Every year, college students must file a form “FAFSA” to receive financial aid from the federal government. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid form collects detailed financial information about income and assets from students and their parents as the first step toward receiving Federal grants, scholarships, and loans for higher education. Many states and colleges also base their aid on the federal form.

Beginning with the 2024-25 school year, borrowers must complete a new version of the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). The current version is considered confusing and makes applying for student aid challenging.

Some of the changes include a modification to the aid formula, which may have provided more aid to families with two or more children in college.
Other anticipated changes on the form include replacing the “expected family contribution,” which estimates what a family might have to pay or what they may qualify for. Overall, the form has fewer questions and should be simpler to complete with less information required.

The transfer of federal income tax forms from the Internal Revenue Service into the FAFSA application has been streamlined and will take fewer steps to complete.

The new form is now available.

For more details on the changes, read Professor Phillip Levine’s report on the upcoming changes here.

Here is an additional list of related resources.

Few our resource page for more student loan help.

Complete the FAFSA Form

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FAFSA Form Completion Deadlines