Those filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid application – or FAFSA – will have a delayed start in filling it out this year.
The application, which usually opens up on Oct.1, has been delayed due to the new changes brought to the application and is currently projected to open up in December for the 2024-25 school year.
"The FASFA is being streamlined, with a direct data share between the IRS and FASFA. And this should result in fewer questions for families to answer when they are completing the FASFA," said Paul Negrete, the Executive Director for University Financial Aid services at Rice University.
The FAFSA Simplification Act was passed in 2022, and the new simplified version of the form will come with key changes to the student index calculation. FAFSA will still ask how many dependents are in college, however, that number will not be used to determine the amount of aid a student could receive, Negrete said.
Another key change is that the child support received from parents or by parents is going to now be considered an asset, he added.
Due to the direct exchange of information between the IRS and FASFA, parents will now provide consent for the transfer of the information exchange rather than sending the information themselves.
The new FASFA form will bring another change for students whose parents do not have a social security card. Historically, those without a social security card have not been able to sign the form electronically. The new form will allow the parents to create an FSA ID and sign online.
"A parent not having a social security number should not be a barrier to a student applying for need. So that’s another positive change that we’re seeing come out of this," Negrete said.
Negrete said there could be time constraints, depending on deadlines at their schools.
"There may be a shorter period of time when the FAFSA becomes available and when the student needs to apply for aid at that institution and so that could create some issues. I suspect there could be a higher probability for students, for applications to be incomplete initially," Negrete said.
To prepare for the delay, Negrete advises that students should check with their university's financial aid requirements. He also said parents should go ahead and sign up for FSA IDs just in case both of them need to provide consent.
"I think it’s a good idea that both parents go ahead and sign up for an FSA user ID so that they’ll be prepared in the event that they both need to provide consent on the FAFSA," Negrete said.