When will the new FAFSA open? Changing questions, rules will impact student aid.
A new, streamlined Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, form will launch this winter – with fewer questions, and potentially more opportunities for aid for low-income students.
But families will have to wait a bit longer for the changes to roll out.
The new form to receive aid for the 2024-25 school year will open in December 2023, two months later than the usual Oct. 1 launch date.
Alabama doesn’t have a statewide deadline to apply for student aid, but some state colleges are shifting priority applications and other deadlines to adjust to the one-time delay. That means it could also take a bit longer for students to receive student aid, officials say.
“This is moving everybody’s activity back,” Jim Purcell of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education said at a recent meeting, adding that the backlogs could be worse at selective colleges, which tend to have earlier admissions and scholarship deadlines.
The University of Alabama’s priority deadline is Jan. 15, about a month later than last year. Officials say they don’t expect the delayed launch to affect other deadlines, but have noted the change on their admissions timeline.
Other colleges, such as the University of North Alabama, are anticipating delays in distributing financial aid, but aim to get those packages out as early in 2024 as possible.
Why is the FAFSA important?
In Alabama, high school students must complete the form, or complete a waiver, to graduate. FAFSA completion is also required to get state aid in Alabama.
“Completing the FAFSA gives students access to the largest source of financial aid for education after high school,” said Chandra Heard of Alabama Possible, a group that’s working to get more Alabama students to apply for financial aid.
Last year, more than half, about 59%, of Alabama students completed the FAFSA – a nine percentage point jump from 2020. About a third of students had their forms waived, and just 8% did not complete their forms.
FAFSA completion is also linked to positive college outcomes, research has shown.
According to the National College Attainment Network, 92% of graduating high school seniors who complete their FAFSA enroll in college the same fall, compared to 51% of non-completers.
What is changing?
The new form, called the “Better FAFSA,” will be just 36 questions, instead of 108. It also will make it easier for families to import income data from their tax records, eliminating the need to self-report earnings and assets.
Officials also are changing how they determine how much aid a student can get.
The new calculation will place a greater emphasis on wealth instead of cash flow – meaning students who exceed the income threshold but don’t have a lot of property or other assets could now be eligible for more student aid.
Other factors, like how many family members are enrolled in college, will no longer be considered in a student’s financial aid calculation.
Incarcerated students and students who have been convicted of drug-related offenses will also be eligible again for financial aid.
But while the new form will likely cut down a lot of time for most students, students with big family assets, like farms or businesses, will now be expected to count those toward their net worth if their families make more than $60,000.
“Back in the old days, the family farm people usually got a pass. They had property but they didn’t have anything to sell,” Purcell said. “So this says they’d basically have to borrow against that for their own loans.”
Both students and parents also create a separate student aid account, which means it may take a little more time to get the form verified. Questions will now be based on the applicant’s role, so students and guardians will answer separate sets of questions.
If a students’ parents are divorced or separated, the parent who provided the most financial support in the last calendar year must complete the FAFSA.
What can I do in the meantime?
It’s still unclear when in December the form will launch. Prospective students should keep an eye out for updates at studentaid.gov.
In the meantime, applicants can go ahead and set up their Federal Student Aid ID, which will allow them to securely and confidentially access their FAFSA once it launches. The FSA ID also unlocks other opportunities for aid, as well as work-study possibilities.
It’s also never too early to look for local scholarships and get to work on your college applications.
Check out these toolkits from the Ed Lab for tips on how to find scholarships and ensure your application stands out.