Families with a student attending college in the fall, be aware — the 2024–2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, is now open, and it looks different than it did in previous years.
The FAFSA is a tool that colleges and career schools use to determine a student’s eligibility for financial aid like scholarships, grants, and loans. The form underwent major changes this year due to the FAFSA Simplification Act, which aimed to streamline the process and make it easier for students to receive aid.
The form opened later than usual as a result of the changes. Rather than the typical October 1 opening, it opened with a soft launch on December 31 and is now open 24/7.
Because of that delay, it’s important for families to complete the form earlier rather than later. FAFSA’s official deadline is June 30, but some states and colleges have individual deadlines that are earlier.
During the soft launch stage, some users reported experiencing glitches and other technical problems with submitting the form, Forbes reported. The U.S. Department of Education acknowledged that the soft launch included some technical difficulties but said it was working to correct the issues.
“Leading up to and during the soft launch, we uncovered some minor issues affecting users at various points in the application process, which is to be expected with the launch of a major new website,” DOE said in an announcement. “We are addressing these issues concurrently and will continue to monitor for additional issues users may encounter while we conduct the soft launch.”
As of January 8, over 1 million FAFSA forms had been successfully submitted, DOE announced.
Here’s what to expect from the new FAFSA form:
First, the student and any contributors (such as parents, legal guardians, spouses, or stepparents) will need to create an account on studentaid.gov to access the form.
Remember: Students need to fill out the FAFSA for every year they will be enrolled in college to maintain eligibility for aid. A form filled out now will apply only to the 2024-25 school year.
The applicant and contributors will be asked to provide information and give consent for FAFSA to pull financial information from their IRS tax forms. If the student and their contributors do not provide consent, the student will not be eligible for aid.
Contributors can still fill out the form even if they do not have a social security number, didn’t file a tax return, or filed a tax return outside the U.S.
The formula used to determine aid will be different this year, too. This new version of the FAFSA is expected to award an additional 610,000 students with Pell Grants. In Virginia, that figure is 16,626.
Upon completion of the FAFSA, applicants will see their estimated eligibility for Federal Pell Grants and their Student Aid Index, an index number that will show colleges their estimated need. This number replaces the Expected Family Contribution from previous years.
Remember that this summary is not an offer letter. Individual schools will review the information provided by FAFSA then offer aid directly.
Feature image, stock.adobe.com
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