The relaunch brings major changes such as fewer questions, the ability to list more colleges and availability in more languages. However, the update means students will get their financial aid offers later than usual.
NEW YORK (AP) — A new version of the federal student aid application known as the FAFSA is available for the 2024-2025 school year, but only on a limited basis as the U.S. Department of Education works on a redesign meant to make it easier to apply.
That means the
Here are the key changes:
— FSA IDs
Starting this year, everyone who needs to provide information for the FAFSA must create an FSA ID.
In previous years, only the student and one parent needed to have an FSA ID. For the 2024-2025 form, anyone who needs to provide information, such as the student’s spouse, biological or adoptive parent, or the parent’s spouse, must have an individual FSA ID.
To create an FSA ID, contributors need their Social Security number and email address.
— Student Aid Index
The new FAFSA will replace the Expected Family Contribution with a different formula called the Student Aid Index that will help determine the amount that each student can receive in financial aid.
Both formulas consider the income and assets of the student and their parents and include both taxed and untaxed income. But unlike the old formula, the new one won’t benefit families with multiple students in college. The new formula will allow students from families that are not required to file federal income taxes to automatically be considered for a high financial aid amount.
— IRS Data Retrieval Tool
The updated FAFSA will include fewer questions, which will make the application quicker to fill out. However, all contributors must give their consent for their IRS information to be directly imported into the FAFSA.
In previous years, it was optional to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. Now, if a contributor doesn’t consent to having their information imported, the student will not be eligible for financial aid.
— More languages available
The FAFSA will be available in the 11 most common languages. Previously it was only available in English and Spanish.
— More eligibility for Federal Pell Grants
In the 2024-2025 award year, more students will be eligible to receive a federal Pell Grant. According to the Education Department, an estimated 610,000 new students will be eligible for a grant. It will also allow 1.5 million more students to receive the maximum Pell Grant award, which will bring the number of students who are eligible for the maximum award to over 5.2 million. The maximum federal Pell Grant award available last year was $7,395.
While you wait to fill out the FAFSA, make sure that you create an FSA ID for yourself and all contributors.
When you create your FSA ID, it will take one to three days for your information to be confirmed. So, it’s important that every contributor creates their FSA ID before the student starts filling out the application.
Since the process has been delayed this year, students will begin to receive their offers later than usual. If a student fills out the application as soon as it’s available, their listed colleges won’t receive their information until potentially the end of January, Draeger said.
“There will be a bit of a gap and potentially delay so we ask for a little bit of patience,” Draeger said.
Draeger recommends that students regularly check their desire college’s website for new relevant deadlines.
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The post What to know about changes to this year’s FAFSA application for college students appeared first on TheGrio.
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