By Catherine Brown, Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy
Read time: Four minutes
Note: Since this article was originally published, FSA has announced that the Better FAFSA will open by December 31, 2023.
Today, Federal Student Aid (FSA) released a roadmap for the Better FAFSA, authorized by the FAFSA Simplification Act - a top National College Attainment Network (NCAN) policy priority for close to a decade. This roadmap describes the timeline for publishing key information about the new FAFSA form, process, and supplemental materials.
“The release of the Better FAFSA implementation roadmap brings us another step closer to realizing NCAN’s long-time policy goal to simplify the FAFSA,” said NCAN’s CEO Kim Cook. “While this one-time delayed release of the 2024-25 form will call on us to be flexible in a compressed timeframe for aid and admission applications and decisions, we understand the need to launch the significant changes ahead in a tested, secure way. We are confident that the resulting simplified FAFSA will reap benefits for many years to come,” said Cook. “We look forward to our continued work with the Office of Federal Student Aid and all of our coalition partners towards an implementation that supports our policy goal to remove affordability barriers and help all students access the aid for which they are eligible.”
The 2024-25 FAFSA form will be released by December 31, 2023. Although it could be released sooner, NCAN is advising our members to consider December 31 as the effective release date.
The process for obtaining an FSA ID for individuals without a Social Security number will be released by August and automated to the greatest extent possible. Applicants for FSA IDs will be able to verify their identity through the TransUnion Credit Bureau or through other electronic means.
The Pell Grant Look-Up Tableswill be released by May 2023. These tables show the eligibility thresholds for minimum and maximum Pell Grants by household size and adjusted gross income. This early awareness tool will help students and families to understand the federal grant aid that may be available to them long before they are able to complete the FAFSA and receive their Student Aid Report.
The Better FAFSA preview will be available by July. This tool will allow counselors and students to see the process for applying for federal student aid in advance. It will be accompanied by training materials, including screen shots, to help college access and success counselors prepare to support students through the new process.
The FAFSA Estimator will be released in early fall. The FAFSA Estimator will allow students to determine their eligibility for federal student aid so they can better understand their options for paying for college. The FAFSA Estimator will provide a more thorough and accurate estimate of a student’s federal student aid than the Pell Look-up Tables.
The FAFSA Demo will be available shortly before the form’s official release date in December. The Demo will allow applicants to walk through the entire process just prior to the form’s release.
FSA also announced that it will launch a communications plan in July, explaining what applicants should anticipate when completing the new form and what to do to get ready. This plan will contain targeted outreach to students and families with tutorial videos on how to get an FSA ID, what to expect with the new form, what has changed, the impact of the delayed release date, and all other aspects of the transition.
The Better FAFSA technical specifications, including a sample Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) layout, will be available for testing by July 2023. The final ISIR will become available once the new FAFSA form is through the federal clearance process. These specifications will enable states, institutions, and vendors to align state and institutional financial aid systems with the new Student Aid Index. Our recent coalition letter asked that technical specifications be made available at least six months prior to the release of the form.
FSA also announced that it will produce 10 training sessions for financial aid administrators (FAA) that will be recorded and available for FAAs after the fact as well as a financial aid toolkit with one page fact sheets for additional audiences.
The roadmap also includes an outline of resources that will be made available to state agencies, institutions, counselors, students, and families. It will live on the Federal Student Aid Knowledge Center portal and be updated as more materials as released.
NCAN and partners last week sent a letter to US Department of Education officials asking for the Department to confirm a release date by May 1, 2023, and release training materials, technical specifications, and more on a specific timeline. Today’s announcement is responsive to all our requests and makes clear that the Department is listening to NCAN and our partners.
NCAN will continue to keep our members updated and seek their input on the Better FAFSA rollout to help ensure a release that is as secure and smooth as possible given the delay. The Better FAFSA form will be posted to the Federal Register next week and we will circulate it to our membership and ask for their feedback and input as soon as it does. Throughout the coming months, NCAN will be offering plenty of training and awareness resources. This is a great time to join NCAN and get the benefits of our free and discounted resources, such as a Better FAFSA training in Dallas, TX on October 18, which is open to all NCAN members. Please see this article for more information about the suite of awareness, training, and resources that NCAN will provide to support students of color and students from low-income backgrounds complete the new Better FAFSA.
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