Updates to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA) website delayed the application process until March due to complications.
Kristyanna Kiner-Galish, the Assistant Director of Financial Aid at SHC, said, “The 2024-2025 FAFSA had a soft opening on December 31 and would be closed periodically for necessary updates. The U.S. Department of Education had originally planned to release FAFSA results to institutions by the end of January but due to a needed update, that was delayed again until mid-March.”
The necessary updates that caused the shutdown delayed students such as student Rycca Hinton from completing the FASFA form. Hinton said, “I have also had issues with the FASFA website, it keeps shutting down and my password does not work; therefore, I had to complete my FASFA late.”
“The FAFSA was updated due to the FUTURE Act and the FAFSA Simplification Act. These acts are in place to make it easier for students to apply for federal aid and to try and assist more students to be eligible for federal funding,” said Kiner-Galish.
The current FASFA application process is very similar to the previous one. The only major difference is that an email is now sent to the contributor with a login to complete their portion. The email also includes a link to determine who the students’ contributors will be. The new application requires two contributors unless the student lives in a household with one guardian.
The updates to the FASFA website and forms were introduced to help students, but the new update comes with jargon that is not very familiar.
Kiner-Galish said, “Contributor is any individual required to provide consent and approval for federal tax information along with their signatures for the FAFSA.” She also said, “Then another is the Student Aid Index (SAI) is replacing the expected family contribution (EFC), a formal evaluation of a student’s approximate financial resources to contribute towards their education for the year.”
If you need help identifying your contributors, watch this brief video on: Who Is a Contributor on the 2024–25 FAFSA® Form?.
