FAFSA Update and Award Information

The financial aid process and award information below provides step-by-step guidance to students who plan to enroll in the 2025-20256 academic year. Please review the following application requirements for determining aid eligibility.  

 

  Type of Assistance Required Applications Priority Filing Date  Filing Deadline for Fall 2025/Spring 2026 terms 
 Federal/State Aid (All students) FAFSA Only  February 15, 2025

 March 15, 2025 (First Year Students)

May 15, 2025 (New Transfer Students)
 SMU Need-Based Aid (Undergraduate students only) FAFSA & CSS Profile  February 15, 2025

 March 15, 2025 (First-Year Students)

May 15, 2025 (New Transfer Students)
SMU Undergraduate Merit- Based Scholarships Automatically considered through the Admission process.   N/A  N/A
SMU Graduate Departmental Assistance Varies. Contact your Academic Department for your specific program of study  N/A N/A
 

Please make sure to submit both the 2025-2026 FAFSA and CSS Profile applications. Priority Filing and Filing Deadlines are suggested dates to receive a financial aid offer prior to deposit deadlines. 

Information entered on the CSS Profile should match the information provided on the FAFSA. Your file may be flagged for conflicting information if the information between the two applications does not match. Minor corrections to the CSS Profile can be made on the behalf of the student by an SMU financial aid advisor, extensive corrections may require submitting a brand new CSS Profile application.

Undergraduate Students (Incoming First-Year) Fall 2025/Spring 2026 

A monthly timeline up to the May 1st deposit deadline. This information will be updated regularly to reflect any changes.

  September:   

  • The Department of Education has announced the 2025-2026 FAFSA is expected to be available December 2024. 
  • Start gathering parent's and student's (if applicable) 2023 income/ tax return information as it will be needed to complete the 2025-2026 CSS Profile, available Oct. 1st, 2024.
  • Make sure to check deadlines for scholarship applications and requesting recommendation letters from teachers and counselors. (Applicants are automatically considered for SMU scholarships when their application is submitted. The exception is the Nancy Ann and Ray L. Hunt Leadership Scholarship , which requires a separate essay and demonstrated exceptional leadership.)

October:

  • The 2025-2026 CSS Profile will be available October 1st, 2024. The CSS Profile is a financial aid application used in determining SMU institutional aid for undergraduate students. Both the CSS Profile and FAFSA are used to create a complete and comprehensive financial aid offer for students. 

November:

  • November 1st, 2024 Early Action and Early Decision 1 application deadline. Early Action is a non-binding admission decision, while Early Decision 1 is a binding agreement requiring the student to withdraw all other admission applications if admitted. Early Decision 1 is recommended to students who identify SMU as their first choice college and understand the expectation they will enroll at SMU, provided the financial assistance is sufficient.

December:

  • The 2025-2026 FAFSA available December 1, 2024.
  • Admission decisions are released for Early Action and Early Decision 1 applicants in mid-December.

Undergraduate Students (New Transfers) Spring 2025

  • Students are strongly encouraged to complete and submit both the 2024-2025 FAFSA and CSS Profile applications to maximize aid offer eligibility.
  • Use the FAFSA helpful hints below and video tutorials in the side menu as a resource to complete your 2024-2025 FAFSA application..
  • Only students who have been admitted to the university will receive a financial aid offer.
  • Make sure to check your SMU e-mail for any request of additional documents to complete the aid offer.
  • Financial aid offers will begin to be available in late November. Your aid offer will be mailed and also available through your my.SMU portal.


