Will the Early FAFSA Get the Worm?

W. Kent Barnds, executive vice president of Augustana College (IL), writes: Beginning this fall, prospective students will be able to submit the FAFSA as early as October 1 rather than the traditional date of January 1. The change has been called “Early FAFSA,” or in higher education circles “PPY,” which stands for “Prior-Prior-Year.” The reason it’s referred to as “prior-prior” is because students and families will be asked to use tax information from two years prior when filling out the FAFSA, rather than tax info from the year just prior.  But whatever it’s called, it’s one of the most significant changes to the college recruitment timeline that we’ve seen in a generation.