"Heads up, future and current college students: the new, free application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, arrived during holiday break, and there are a lot of changes," WWAY News reports.

..."Karen McCarthy, VP of Public Policy and Federal Relations for the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) added, 'The student will go in and say yes, you can pull any information on file at the IRS for me and then the parent will also go in and do the same.'

Second, applicants can now skip questions skip questions that aren’t relevant to them.

The way aid is calculated has also been revised.

It is expected to boost the number of lower-income students eligible for federal Pell grants, which do not need to be repaid.

But, the new calculations eliminate the ‘sibling discount,’ where students who had a sibling enrolled in college were eligible for more aid.

Colleges will begin to receive applicant data in late-January, setting a tight clock for institutions that typically send aid award letters in March.

'They will be scrambling to get those turned around so that students and families have adequate amount of time so that they can consider all of their options and make their enrollment decision,' McCarthy explained."

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: 1/2/2024