Federal Student Aid Revamped for 2024

Image sourced from FAFSA

The time has come to update your FAFSA information once again and this year you may notice some important changes, on top of the delay.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, has been updated for this year making changes to all facets of the application. With the new rollout, students can expect applying for aid to be made easier and many more may find new eligibility or higher funds available to them.

This new update was originally planned to be made ready and available in October of 2023, making the system ready to tackle the over 17 million students that FAFSA serves every year. Since the release of the delayed update at the beginning of January, one million students have already filed their applications.

At first, availability was spotty, but by now all students should easily be able to access the system. Administrators caution that financial aid offers may be delayed, however. The federal Education Depart says the relaunched FAFSA website will not only make the process of applying easier and quicker, it will more importantly increase the eligibility of low- and middle-income students. It has increased the availability of Pell Grants by offering 610,000 more grants, and it’s speculated that 1.5 million more students will receive the maximum grant amount this year.

Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, said, “Most students and families will be able to complete the process in less time and we’ll see more students quality for need-based aid.”

The Expected Family Contribution will be changed to the Student Aid Index and will allow for students from families that aren’t required to file income taxes to automatically be considered for higher aid amounts. Families of students do need to be aware that another significant change is the requirement that students must share email and social security numbers of individuals that affect such family contribution amounts – such as their biological or adoptive parents, a student’s spouse, or the student’s parent’s spouse.

After making the run through this year’s application myself, I can say the changes are apparent and have made for a more streamlined and enjoyable experience, for sure. I spent much less time attempting to decipher jargon and wonder which and what applied to me.

If anyone has an opinion or would like to share their experience with the relaunch, you are welcome to let us know!