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The Free Application for Federal Student Aid for the 2026-27 school year has officially opened. Despite the U.S. government shutdown, the Education Department will continue to process the FAFSA. If you plan to attend college next year, Jill Desjean, director of policy analysis at The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, recommends that you fill it out as soon as you can. If it’s your first time applying, here’s what you need to know: How does the FAFSA work? The FAFSA is a free government application that uses students and their families financial information to determine whether they can get financial aid from the federal government to pay for college. The application will send a students financial information to the schools they are interested in attending. The amount of financial aid a student receives depends on each institution. The application is also used to determine eligibility for other federal student aid programs, like work-study and loans, as well as state and school aid. Sometimes, private, merit-based scholarships also require FAFSA information to determine if a student qualifies. What is the deadline to fill out the FAFSA? The 2026-2027 FAFSA application must be submitted by June 30, 2027. However, each state has different deadlines for financial aid. For example, California has a March 2, 2026, deadline and Kansas has an April 15, 2026, deadline for state financial aid programs. You can check your states deadline here. This year’s application rolled out Sept. 24, a week ahead of the anticipated Oct. 1 launch. This is a really welcomed change and hopefully it will be a turning point where we can expect to see a FAFSA every year by or even before October 1st, Desjean said. How can I prepare to fill out the FAFSA form? The first step in the process is to create a studentaid.gov account and gather the following documents: Social Security number Drivers license number Alien registration number, if you are not a U.S. citizen Federal income tax returns, W-2s and other records of money earned Bank statements and records of investments Records of untaxed income Who should fill out the FAFSA? Anyone planning to attend college next year should fill out the form. Both first-time college students and returning students can apply. Even if you think you wont qualify, the worst thing that can happen is that you might get finance aid you didnt know you qualified for, Desjean said. Students and parents can use the federal student aid estimator to get an early approximation of their financial package. What information do I need from my parents? If you are filing as a dependent student, youll need to provide the financial information of at least one parent. Parents need to create their own FSA IDs. When your parents fill out the application, they can manually input their tax return information or use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism. Adriana Morga, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
When the corroded pipeline burst in 2015, inky crude spread along the Southern California coast, becoming the states worst oil spill in decades. More than 140,000 gallons (3,300 barrels) of oil gushed out, blackening beaches for 150 miles (240 kilometers) from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles, polluting a biologically rich habitat for endangered whales and sea turtles, killing scores of pelicans, seals, and dolphins, and decimating the fishing industry. Plains All American Pipeline in 2022 agreed to a $230 million settlement with fishers and coastal property owners without admitting liability. Federal inspectors found that the Houston-based company failed to quickly detect the rupture and responded too slowly. It faced an uphill battle to build a new pipeline. Three decades-old drilling platforms were subsequently shuttered, but another Texas-based fossil fuel company supported by the Trump administration purchased the operation and is intent on pumping oil through the pipeline again. Sable Offshore Corp., headquartered in Houston, is facing a slew of legal challenges but is determined to restart production, even if that means confining it to federal waters, where state regulators have virtually no say. California controls the 3 miles (5 kilometers) nearest to shore. The platforms are 5 to 9 miles (8 to 14 kilometers) offshore. The Trump administration has hailed Sables plans as the kind of project the president wants to increase U.S. energy production as the federal government removes regulatory barriers. President Donald Trump has directed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to undo his predecessors ban on future offshore oil drilling on the East and West coasts. Environmentalists sue to stop the project “This project risks another environmental disaster in California at a time when demand for oil is going down and the climate crisis is escalating,” said Alex Katz, executive director of Environmental Defense Center, the Santa Barbara group formed in response to a massive spill in 1969. The environmental organization is among several suing Sable. Our concern is that there is no way to make this pipeline safe and that this company has proven that it cannot be trusted to operate safely, responsibly or even legally, he said. Actor and activist Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who lives in the area, has implored officials to stop Sable, saying at a March protest: I can smell a rat. And this project is a rat. The California Coastal Commission fined Sable a record $18 million for ignoring cease-and-desist orders over repair work it says was done without permits. Sable said it has permits from the previous owner, Exxon Mobil, and sued the commission while work continued on the pipeline. In June, a state judge ordered it to stop while the case proceeds through the court. The