The Federal Student Aid Application’s (FAFSA) opening date has been moved to December.
There is currently no day specified for its release, but the new version of the application will feature a variety of new improvements, according to a campuswide email by the Financial Aid and Scholarships team.
Originally enacted in 2021, the FAFSA Simplification Act was designed to make the financial aid application simpler for families to fill out. Under the new law, the application will receive significant changes when it comes to how federal student aid eligibility is determined.
What’s changing about FAFSA?
This newer version of the financial aid application will have significantly fewer questions. According to the announcement, the application will be reduced from 108 questions to 36.
The updated questions will include any financial information from students, as well as make it easier to import their tax information on the forms.
One of the biggest changes is the date of release, which has been pushed back from Oct. 1, which will also move the future priority deadline.
Sierra Lewis, the associate director of the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships at Fresno State, said that California’s priority filing deadline is usually March 2, but because of the delay in opening the applications, the priority deadline has been pushed to April 2.
Some key features of FAFSA are being reworked, with the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) system becoming the Student Aid Index (SAI).
The SAI will no longer be affected by the number of children a family has enrolled in a college or university. This change will have the biggest impact on middle and high-income households who have two or more children attending college at the same time.
When it comes to which parent should be filling out the FAFSA for dependent students, it will be changed to whichever parent provides the most financial support.
According to the IRS, dependents will include children who live with a parent for more than half of the year who cannot provide more than half of their financial support.
If they tick those boxes, they must also be under the age of 19. However, this age limit changes to 24 if the student is enrolled full-time.
“If what is being said [about the FAFSA] is true… it would benefit a lot of students that are in the same boat as me. Takes out the standard of being an only child but being independent means you can get help from your parents,” said Ricky Oaks, a Media, Communications and Journalism student at Fresno State.
Changes to the Federal Pell Grant Eligibility
The FAFSA Simplification Act will not only affect the financial aid application process. It will also change the determination process of who will be considered eligible for the Pell Grant.
Starting with the 2024-25 award year, more students will be able to receive these grants. Pell Grant eligibility will be linked to family size, adjusted gross income and the federal poverty guidelines.
This means that students who usually don’t receive Pell Grants could still receive funds if their SAI is less than the maximum Pell Grant.
As for students who may have a higher SAI, they could receive the minimum grant award based on their adjusted gross income, family size and the poverty level.
Will FAFSA changes affect aid distributions?
“Because the FAFSA is changing so significantly, this is requiring internal changes to system setup and processing, which can also delay students receiving their award offers…” Lewis told The Collegian. “[However,] this should not impact when financial aid will begin disbursing for the Fall 2024 semester.”
Students interested in getting more information about the new FAFSA can go to Fresno State’s financial aid website or Instagram and can also attend future workshops designed to help students and their families navigate these changes.
Lewis anticipates these workshops will start in January.
“I would encourage students to follow us on social media, we will be posting more information as it becomes available… If students still have questions or concerns about the 2024-25 FAFSA, we welcome them to give us a call or come by the office so we can help,” Lewis said.