At the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application process will be streamlined to enable more families to receive financial student aid.
FAFSA has been in effect since 1992. It originated as the Financial Aid Form (FAF) as part of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965. The process consisted of applicants completing an application containing over 100 questions and providing a substantial amount of income history.
Most applicants found the process to be cumbersome and tedious.
Business Administration major Aleena Khoboyan is one of those who has had to endure the process of completing the application.
“It was a pain. It was awful,” Khoboyan said. “I hated doing that with my parents.”
The previous application process required the students’ parents to provide income tax documentation from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Psychology major Gohar Andreasyan disliked this aspect the most.
“You got to make time to sit down together with your parents and answer a list of questions,” Andreasyan said. “It’s pretty complicated.”
The number of questions on the application has been reduced from more than 100 to 36, and as little as 18 for some.
The revised process will also eliminate the burden of providing the tax forms. Students will now be able to link to the IRS for income verification.
FAFSA will now incorporate new ways to determine the amount of financial aid that is available to individual students.
In the past, eligibility was based on a program called the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) which considered family income, assets and benefits. The new process will rely on the Student Aid Index (SAI), a new formula to calculate the amount of financial aid a student receives.
Also beginning in 2024, FAFSA will be available to groups that had been previously excluded.
According to Forbes Advisor, “to be eligible for federal financial aid, students cannot be convicted of drug-related offenses, and male students must register with the Selective Service System. The FAFSA Simplification Act expands federal financial aid eligibility by repealing these requirements.”
The Pierce College Financial Aid office is expecting a substantial amount of interest in FAFSA this year.
Financial Aid Supervisor Magdalena Mejia is promoting the improved process.
“We are definitely going to see an increase of students and mostly parents coming up,” Mejia said. “Another increase we have already seen is that we are reaching out doing more outreach to our high schools versus other years.”
Mejia said “this month (December) alone we have about three or four high schools that we are going to visit.”
Students are becoming aware of the simplified process and are eager to learn more.
“We’ve had emails, phone calls, even visiting here in person, asking about when it’s going to come out,” Mejia said.
Applications for the 2024-2025 school year are available by Dec. 31 and due by June 30. Typically, the application window opens in October.
Each circumstance is different and students are encouraged to visit the FAFSA website or by logging into the Pierce website under Student Services. Students will find a virtual link or virtual services which are available Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 1 to 5 p.m..
Mejia also recommends interested students to visit the Welcome Center Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m to 4p.m..
Mejia will be anticipating a higher volume of visitors.
“We’ll be here ready for them,” Mejia said.