Undergraduate Students (Continuing) Fall 2025/Spring 2026

  • Submit both the 2025-2026 FAFSA and CSS Profile applications to determine aid eligibility for the next school year. It's important to remember to complete and submit the CSS Profile if you are needing aid consideration for the SMU Opportunity Grant.
  • Helpful video tutorials have been made available on the side menu and below with FAQ's to provide guidance on completing the FAFSA.
  • Scholarship renewal review will occur after Spring 2025 grades have been posted. Should a student fall below the minimum GPA requirements, students can enroll in SMU May and/or summer term(s) and grades earned can be used in the GPA calculation prior to the Fall 2025 term. Grades earned from other colleges/universities will not be calculated into the SMU GPA, only course credit will be allowed to transfer (with prior approval from your academic department). Please contact the Financial Aid Advising Office for additional information.
  • Students and their families are encouraged to have their financial aid applications completed once made available. Student Financial Services is anticipating financial aid offers for the 2025-2026 school year to begin to be available as early as mid May 2025.
  • Make sure to check your SMU e-mail for any request for additional documents to complete your financial aid offer.
  • Regularly check your SMU Dashboard's To-Do checklist in my.SMU.

FSA ID Process and Requirements  Video Summary

All applicants must create an account with StudentAid.gov to submit a FAFSA online, https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa. The FSA ID is a username and password that will need to be created for login to complete and submit the FAFSA application.

Yes. Parents will need to create their own separate FSA ID from the student to complete their portion of the FAFSA application.

Parents who do not have a Social Security number will be able to create an FSA ID using their Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), which is required for tax filing purposes in the US. For parent(s) who don’t file a US tax return and have no Social Security number the FAFSA paper application will need to be submitted with their signature(s).

No. Any previous created FSA ID’s will still be active. If you have forgotten your previously established username of password you can still retrieve it.

It generally takes 48 hours for a newly created FSA to become fully effective. FSA ID’s can be created ahead of 24-25 FAFSA application being available. Just make sure to keep your username and password some place you’ll remember should you need it.

Who are “Contributors” on FAFSA?  Video Summary

Individuals who are not the student but provide information for the completion of the application, which could be parent(s), stepparent or student spouse (Independent students). Contributors will be invited via email from FAFSA to complete their portion of the application. (Contributor information is required in determining a student’s federal aid eligibility, but it doesn’t mean they are required to assist student financially with educational cost.)

The parent that provides the greatest financial support during the previous 12 months to the student would be the Contributor.

If both parents provide equal financial support, the Contributor then be identified as the parent with greater financial resources (income, assets, etc.).

For a student’s FAFSA to calculate their federal aid eligibility the Contributor will need to provide all requested information. Additionally, Contributors must Consent to having their Federal Tax Information (FTI) transferred from the IRS onto the FAFSA using the Direct Data Exchange (DDX). If the Contributor does not provide their information nor grant Consent, federal aid eligibility cannot be calculated for the student.

Federal Tax Information (FTI) is the tax return information for the student or Contributor(s) directly from the IRS. Direct Data Exchange (DDX) replaces the Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) on FAFSA allowing the secure transfer of tax information from the IRS onto the FAFSA application.

Consent for Financial Information  Video Summary

Consent is now required for student and Contributor(s) to share their tax information from the IRS to the FAFSA application. Consent will need to be granted every new school year a FAFSA application is submitted, it will not automatically carry over.

If Consent is not granted for the Federal Tax Information (FTI) to be transferred on to the FAFSA the Student Aid Index can not be calculated and the student will not be eligible to receive federal aid.

If the student and/or Contributor(s) have given Consent and the Federal Tax Information (FTI) cannot be transferred onto the FAFSA, the application will allow tax information to be entered manually by student and/or Contributor(s). Student and Contributor(s) must first grant Consent and attempt to use Direct Data Exchange to transfer Federal Tax Information before entering tax information manually or federal aid eligibility will not be calculated.

Yes. All applicants and Contributor(s) must provide Consent regardless of their tax filing status, income or no reported income. Not granting Consent will prevent the federal aid eligibility calculation and student will not receive federal aid.

Yes. Starting with the 24-25 FAFSA, Federal Tax Information (FTI) containing Amended Tax Return information can be transferred onto the FAFSA as long as Consent is granted.

Yes. They will need to provide Consent even though the Direct Data Exchange will be unable to obtain Federal Tax Information (FTI) from the IRS. Consent will still be required to calculate financial aid eligibility for the student. The Contributor(s) would need to enter the financial information manually and convert their foreign funds into US dollars on FAFSA.