New form expands eligibility, and streamlines process
With its first major overhaul in 40 years, the new “Better FAFSA” form has had some delays, but the University of Georgia’s Office of Student Financial Aid is encouraging patience as there is no rush, and the updated experience will be well worth the wait.
“While the delays can be frustrating, the end result will be wonderful for students and their families,” said Nancy Ferguson, director of Student Financial Aid at the University of Georgia. “There are now fewer questions, and it has a much better interface. Students who have completed the form have reported how good the experience was, and it did not take nearly as long to complete.”
Nancy Ferguson
Ferguson said there is still plenty of time for students to fill out their 2024-25 FAFSA form but suggests aiming to have it completed in early February. At this time, students should not be experiencing many delays, but if so, they should at least set up their FSA ID username and password on studentaid.gov, determine their dependency status, and gather their 2022 tax information.
UGA’s Office of Student Financial Aid is aiming to send out its financial aid offer letters this spring to newly admitted freshmen as soon as they are able. Financial aid offers for returning students will follow soon after that. The Office of Student Financial Aid is monitoring the current situation regarding the release of the new FAFSA and will make any adjustments with dates and deadlines if necessary.
For answers to frequently asked questions and more information pertaining to financial aid at UGA, visit the Office of Student Financial Aid’s website at https://osfa.uga.edu/.
An improved experience
Each year, colleges and career schools use the Free Application for Student Financial to determine how much financial aid students will be eligible to receive.
The Department of Education has redesigned the 2024-25 FAFSA form to streamline user experience. The FAFSA form now connects to the Internal Revenue Service to retrieve tax information and automatically fill out the form, and irrelevant questions will be automatically skipped as students and their families complete the form. According to the Department of Education, applicants may be able to skip up to 26 questions, which will drastically reduce time spent on the form.
The new form will also expand eligibility for financial aid, which, according to the Department of Education, will help an estimated 610,000 additional students receive Federal Pell Grants and about 1.5 million students receive the maximum Pell Grant award. The new form will also be much simpler for students with unique or special circumstances.
In years past, students and their families would be able to access FAFSA starting Oct. 1, but the redesigned 2024-25 FAFSA needed to be pushed back and had a soft launch on Dec. 30. During its soft launch, the form was unavailable for periods of time as the U.S. Department of Education made updates.
Although there were delays, on Jan. 8, the Department of Education announced that more than 1 million students and their families have already completed the 2024-25 FAFSA, and, going forward, the form will be live 24/7 other than regular routine maintenance.
“The fact that over a million students were able to complete the Better FAFSA during its brief soft launch period underscores our commitment to making applying for college financial aid simpler and easier than ever before,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cordona in a press release.
For more information about the new updates in the 2024-25 FAFSA, you can view a video from Federal Student Aid.