.
FAFSA Deadline by State for 2012-2013 Academic Year
| STATE | DEADLINE | REMARKS |
| Alabama | | Check with your financial aid administrator. |
| Alaska | June 30, 2012 | Education Grant & AK Performance Scholarship |
| Arizona | | Check with your financial aid administrator. |
| Arkansas | June 1, 2012 | For Academic Challenge For Higher Education Opportunity Grant |
| | | For Workforce Grant; check with your financial aid administrator. |
| California | March 2, 2012 September 2, 2012 | Initial awards (date received) Additional community college awards (date postmarked) |
| Colorado | | Check with your financial aid administrator. |
| Connecticut | February 15, 2012 | |
| Delaware | April 15, 2012 | |
| District of Columbia | June 30, 2012 May 15, 2012 | Date received. For priority consideration (date received) |
| Florida | May 15, 2012 | Date processed |
| Georgia | | Check with your financial aid administrator. |
| Hawaii | | Check with your financial aid administrator. |
| Idaho | March 1, 2012 | Opportunity Grant For priority consideration (date received) |
| Illinois | As soon as possible after January 1, 2012. | Awards made until funds are depleted. |
| Indiana | March 10, 2012 | Date received |
| Iowa | July 1, 2012 | Date received; earlier priority deadlines may exist for certain programs.
|
| Kansas | April 1, 2012 | Date received |
| Kentucky | As soon as possible after January 1, 2012. | Awards made until funds are depleted. |
| Louisiana | July 1, 2012 | Date received |
| Maine | May 1, 2012 | Date received |
| Maryland | March 1, 2012 | Date received |
| Massachusetts | May 1, 2012 | Date received |
| Michigan | March 1, 2012 | Date received |
| Minnesota | 30 days after term starts | |
| Mississippi | March 31, 2012 September 15, 2012 | HELP Scholarship MTAG and MESG Grants |
| Missouri | April 2, 2012 | Date received |
| Nebraska | | Check with your financial aid administrator. |
| Nevada | | Check with your financial aid administrator. |
| New Hampshire | | |
| New Jersey | June 1, 2012 | 2011-2012 Tuition Aid Grant recipients & all other applicants for fall and spring terms. |
| | March 1, 2013 | All other applicants for spring term only |
| New York | June 30, 2013 | Date received |
| North Carolina | As soon as possible after January 1, 2012. | Awards made until funds are depleted. |
| North Dakota | April 15, 2012 | Date received; early priority deadlines may exist for institutional programs. |
| Ohio | October 1, 2012 | Date received |
| Oklahoma | March 1, 2012 | Date received |
| Oregon | February 1, 2012 March 1, 2012 | Oregon Opportunity Grant OSAC Private Scholarships |
| Pennsylvania | May 1, 2012 August 1, 2012 | Date received; except for first-time applicants at a community college; a business/trade/technical school; a hospital school of nursing; or enrolled in a non-transferable 2-year program. |
| Puerto Rico | | Check with your financial aid administrator. |
| Rhode Island | March 1, 2012 | Date received |
| South Carolina | June 30, 2012 | Tuition Grants (date received) |
| | As soon as possible after January 1, 2012. | SC Commission on Higher Education; awards made until funds are depleted. |
| South Dakota | | Check with your financial aid administrator. |
| Tennessee | As soon as possible after January 1, 2012. | For State Grant; awards made until funds are depleted.
|
| | September 1, 2012 | For State Lottery (date received) |
| Texas | | Check with your financial aid administrator. |
| Utah | | Check with your financial aid administrator. |
| Vermont | As soon as possible after January 1, 2012. | Awards made until funds are depleted. |
| Virginia | | Check with your financial aid administrator. |
| Washington | | Check with your financial aid administrator. |
| West Virginia | March 1, 2012 April 16, 2012 | Promise Scholarship (date received) WV Higher Education Grant Program (date received) |
| Wisconsin | | Check with your financial aid administrator. |
| Wyoming | | Check with your financial aid administrator. |
You may also want to ask your school about their definition of an application deadline – whether it is the date they receive your FAFSA, or the date your FAFSA is processed so you can be absolutely sure your forms are submitted on time.
As long as your FAFSA is submitted by the federal deadline of June 30, you may be qualified to receive federal grants, loans and other financial aid. If you miss your state’s deadline, you may still qualify for federal aid, but not for state-funded aid programs.
Regardless what your state and college require in terms of deadline, it’s almost always in your best interest to submit your FAFSA sooner rather than later.
Update: Thanks to growing budget deficits and rising demand for financial aid, many cash-strapped states have cut student aid, while colleges have been raising tuition.
So to increase your chance of receiving aid this year, fill out the FAFSA as early as possible before the state runs out of aid.
References- The state deadline for financial aid is that of your state of legal residence. [↩]
- Source: Fafsa Q. and A. by Mark Kantrowitz [↩]
