HOW NEW FAFSA AIM TO MAKE APPLYING TO COLLEGE EASIER: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW; 7 KEY CHANGES....! (1506 hits)
For Immediate Release From The Hill!
New Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms — typically dreaded by college hopefuls and their families — will soon be available after a makeover, including some exciting and controversial features.
The forms, which will drop on or before Sunday, intend to be easier and quicker to fill out, but they’re also coming fairly late in the college application season. FAFSA papers normally open up in October, and the timing is raising concerns for experts and students.
“When students and families fill out the better FAFSA form, they will find that applying for college financial aid is simpler, easier, and faster than ever before,” said Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “The Biden-Harris Administration’s implementation of the Bipartisan FAFSA Simplification Act modernizes an archaic system, simplifies the form, and improves access for underserved students — representing the most significant overhaul of the federal financial aid application since the Reagan era.”
Here is what to know about the new forms:
Financial information is easier to obtain On the new FAFSA form, the student and their contributors must consent to allow the Department of Education to access IRS tax data.
Information about income and finances previously had to be inputted manually, which was a struggle for many families having to find the documents and ensure accuracy.
“There’s going to be this thing called a direct data exchange where they’re just going to provide their consent to the Department of Education to ping the IRS and get all of their tax information directly entered into the FAFSA,” said Jill Desjean, senior policy analyst for National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
The connection with the IRS will also allow the form to be shorter because fewer financial questions will need to be asked.
The Education Department said the questions will go from 108 to around 50, with some applicants having to complete as few as 18.
“I think that’s the really big win with the new FAFSA is there a direct data exchange with the IRS so that people don’t have to manually enter a bunch of data,” Desjean said.
More people qualify for Pell Grants The new adaptation will make it so more than 600,000 additional students will qualify for Pell Grants this year.
The increase in Pell Grant recipients is due to changes in the calculation for the award, making it so 1.5 million students could receive the full $7,395 grant.
“These bold changes will ultimately put affordable higher education within reach of more Americans, including 610,000 students from low-income families who will become eligible for Pell Grants for the very first time,” Cardona said.
Financial aid for students who receive money for college from family or a 529 college savings plan will also no longer decrease due to the gifts. Previously, if a student was given money through these means, they would not receive as much aid from the government.
However, the new form also takes away the discount families used to receive for having multiple children in college.
The forms are coming out late The new FAFSA forms will not be out until the end of December when they are typically released in October.
Additionally, all college students will have to refill out new FAFSA forms because the information could not be transferred from the old system.
7 Key Changes Coming to the 2024–25 FAFSA® Experience
The 2024–25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form will be available by Dec. 31, 2023—with some big changes for students and families. Read on to learn seven critical ways the experience is changing.
1 The 2024–25 FAFSA® form will launch in December 2023. That’s right—the FAFSA form will launch by Dec. 31, 2023. The federal deadline to submit the 2024–25 FAFSA form will be June 30, 2025. Some states and colleges have their own deadlines for financial aid, so check for updates at StudentAid.gov/fafsa-deadlines.
Before you complete the FAFSA form, make sure you know which form you’ll need to fill out. You must submit the right form(s) to apply for federal student aid.
2 Anyone who provides information on your FAFSA® form will be considered a contributor. “Contributor” is a new term on the 2024–25 FAFSA form. It refers to anyone (you, your spouse, your biological or adoptive parent, or your parent’s spouse) who’s asked to provide their information, consent and approval to have their federal tax information transferred automatically from the IRS into the FAFSA form (more on that later), and signature on your FAFSA form.
Note: Unless they’ve legally adopted you, your grandparents, foster parents, legal guardians, siblings, and aunts and uncles aren’t considered contributors—even if they helped provide for or raise you.
Being identified as a contributor on the FAFSA® form won’t make your family member responsible for paying for your education costs.
Wondering how you’ll know if you need to add contributors to your FAFSA form? Don’t worry—the online FAFSA form will tell you who needs to be a contributor based on your answers to certain questions.
You’ll also answer questions about your personal circumstances to determine whether you’re a dependent or independent student. If you’re considered a dependent student, your parent will be identified as a contributor. And if your parent is married (and not separated) but didn’t file taxes jointly, their spouse will also be a contributor. View the infographic below to see which parent will be a contributor when you fill out your FAFSA form.
If you’re considered an independent student on the FAFSA form, your spouse will be identified as a contributor only if you’re currently married (and not separated) but didn’t file taxes jointly.
Note: Even if you’re living with your parents, you may still be considered independent based on your answers to certain questions on the FAFSA form.
No matter whether you’re a dependent or independent student, your contributors must participate on your FAFSA form so we can determine your eligibility for federal student aid.
3 You must provide consent and approval to be eligible for federal student aid. Both you and your contributors must provide consent and approval to have the IRS transfer your federal tax information into the FAFSA form. Your contributors must provide consent and approval even if they don’t have a Social Security number (SSN), didn’t file a tax return, or filed a tax return outside the U.S. If you or your contributors don’t provide consent and approval, you won’t be eligible for federal student aid.
Watch What Does It Mean To Provide Consent and Approval on the 2024–25 FAFSA® Form? to learn more.
4 You won’t be able to access the FAFSA® form without a StudentAid.gov account. To start your online 2024–25 FAFSA form, you’ll need to log in to your StudentAid.gov account. If you don’t have one already, you and your contributors will each need to create your own StudentAid.gov accounts to access the online FAFSA form, provide consent and approval, sign, and submit the form.
Beginning with the 2024–25 FAFSA® form, each of your contributors (if you have any) will be able to create a StudentAid.gov account even if they don’t have an SSN.
As a student, you’ll be required to enter your SSN (unless you’re a citizen of the Freely Associated States) to create your StudentAid.gov account.
After you and your contributors have created your accounts, you can complete your sections of the FAFSA form on your own.
