By Jack Wallace, Director of Governmental Relations at Yrefy
The FAFSA has already been a mess with a delayed open date, confusion on new questions and topics, and now colleges won’t even begin receiving FAFSA information until March (a month later than usual) leaving students and parents frantic to try and decide on a financially smart college that meets their needs in a short amount of time.
Instead of students struggling to decide their financial and educational futures, here are a few tips for students and parents on how to fill out the FAFSA, and what they need to know about the new form:
What the FAFSA is
What the heck is a FAFSA? FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. It is the gateway to accessing billions of financial aid in the form of scholarships, Pell grants, work-study funding, and student loans available each year. For the 2022-23 academic year over $240 billion in financial aid was awarded to those that filed a FAFSA, an average award of $15,480 per fulltime equivalent (FTE) student.
What’s new on the form
- Fewer questions mean the form takes less time and is less complicated
Traditionally, the FAFSA consists of 108 questions, but the new form will reduce those down to 46 questions. In some cases, students may only be required to complete 18 questions, which would take the average person around 10 minutes to answer. This not only makes the form less intimidating, but also less time consuming.
- More language options are available
In the past the FAFSA form has only been available in English and Spanish. The new form will be available in the 11 most common languages spoken in the United States.
- No more benefits for parents with more than one child in college; must report the income of the parent who provides the most financial support
Historically, parents with multiple children in college would get a break and get a benefit of more money for having more than one student in college at the same time. Now, the Expected Family Contribution is changing, and will be known as the Student Aid Index. Families will no longer receive the historical benefit. Also, in the past, parents could file the form using the income of the lower earning income in the hopes of getting more financial aid. The new form requires the parent providing the most financial support to fill out the form with their financial information.
Tips for filling it out
- Fill out the FAFSA as early as possible.
The financial aid received through FAFSA are awarded on a first-come first-serve basis and impacts funds disbursed at both the Federal and State levels. Everyone (parent and child) filing out the FAFSA form needs an FSA ID from the Department. Go to www.studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch and set up an account if you don’t already have one. Don’t wait! Set up your account today before you miss out on free money.
- Give Your Consent to Use the IRS Tax Data Retrieval Tool
This can help save you time and avoid filing errors. It is going to be your best option when it comes to inputting tax return information on your FAFSA form.
- Ask questions
Unsure of the information you’re putting on the form? Contact the Federal Student Aid (FSA) Center to answer your questions about the FAFSA process. You can also contact the financial aid office at the college you are planning to attend. It is better to ask questions than to guess on such an important document, so be sure to take the time to write down all your questions and ask a financial aid expert.
While filling out the FAFSA may sound intimidating, the aid awarded can make it worthwhile. Don’t ever be afraid to ask for help. Start the process sooner rather than later by setting up your account and getting familiar with the process. And please, don’t just assume you won’t get it or aren’t eligible. You won’t know until you try.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
