An independent deadline guide — not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, or any government agency
The Aid Window

Reports · methodology

How we score FAFSA deadline communication

· Editorial by Sunday Robbo

Transparent rubric: priorityKind, empty vs filled deadline fields, conflicts, program-scoped dates, dual sources, and secondary-path clarity — all from verified state data.

What this score measures

The number answers one question: how clearly does this jurisdiction communicate a FAFSA-related filing deadline once we check Federal Student Aid and the state agency? It is not a ranking of how generous aid is, how early the date falls, or how "good" a state's politics are. A late but crystal-clear priority date can outscore an early system that forces every family to phone a financial aid office.

Scores for the 2027-28 season are computed only from verified fields in our state data — never invented dates. All 51 live jurisdictions are scored the same way for 2027-28.

The 100-point rubric

Four additive parts. Sum them; clamp to 0–100; assign a letter grade.

  1. Statewide clarity (0–45)

    priority / hard-for-cal-grant score highest; ASAP next; program-scoped and check-school mid-low; unavailable and conflict lowest.

  2. Deadline field fit (0–15)

    Kinds that should publish an ISO date get full points only when priorityDeadline is filled; ASAP / check_fao / unavailable get full points when that field is correctly empty.

  3. Dual sources (0–25)

    ≥2 official sources = 25; one source = 10; none = 0.

  4. Secondary-path clarity (0–15)

    A dated, labeled secondaryDeadline earns 15. No secondary is fine (15) unless the kind is conflict — then the other date should be documented (0 if missing).

priorityKind ladder (clarity points)

  • 45 — priority statewide date
  • 42 — hard-for-cal-grant (clear hard date; path is specific)
  • 28 — asap / rolling
  • 22 — program (date exists for one program, not a full statewide story)
  • 18 — check_fao ("date varies" / check school)
  • 10 — unavailable
  • 5 — conflict (official sources disagree)

Letter grades

  • A — 90–100
  • B — 80–89
  • C — 70–79
  • D — 60–69
  • F — below 60

What we do not score

Calendar earliness, award amounts, extra forms beyond what our kind field already encodes, or how pretty a state website looks. Those matter to families — they just are not this number. For source hygiene and corrections, see how we check our data.

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