Applying For Financial Aid When Will the FAFSA Be Available for the 2024-2025 Academic Year? Written by Robyn Stewarton November 16th, 2023 Prior to joining College Coach, I was a financial aid officer at the College of the Holy Cross and an education advisor at two TRIO program locations. I work with the Massachusetts Education Finance Authority (MEFA) to present paying for college workshops to hundreds of families across the state. I'm a graduate of UMass Amherst and have a master in counseling from Northeastern University. Learn More About Robyn fafsa, financial aid application, by Robyn Stewart, former financial aid officer at College of the Holy Cross On November 15, the Department of Education announced the highly anticipated and long-awaited guidance on when families may expect the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to be available for the 2024-2025 academic year. Some take-aways:Don’t expect the FAFSA until the very end of December. The press release states the form will be available by December 31, 2023.Once you submit the FAFSA, make sure you review your confirmation page which should include the following information: your estimated Student Aid Index (SAI), federal Pell Grant eligibility, next steps on the process, and what to expect.Financial aid offices may not get your data until the end of January 2024, so awards will likely be delayed even more than initially expected.Families will not be able to make corrections on the FAFSA until your initial data is processed and received by the schools.This new timeline gives colleges a very narrow window of time to package awards, review financial aid appeals, and deliver final offers to families prior to the May 1 deposit deadline.Here’s hoping the simplified form allows schools to work as swiftly as possible through this process, despite Department of Education delays, in order to allow families adequate time to consider offers and make informed college enrollment decisions. Continue to follow our blog and podcast for updates and additional information as it becomes available. Work with our college finance experts to help you determine the best way to pay for college. Find Out More Related Resources Read | Posted on March 8th, 2024 How to Ask for More Financial Aid Read | Posted on September 29th, 2023 What is FAFSA Simplification? Read | Posted on September 11th, 2023 Top 10 FAFSA Tips
