The 2027-28 FAFSA opens Oct. 1. It uses 2025 tax returns, and the student and each parent need separate accounts; parents without a Social Security number can also create an account. Aid includes the Pell Grant of up to $7,395; New York TAP of up to $5,665 (taxable income of $125,000 or less); the Excelsior Scholarship (tuition-free SUNY and CUNY for gross income of $125,000 or less); New Jersey TAG of up to $14,404; tuition-free county college for income of $65,000 or less (CCOG) and tuition-free junior and senior years at four-year schools (Garden State Guarantee); NJ STARS; and alternative applications for undocumented students: the New York DREAM Act and the New Jersey alternative application,
The starting point for college financial aid applications is Oct. 1. On that day the 2027-28 federal FAFSA and the CSS Profile for private colleges open, and New York and New Jersey state aid is reviewed automatically using FAFSA information. Korean American families often overlook three things: parents without Social Security numbers can still apply; undocumented students can receive state aid; and, starting in 2026-27, small family business assets no longer have to be reported. This guide is based on official materials from the Federal Student Aid office (FSA), New York HESC, New Jersey HESAA, SUNY, CUNY and Rutgers, checked as of Sept. 15, 2026.
FAFSA 2027-28: Opens Oct. 1, Uses 2025 Tax Return, Each Contributor Needs an Account
After a beta test that began in August (studentaid.gov/joinbeta), the 2027-28 FAFSA opens to everyone on Oct. 1. It uses 2025 tax returns (prior-prior year). The student and every contributor (parent, student's spouse, stepparent) must each create a studentaid.gov account, sign, and consent to the direct data exchange with the IRS (FA-DDX). For divorced or separated families, the contributor is the parent who provided more financial support over the past year. A parent without a Social Security number can select "no Social Security number" on the account creation screen, which creates an account with limited functions and goes through identity verification. The federal deadline is June 30, 2028, but the New Jersey new-applicant deadline falls on Sept. 15 of the following year and the renewal deadline on April 15, and schools' priority deadlines are usually between November and February, so the rule is to file within the fall. For 2026-27, the Pell Grant is up to $7,395 and at least $740, and students whose Student Aid Index (SAI) is at or above twice the maximum Pell ($14,790) do not qualify. The 2027-28 Pell amounts are usually announced in January or February of the following year. Undocumented students and DACA recipients are not eligible for federal aid.
New York: TAP, Excelsior, DREAM Act, Alternative Pathway
For 2026-27, TAP awards range from $1,000 to $5,665 a year, and dependent students qualify with New York State net taxable income of $125,000 or less. Filing the FAFSA leads to "TAP on the Web." The deadline is June 30, 2027, and students must reapply every year. Part-time TAP for students taking 3 to 11 credits per semester is also available under the same income standard. The Excelsior Scholarship is a "last-dollar" program that waives the remaining SUNY and CUNY tuition, after Pell and TAP, for families with federal adjusted gross income of $125,000 or less. Students must complete 12 credits per semester and 30 credits per year, and must live and work in New York after graduation for as many years as they received the award (otherwise it converts to an interest-free loan). The 2026-27 new-application window ran from May 26 to Aug. 31, and the spring semester window is expected to open from mid-December to early February, as in previous years. Renewing students do not reapply but must file the FAFSA and TAP (or the DREAM Act application) every year. At New York private colleges, the Enhanced Tuition Award (ETA) of up to $6,000 has the same conditions. Undocumented students can receive TAP, Excelsior and other aid through the José Peralta NYS DREAM Act application (nysdream.applyists.net). Families in which the student is a citizen but the parents are noncitizens, which blocks the FAFSA, can use the HESC Alternative Pathway (hesc.ny.gov/altpath) to receive TAP and other state aid without the FAFSA; this pathway does not cover Excelsior, ETA or federal aid. HESC's prescreening tool tells applicants whether to use the FAFSA, the DREAM Act or the Alternative Pathway. SUNY four-year tuition remains frozen at $7,070 for 2026-27, and CUNY four-year tuition is reported to be $6,930. New York residents aged 25 to 55 without a degree can get tuition, fees and books fully covered after TAP and Pell for two-year programs in high-demand fields such as nursing, technology and manufacturing through SUNY Reconnect and CUNY Reconnect.
