How to Renew the FAFSA
"The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly known as the FAFSA, can be a time-consuming and tedious task for many students and families," U.S. News & World Report writes.
... "For the 2024-2025 FAFSA, however, significant changes were made to the form, which now opens by Dec. 31. Because of this, the renewal option isn't available, so returning students will have to fill out the FAFSA as though it's their first time, says Jill Desjean, senior policy analyst at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrator."
"'They are just not able to carry forward that data,' she says. 'So my understanding is that in future years, the renewal FAFSA will come back.'"
"'In the past, you didn't have to have a verified email address to have an FSA ID, and now you need to,' Desjean says. 'Most people probably did enter email addresses and had them verified. But if you didn't in the past, then that'll just be an extra step. You can still use your FSA ID, but when you go to enter it, the department will say, 'You have to verify your email address before proceeding.' But it doesn't sound like it will delay the process at all.'"
"Up-to-date financial and tax information from the 'prior prior year' is required. This means that applicants filling out the 2024-2025 form, for instance, will use the 2022 federal income tax return. DDX will populate income questions, Desjean says."
"'It is better in that, that will shorten the FAFSA for them,' she says. 'They won't have to pull out their tax returns, look up different line items and manually enter or use what they used. ... This is sort of a new and improved way to get data directly from the IRS without the student being an intermediary.'"
NASFAA's "Notable Headlines" section highlights media coverage of financial aid to help members stay up to date with the latest news. Articles included under the notable headlines section are not written by NASFAA, but rather by external sources. Inclusion in Today's News does not imply endorsement of the material or guarantee the accuracy of information presented.
Publication Date: 12/11/2023
