On Friday, December 15, the Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) posted an Electronic Announcement with details and timelines of the soft launch of the 2024-25 Better FAFSA (the new simplified FAFSA). Key points are listed below for both education professionals and students and families, and the FSA electronic announcement has the full details. Be on the lookout for more information on the Better FAFSA as more details become available.
Education Professionals
- It is advised to push back 2024-25 FAFSA completion events until later January to lessen the possibility of disruption of the website and form.
- Students and families will have ample time to complete the 2024-25 FAFSA and do not need to rush to fill out the form immediately when the soft launch period opens, as FSA will not transmit results to schools until later in January.
- Contributors (the student, parent, student’s spouse, or parent’s spouse), including those parents without a Social Security number (SSN), will be able to create a StudentAid.gov account to access and complete the online FAFSA form. Contributors who already have a verified account username and password will use their existing credentials to sign in and access the form.
- FSA will initiate planned pauses for site maintenance and to make updates as needed to create a better FAFSA experience for students and families. During these pauses, users who are already online will be able to complete their work, but other users may not be able to begin or resume work on the 2024-25 FAFSA form. Users who go on-line during a temporary pause should check back at a later time to complete the form.
- Applicants may experience the *new* waiting room feature to access the FAFSA, which could be turned on at any time- even during a FAFSA Day event.
- If a student completes their FAFSA form, but a contributor cannot access the site during a period when the site is unavailable, the contributor can return to complete their portion of the form as soon as the site becomes available again. Any data entered in the form is still in the system and is secure.
- If FSA initiates site maintenance while a student or contributor is completing an application, they will be able to continue until they have completed the form.
- After all sections of the online FAFSA are completed and submitted, the student will receive a confirmation email noting their submission date, their estimated Student Aid Index (SAI), and estimated Federal Pell Grant eligibility. However, the student will not receive a FAFSA Submission Summary until FSA processes the FAFSA, beginning in late January.
Students and Families
- Students and families will have ample time to complete the 2024-25 FAFSA and do not need to rush to fill out the form immediately when the soft launch period opens, as FSA will not transmit results to schools until later in January.
- Contributors (the student, parent, student’s spouse, or parent’s spouse), including those parents without a Social Security number (SSN), will be able to create a StudentAid.gov account to access and complete the online FAFSA form. Contributors who already have a verified account username and password will use their existing credentials to sign in and access the form.
- FSA will initiate planned pauses for site maintenance and to make updates as needed to create a better FAFSA experience for students and families. During these pauses, users who are already online will be able to complete their work, but other users may not be able to begin or resume work on the 2024-25 FAFSA form. Users who go on-line during a temporary pause should check back at a later time to complete the form.
- Applicants may experience the *new* waiting room feature to access the FAFSA, which could be turned on at any time- even during a FAFSA Day event.
- If a student completes their FAFSA form, but a contributor cannot access the site during a period when the site is unavailable, the contributor can return to complete their portion of the form as soon as the site becomes available again. Any data entered in the form is still in the system and is secure.
- If FSA initiates site maintenance while a student or contributor is completing an application, they will be able to continue until they have completed the form.
- After all sections of the online FAFSA are completed and submitted, the student will receive a confirmation email noting their submission date, their estimated Student Aid Index (SAI), and estimated Federal Pell Grant eligibility. However, the student will not receive a FAFSA Submission Summary until FSA processes the FAFSA, beginning in late January.
- The schools selected by students will receive their FAFSA eligibility information starting in late January. Students will receive an email informing them when that information has been sent to the schools.
- Students will receive an email when their FAFSA Submission Summary is available to review on StudentAid.gov.
- Students should begin to receive aid information from schools they have been accepted to several weeks after the school received their FAFSA information.