Typically, October 1st is the first day you can complete the FAFSA each fall, for your student who will be in college the following August. In 2023, because of the transition from the Expected Family Contribution to the Student Aid Index, and the changes to the FAFSA form, the government wasn’t ready to roll out the changes that were signed into law in December 2020 (and supposed to have gone into effect for the fall 2022 FAFSA cycle, but that didn’t happen). As a result, the federal government delayed the 2023 FAFSA form availability to December 1, 2023.

Who is impacted?

Anyone filling out the FAFSA for the 2024-2025 school year.

What’s changing?

There are two major changes with the FAFSA this fall.

First, there are a bunch of changes to the questions being asked. Generally, less questions will be asked, especially for those with low income.

And second, the Expected Family Contribution calculation will be replaced by the Student Aid Index calculation.

There are several additional smaller changes, including expanded eligibility.

When can I access the FAFSA?

Normally, starting October 1st. For 2023 only, starting December 1st.

Where can I find the FAFSA?

The form can be found on the federal government’s website, https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa .

Why is this happening?

The revisions to the FAFSA intake questions have the stated goal of simplifying and reducing the administrative burden on families. Many families, especially low income families, were not completing the FAFSA and therefore were not eligible for federal student loans. This was a scenario the government wanted to change.

At the same time, the government also needed to raise additional income, by making colleges more expensive and therefore families would take out more in loans. Thus the move from the Expected Family Contribution, with its key feature of the total a family could potentially expect to contribute being divided among the number of simultaneous college students; to the Student Aid Index, where the number of students in college (and therefore the total family size of the current college expenses) is disregarded.

As a ballpark estimate, if you would have had two college students for whom you expected to pay $20k each ($40k as a family) in the year, expect that under the new formula each college student will have to pay $40k for a family bill of $80k in the year.

What happens in fall 2024?

The plan for fall 2024 is to go back to an October 1st opening of the FAFSA form, since there won’t be additional revisions to make. All of the hard work will have been done.

Where can I learn more?

Make sure to check out my other college related articles.