The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, launched today for the academic year 2023–2024.
It is recommended that students and families fill out the form as soon as possible if they anticipate having to pay for college or graduate school the following year.
Between October 1, 2022, and June 30, 2024, students can enroll.
According to the Education Data Initiative, the cost of a four-year college has doubled since the turn of the century, with students now shelling out more than $50,000 annually for nonprofit private institutions.
The typical applicant overall earned $14,080 in 2019–20, and the average candidate from a nonprofit private college received $25,200, according to statistics from the National Center for Educational Statistics. Federal financial aid for college can make a significant difference.
Even if you don’t know where you’ll be attending college next year, there are several solid reasons to complete and submit the FAFSA form as soon as you can despite its lengthy enrollment period.
Discover all the justifications for submitting your FAFSA application as soon as possible by reading on.
For more information, read the whole explanation of FAFSA deadlines and financial aid, discover the benefits of 529 plans for grandparents, and discover the fundamentals of college savings for your kids.
What is FAFSA?
To assess their eligibility for financial aid for college or graduate school, students, their families, their school counselors, or paid preparers must complete the FAFSA government form.
Direct aid, grants, loans, and work-study monies are all forms of federal funding obtained through the FAFSA.
The FAFSA data is also used by states and institutions to determine their own grants and scholarships.
You must register for an account on the Federal Student Aid website in order to complete the FAFSA form.
A parent or legal representative must also create an account if you are a dependent student.
You will need your account credentials each year when you apply for financial aid. Write down your login information as well as a “save key” somewhere safe.
There are several sections on the FAFSA form itself, including sections for student information, financial information, and parent/guardian information.
According to the Education Department, the majority of individuals finish the form in under an hour, but CNET Managing Editor Cliff Colby, who has completed forms for two college students, disputes that assertion.
The simplest way to complete the FAFSA is online, but you can also download a PDF form to print, fill out, and mail.
It’s important to note that the PDF only allows for four schools to be listed, whereas the online form allows for ten.
Today, the FSA also made its 2023–24 PDF version available.
Who should apply for FAFSA?
Everyone who intends to enroll in college or graduate school the following year should submit an FAFSA application.
Federal student aid is available to all eligible students without regard to their income, and applying is free.
Because eligible students didn’t submit an FAFSA, the National College Attainment Network predicts that $3.75 billion in Pell Grants remained unclaimed in the 2020–21 academic year.
Even if you think that the income or wealth of your family will prevent you from receiving financial help, you should still fill out the FAFSA application.
Some colleges and universities will grant their own scholarships using the information from the FAFSA.
If you are not qualified for any other aid, you must submit the FAFSA in order to be eligible for federal student loans.
The College Scholarship Service Profile, or CSS Profile, is a requirement at more than 200 colleges, many of which are private but not all.
The CSS Profile deadline varies by school, but it begins on October 1st, the same day as the FAFSA.
Why should I complete the FAFSA form early?
The fact that federal student aid is restricted and occasionally awarded on a “first come, first served” basis is the main motivation for filing the FAFSA early.
Grants, work-study programs, and merit scholarships may run out of money.
You can lose out on funds that are available that you might have been eligible for earlier if you wait until the end of the enrollment session.
Your FAFSA application will be processed by the Federal Student Aid office in three to five days.
Applications submitted on paper take seven to ten days.
Your chosen colleges will then receive information from the FAFSA, and you will find out about your school’s financial aid award decision soon after receiving your acceptance letter.
The fact that federal student aid is restricted and occasionally awarded on a “first come, first served” basis is the main motivation for filing the FAFSA early.
Grants, work-study programs, and merit scholarships may run out of money.
You can lose out on funds that are available that you might have been eligible for earlier if you wait until the end of the enrollment session.
Your FAFSA application will be processed by the Federal Student Aid office in three to five days.
Applications submitted on paper take seven to ten days.
Your chosen colleges will then receive information from the FAFSA, and you will find out about your school’s financial aid award decision soon after receiving your acceptance letter.
Even if you’re unsure of your college preferences, you should submit your FAFSA as soon as possible.
When you first apply, you may name up to 10 colleges; however, you may later modify your application to add additional institutions.
You’ll have more time to appeal financial aid awards
Financial aid offers from schools are merely that—offers.
You can choose to accept all of the aid, only some of it, or you can petition the school for more funding.
Schools often make their best offers first, but if your family’s financial circumstances have altered due to a funeral or job loss, it may be worthwhile to update your FAFSA form and challenge a school’s decision.
If one school has given you significantly more financial help than another, you may also challenge the decision.
Each university has a unique procedure for contesting financial aid awards.
To learn more about the appeals procedure, send an email to the financial assistance office at the school.
States have their own deadlines
The federal deadline is often sooner than state deadlines for financial aid applications.
A complete list of state deadlines for 2022–2023 as well as 2023–2024 is available on the FSA website (which ends federally June 30, 2023).
Texas’ Jan. 13, 2023, deadline for “priority consideration” is the earliest state deadline given for 2023–24 on the FSA website.
The deadlines for other states are in February and March of 2023.
Fill out your FAFSA early and stop worrying about your state’s deadline.
Alaska, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont, and Washington are the other thirteen states that advise submitting an application as soon as possible after October 1, 2022 to be eligible for restricted monies.
Some financial aid does not run out
It’s crucial to remember that Pell Grant money never expires.
No matter when they apply, everyone who is eligible for a federal Pell Grant will receive the entire amount they are entitled to.
For student loans, the same holds true.
The FAFSA form must be filled out if you wish to borrow federal student loans (for which many students anticipate receiving $10,000 to $20,000 in debt forgiveness), but the timing of your application will have no bearing on your loan eligibility.
Collect the info you need for FAFSA ahead of time
It’s recommended to gather all the necessary documents before beginning to fill out the FAFSA because it requests a lot of personal and financial information.
What you’ll need is as follows:
Your Social Security number (or, if you’re not a US citizen, your Alien Registration number)
- filing of your federal income tax
- Your W-2 form and other documentation of your income
- each and every investment and bank statement
- Any evidence of unreported income
ID for Federal Student Aid (which you get when you create your online account)
You must also obtain all of that information for your parents or legal guardians if you are a dependent student.
The IRS Data Retrieval Tool may allow you to import your federal income tax data into the FAFSA.
Clicking “Link to IRS” on the online FAFSA application will take you to the tool.
Even if you don’t apply for FAFSA early, apply by the deadline
It would be appropriate to emphasize right now that FAFSA registration is open for the current academic year, 2022–2023, until June 30, 2023.
Do your FAFSA right now if you’re enrolled in college or graduate school this year.
The upcoming academic year, 2023–2024, should follow the same guidelines.
You have 21 months to finish your FAFSA form.
If you don’t finish it right away, make sure to finish it by June 30, 2024.
Find out how to make money from the car in your garage and how to apply for student loan forgiveness in our other money advice articles.
