Nancy Griesemer January 11, 1:22 PM
DC College Admissions Examiner
Virtually every college and university in the country has a posted priority financial aid application deadline by which the FAFSA should be filed in order for the student applicant to have the best possible chance of receiving both institutional and federal aid. Because most of these deadlines are either on or before March 1st, students and their parents must act early in the New Year—often before tax returns are filed with the federal government.
To underscore the importance of beginning the FAFSA sooner rather than later, even if it means estimating income and taxes to be paid, the following is a list of local priority financial aid (FA) deadlines:
| Institution | Priority FA Deadline | Institution | Priority FA Deadline |
| American University | 2-15 | Catholic University | 2-15 |
| Georgetown | 2-1 | George Washington | 2-1 |
| Howard University | 2-15 | Christopher Newport | 3-1 |
| William and Mary | 2-15 | George Mason University | 3-1 |
| James Madison | 3-1 | Mary Washington | 3-1 |
| UVA | 3-1 | Virginia Tech | 3-1 |
| Virginia Commonwealth | 3-1 | University of Richmond | 2-15 |
| Goucher College | 2-15 | Johns Hopkins University | 3-1 |
| Loyola of Maryland | 2-1 | Towson University | 3-1 |
| UMD | 2-15 | UMBC | 2-14 |
| Bowie State University | 3-1 | Hood College | 2-15 |
You can research individual deadlines by simply going to a college or university website and entering “FAFSA” or “FAFSA deadline” in the search function. Only the most poorly constructed websites will fail to pop up a link to either an admissions or a financial aid web page that clearly states the priority deadline by which you really should file your FAFSA. Most will even give you a few good reasons why this is so important.
Many states also have FAFSA deadlines that are entirely separate from but usually after institutional dates. A list of state deadlines is included on the FAFSA website. Locally, the State of Maryland has posted March 1st as its deadline, and the District of Columbia uses the federal deadline of June 30th.
Filing the FAFSA by the priority deadlines and promptly responding to any requests for additional documentation helps to ensure you will receive your financial aid letters at about the same time you receive admissions decisions. Note that it takes the FAFSA processor 2 to 3 weeks to get information to individual colleges and universities—if the FAFSA is filed electronically. If you use the paper application, the turnaround can take from 4 to 5 weeks. And delays could be longer if your application is randomly selected for a more in depth review.
Remember you do NOT have to be admitted to a college or university before submitting your FAFSA. You CAN file using last year’s tax return to estimate income and taxes. If you have any questions or need additional assistance, contact the FAFSA on the Web Consumer Service either online or by calling 1-800-433-3243 (1-800-4-FED-AID).
For more FAFSA filing tips, read
10 costly FAFSA filing mistakes
NOW is the time to complete the FAFSA
Five easy steps from the FAFSA playbook will maximize scholarship potential