Parents of rising high school juniors-forget everything you were told before this year about when to file financial aid applications. The class of 2021 will be able to file their FAFSA or Free Application for Federal Student Aid in October instead of January. The same schedule will be true for current college students. The new schedule was made possible by the decision to allow applicants to use Prior Prior Year tax returns to file applications instead of waiting until applications are filed for the next year.