The 2025–2026 FAFSA Guide last updated: January 7, 2025
Important Update: The 2025–2026 FAFSA is now available!
What does this mean for you?
According to the Department of Education, as of December,
What Does This Mean for You?
In simple terms, you can now fill out the FAFSA. We have no reason to believe if you submitted your FAFSA today that you would have to fill it out again. Cairn University has already received FAFSAs for the 25–26 year successfully. While this beta launch availability is earlier than schools anticipated, this can be helpful for families to potentially receive offers of aid from schools sooner.
See an updated table below to know what to expect with FAFSA timelines moving forward:
| November 19, 2024 | Beta launch of FAFSA is available. Anyone can now submit their actual FAFSA. |
| December 1, 2024 | FAFSA beta should now be the official version. |
| December 2024 | You complete the FAFSA. |
| December 2024 | Cairn receives your FAFSA. |
| December 20, 2024 | First batch of Cairn's Offers of Aid go out. |
| May 1, 2025 | FAFSA submission deadline to be considered for maximum aid eligibility. |
Tips for a Smooth Application Process:
Other Helpful Resources:
- Cairn Scholarship Estimator is a great way to get a more accurate approximation of what your aid could look like for Cairn. Our admission staff will review your submission and contact you shortly to discuss your aid.
- The Student Aid Index (SAI) is the new calculation for determining student financial need. The SAI estimator assesses the Federal funding a student can receive.
Be aware: This estimator was released in September, but otherwise, the new SAI calculations have not been made available to Financial Aid Administrators or to the public. We would advise anyone using this to take caution as SAI, PELL grant, loan, and Federal work study amounts generated likely do not reflect accurate numbers, especially given the fact that the FAFSA release date continues to be pushed back.
Remember, we are here to help! If this FAFSA Guide is missing questions or concerns you have, you can contact Student Financial Services at [email protected] with any questions, or you can learn more at about our tuition and financial aid at cairn.edu/aid.
The 2025–2026 FAFSA Guide last updated: January 7, 2025
