for a first offense and indefinite for a second offense. Most students who are eligible to receive federal aid and complete the FAFSA will receive some form of financial aid regardless of their financial need. Preparation and filing options As of the 2017–2018 academic year, the FAFSA is made available to the public on October 1 every year for the future academic year. The 2016–2017 academic year was the final time the FAFSA was not made available until January 1. The US Department of Education made the FAFSA available earlier to more closely align the timing of the financial aid application process with the typical college application process. Additionally, 2-year old US tax information is used to complete the financial sections of the FAFSA beginning with the 2017–2018 academic year. This change in using "prior-prior tax year" information enables families to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool in the FAFSA to verify their tax information without a delay from the IRS processing tax information. Some financial aid is provided on a first-come, first-served basis, and students are encouraged to submit a FAFSA as soon as possible. According to the U.S. Department of Education's website, students have three options for filling out the form: online at (Other websites such as fafsa.com, fafsa.net, may appear to be official but most of these sites charge a fee for assistance) (FAFSA stands for the Free application For Federal Student Aid so no other website should be used other than the official one listed above) in the myStudentAid mobile app Call 1-800-433-3243 to obtain a PDF of the form The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 authorized fee-based FAFSA preparation. By law, fee-based FAFSA preparation services must on initial contact with students inform them of the free option and be transparent about their non-affiliation with the U.S. Department of Education and their fees. Application process Applicants complete the FAFSA by providing their demographic and financial information and, in many cases, the demographic and financial information of their parents/guardians. In addition to this demographic and financial information, applicants can list up to ten schools to receive the results of the application once it is processed. Historically, there was some concern that colleges could deny admission, waitlist applicants, or offer less financial aid as a result of the order in which applicants list schools on the application, or FAFSA position. However, the US Department of Education changed