All About FAFSA: FAFSA Got Delayed, Is It Good or Bad for Me?
Here’s some big news about FAFSA, if you haven’t already heard.
According to the Federal Student Aid Office’s recent announcement, 2024-2025 FAFSA will be a whole new application, with major changes taking place. The details on what kind of changes will be taking place haven’t been released yet, but below is what we know for now.
The launch date of 2024-2025 FAFSA will be some time around December (said to be December 1st by the FSA), but this change only applies to 2024-2025 form and isn’t expected to be permanent for the following years.
Eligibility for federal student aid will be expanded, which might have been the reason for the updates on Federal Student Aid Estimator.
Application process will be more streamlined. Though the current FAFSA application process isn’t really bad, it looks like there will be improvements on making the process more smooth and quick.
Besides those changes to FAFSA, REPAYE Plan, name of previous student loan repayment plan, will be replaced with SAVE Plan (“The Saving on a Valuable Education”).
According to the FSA’s announcement, the new plan will offer borrowers “lower monthly payments and an end to interest growth.”
So, what does this all have to do with you?
Firstly, because CSS Profile, the College Scholarship Service Profile, has already opened, students will be able to focus on CSS Profile and finish it before FAFSA launches. With school work, extracurricular activities, college admissions, and financial aid applications coming at students all at once, this would be a nice break for many students.
However, the changes in the new form might be more confusing for many students as well. There’s plenty of guidelines and help available online, but when students come face to face with those questions, students might need better help than what’s available to them. Nonetheless, the FSA said the updates seek to make the process easier for students and their families, so we’ll have to wait and see.
Lastly, students received more time to prepare for filing the FAFSA, which also means they have less time to submit the form, unless the deadline for 2024-2025 gets extended as well. This is why, for this year, preparing the necessary documents and information has become more crucial because students will want to submit the FAFSA as soon as possible. If you need help on getting prepared, we’ve already got you covered with previous blog articles: the documents you’ll need, and how to create an FSA ID.
