The Department of Education announced that the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the 2024-25 academic year will not be available until this December, and that it has created a comprehensive roadmap for implementation of the new system between now and the end of the year.  In recent years, the FAFSA has been made available by October 1, giving institutions the time necessary to plan for and assist in recruiting low-income students.  

While the Department expects to return to the October 1 availability date for next year, this year’s delay was caused by the large number of changes to the student aid need analysis and application system borne out of the FAFSA Simplification Act of 2020, which restructured the federal need analysis system, and the 2019 FUTURE Act, which required more data sharing linkages between the IRS and the Department.  The enormity of the changes has already caused the Department to push its original target implementation date of July 1, 2023, back a year to July 1, 2024.  

The roadmap takes into consideration the technical needs for outside vendors, and provides financial aid administrator and counselor training, a Financial Aid Estimator and preview tools for families, students and institutions.  These tools will be critical in helping institutions and families have a better sense of what the new need analysis system’s impact will be on student eligibility for federal student aid.

In a related action, the Department published a draft FAFSA package for the 2024-25 award year in the March 23, Federal Register. Comments are open for 60 days and close on May 23.  Forms associated with the request for comment can be found on the related www.regulations.gov website.  Once the Department revises the form, it will have to publish a second draft for additional comment.