New Jersey: TAG, CCOG, Garden State Guarantee, NJ STARS
Under the 2026-27 tables, the Tuition Aid Grant (TAG) is about $3,098 at county colleges, $9,496 at state four-year colleges, $10,964 at public research universities such as Rutgers, NJIT and Rowan, and up to $14,404 at private colleges. It decreases as the New Jersey Eligibility Index (NJEI) rises and disappears above 10,499. It covers up to five semesters for an associate degree and nine for a bachelor's degree. The deadlines are April 15 for renewing students, Sept. 15 for new students and high school seniors, and Feb. 15 for the spring semester. Because the FAFSA must be "processed" by the deadline, applicants should file at least three days earlier. The CCOG pays county college tuition and approved fees for up to 18 credits per semester for families with adjusted gross income of $0 to $65,000, and the Garden State Guarantee brings tuition and fees at New Jersey public four-year schools to $0 for junior and senior years (60 to 128 credits) under the same income standard. Both are reviewed automatically once the FAFSA or the alternative application is filed. Partial aid for income above $65,000 is not listed on the official HESAA page and varies by school, so families should check with the college. NJ STARS gives graduates in the top 15% of their high school class tuition (excluding fees) at their home county college for up to five semesters, and students who finish an associate degree with a GPA of 3.25 or higher and a household income under $250,000 can continue to NJ STARS II when they transfer to a four-year school. Undocumented students can receive the same state aid through the NJ Alternative Financial Aid Application on NJFAMS (requirements: three or more years at a New Jersey high school, a diploma or GED, an affidavit to legalize status, and an optional Social Security number or ITIN), and in-state tuition applies under the 2013 Tuition Equality Act. Rutgers raised tuition 3% for 2026-27, to $15,381 for in-state School of Arts and Sciences tuition and $25,449 for the total commuter cost at New Brunswick, and students with income of $65,000 or less pay $0 in tuition and fees through the Scarlet Guarantee.
Self-Employed Families: Assets of Businesses With 100 or Fewer Employees Are No Longer Reported
Because the FAFSA pulls adjusted gross income from the 2025 Form 1040 through the IRS data exchange, Schedule C net profit is counted as income as is. Starting in 2026-27, under a change in federal law, families no longer report the net worth of family-owned and operated businesses with 100 or fewer full-time employees, family farms where the family lives, and family fishing businesses. Cash in business accounts, rental real estate and non-retirement investments are still assets. Private colleges that require the CSS Profile ask separately about business value. New Jersey state aid has strict verification and requires an IRS tax return transcript or income transcript; if parents have not filed and have no U.S. income or benefits records, or are abroad and file only foreign tax returns, they cannot receive state aid and cannot work around this by changing dependency status. Appeals are available when circumstances change. At the federal level, school financial aid offices use professional judgment (job loss, reduced income, medical expenses). New Jersey recognizes only a parent's job loss, disability, retirement, death, separation, loss of nontaxable income, or the student's loss of full-time employment; reduced overtime or one-time income does not qualify, and appeals must be submitted in writing within 60 days. New York's Excelsior offers income determinations for reasons of disability, divorce or death.
Private College CSS Profile, 529 Tax Deductions, Korean American Scholarships
The CSS Profile opens Oct. 1. It costs $25 for the first school and $16 for each additional school, and the fee is automatically waived for households with adjusted gross income of $100,000 or less. For 529 savings, New York's direct plan offers a state income tax deduction of up to $5,000 a year ($10,000 for married couples). New Jersey's NJBEST offers a deduction of up to $10,000 a year for families with gross income of $200,000 or less, and New Jersey also offers a $2,500 deduction for NJCLASS loan repayments and a $10,000 deduction for New Jersey college tuition. For Korean American scholarships, the Korean American Scholarship Foundation (KASF) Northeastern Region awards $500 to $5,000 to full-time students of Korean descent with a GPA of 3.0 or higher, based on financial need, regardless of citizenship status. The deadline in the last cycle was June 30, and applications for 2027 are expected to open in the spring. This guide is based on official materials from studentaid.gov, hesc.ny.gov, hesaa.org, suny.edu and rutgers.edu, and will be updated as the 2027-28 Pell amounts, the Excelsior spring semester window and the 2027 scholarship schedule are announced.