Big changes are coming to FAFSA for the 2024-2025 school year.
Students have been filling out the form for decades to see how much money they qualify for from the federal government to help pay for college. But up until now, it's been a lengthy and sometimes complicated process. That has left billions of dollars of aid unclaimed over the years, according to the National College Attainment Network.
Back in 2020, Congress passed an act to simplify the process and those changes officially go into effect starting at the end of this month.
The Department of Education has cut down the number of questions you'll see from about 100 to 30, which means you could finish filling it out in about 10-15 minutes.
You'll also be able to link IRS information directly to the form, so you won't have to manually put in the numbers in from your W2.
How much you receive will be calculated differently, but the qualifications will allow more than 600,000 additional students to qualify for Pell Grants, according to the Department of Education.
"Everyone, regardless of your income situation, regardless of your family's income situation — sit down and fill the FAFSA out because, A, you never know exactly what you're going to get until you fill the form out, and, B, with these new changes, I think a lot more people are going to get aid then what they initially anticipated," said Jacob Channel, a senior economist and financial aid expert at LendingTree.
Applications open December 31. You have until the end of June to complete them. Forms are online at studentaid.gov.