commission and Sable are due back in court Wednesday. This fly-by-night oil company has repeatedly abused the publics trust, racking up millions of dollars in fines and causing environmental damage along the treasured Gaviota Coast, a state park south of Santa Barbara, said Joshua Smith, the commissions spokesman. Sable keeps moving forward So far, Sable is undeterred. The California Attorney Generals office sued Sable this month, saying it illegally discharged waste into waterways, and disregarded state law requiring permits before work along the pipeline route that crosses sensitive wildlife habitat. Sable placed profits over environmental protection in its rush to get oil on the market, the agency said in its lawsuit. Last month, the Santa Barbara District Attorney filed felony criminal charges against Sable, also accusing it of polluting waterways and harming wildlife. Sable said it has fully cooperated with local and state agencies, including the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and called the district attorney’s allegation inflammatory and extremely misleading. It said a biologist and state fire marshal officials oversaw the work, and no wildlife was harmed. The company is seeking $347 million for the delays, and says if the state blocks it from restarting the onshore pipeline system, it will use a floating facility that would keep its entire operation in federal waters and use tankers to transport the oil to markets outside California. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, the company updated its plan to include the option. Fulfilling the president’s energy promise The U.S. Interior Departments Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said in July it was working with Sable to bring a second rig online. President Trump made it clear that American energy should come from American resources, the agencys deputy director Kenny Stevens said in a statement then, heralding the “comeback story for Pacific production. The agency said there are an estimated 190 million barrels (6 billion gallons) of recoverable oil reserves in the area, nearly 80% of residual Pacific reserves. It noted advancements in preventing and preparing for oil spills and said the failed pipeline has been rigorously tested. Continuous monitoring and improved technology significantly reduce the risk of a similar incident occurring in the future, the agency said. CEO says project could lower gas prices On May 19 the 10th anniversary of the disaster CEO Jim Flores announced that Sable is proud to have safely and responsibly achieved first production at the Santa Ynez Unit which includes three rigs in federal waters, offshore and onshore pipelines, and the Las Flores Canyon Processing Facility. State officials countered that the company had only conducted testing and not commercial production. Sable’s stock price dropped and some investors sued, alleging they were misled. Sable purchased the Santa Ynez Unit from Exxon Mobil in 2024 for nearly $650 million primarily with a loan from Exxon. Exxon sold the shuttered operation after losing a court battle in 2023 to truck the crude through central California while the pipeline system was rebuilt or repaired. Flores said well tests at the Platform Harmony rig indicate there is much oil to be extracted and that it will relieve California’s gas prices among the nation’s highest by stabilizing supplies. Sable is very concerned about the crumbling energy complex in California,” Flores said in a statement to The Associated Press. With the exit of two refineries last year and more shuttering soon, Californias economy cannot survive without the strong energy infrastructure it enjoyed for the last 150 years. California has been reducing the states production of fossil fuels in favor of clean energy for years. The movement has ben spearheaded partly by Santa Barbara County, where elected officials voted in May to begin taking steps to phase out onshore oil and gas operations. Julie Watson, Associated Press Associated Press writer Matthew Brown contributed to this report.
Category:
E-Commerce
Shares of stocks linked to agriculture, soybeans and cooking oil are are up on Wednesday after President Donald Trump said that the U.S. was considering “terminating business with China having to do with Cooking Oil and other elements of Trade” as retribution against Beijing for refusing to buy American soybeans. Pinnacle Food Group Limited (PFAI) shares were up over 77%, Sadot Group Inc. (SDOT) was up over 87%, and Australian Oilseeds Holdings Limited (COOT) rose over 260% at the time of this writing in midday trading on Wednesday. Pinnacle Food Group Limited sells smart farming solution services, Sadot Group is a Texas-based global food supply chain company, and Australian Oilseeds Holdings has grown to be the largest cold pressing oil plant in Australia, pressing GMO-free conventional and organic oilseeds. This marks the latest chapter, and second week, in Trump’s ongoing trade and tariff war with China, which reignited October 9 with restrictions on rare earth mineral exports, vital for U.S. chipmakers and the tech and defense industries. Last week, Trump said he was putting 100% tariffs on Chinese goods after Beijing added five American subsidiaries of a South Korean shipping company to its sanctions list. “I believe that China purposefully not buying our Soybeans, and causing difficulty for our Soybean Farmers, is an Economically Hostile Act,” Trump said Tuesday on his social media platform Truth Social. “We can easily produce Cooking Oil ourselves, we dont need to purchase it from China.” China responded that its position on tariffs remains the same: A trade war is in neither country’s interest. The latest row comes ahead of Trump’s scheduled meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month.
Category:
E-Commerce
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