Indiana residents can receive help filling out their 2027-2028 Free Application for Federal Student Aid applications at the annual statewide College Goal Sunday event Oct. 4. The event is free.
The over-30-year-old event will be from 2-4 p.m. local time at 35 locations across the state. The Bloomington location is 408 N. Union St. The event will have computers for attendees to use and FAFSA experts, who are financial aid administrators from Indiana colleges, to assist.
Submitting FAFSA qualifies people for state financial aid, federal financial aid, institutional grants; some scholarships require FAFSA, said College Goal Sunday Co-Chair Bill Wozniak.
“So, for all these reasons, people should file the FAFSA,” he said. “They walk away from millions of dollars every year by not filing because they didn't know they would be eligible for aid, and we don't want that to happen to anyone.”
Though tax information is entered directly into the FAFSA form from the IRS, Wozniak recommends people bring their most recent tax returns, W-2s and other documents that may have been needed to establish income. He recommends this because if there is a glitch, the FAFSA experts will be able to work off such forms and fill out the information manually.
With FAFSA experts at the event to help, getting FAFSA submitted can take as little as 10 minutes. It can take longer if a person has certain investments to include, or other issues arise.
Despite problems submitting the FAFSA form in past years, such as broken links or the site freezing, Wozniak said the FAFSA site has been performing well with no issues so far.
“It actually opened a few days before October 1, which is a really good sign,” Wozniak said. “October 1 is the official launch date.”
He said usually College Goal Sunday shies away from holding events in the beginning of October in case the launch of the FAFSA application site is delayed, but this year they took the risk.
“We rolled the dice. It's ready to go,” Wozniak said. “So, we want families all across Indiana to come on Sunday, on the 4th, come and get it filed, get it done.”
For those who unable to attend Oct. 4, information will be posted on the College Goal Sunday after the event. College Goal Sunday can also help people get connected to a FAFSA expert after the event, too.
A second College Goal Sunday event will be in February.
The state deadline for filing FAFSA is April 15, 2027, but some colleges have their own deadlines which could be earlier.