Advisory on the Newly Launched 2024-25 FAFSA

The long-awaited 2024-25 FAFSA is now available. The main application for college financial aid has gone through a significant overhaul this year, thanks to changes mandated in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, and as a result launched almost 3 months later than usual. While it's good news that the FAFSA is now open for millions of families to complete and submit to apply for college financial aid dollars, there are some items of note that families should be aware of as they begin the application process.

• Federal Student Aid (FSA) called the period of the FAFSA's initial availability a "soft launch" to let families know that it would be a period when FSA is closely monitoring the application and the experience of filers.
• While in this soft launch period, there were periods of downtime when the FAFSA was not available as FSA conducted maintenance on the system. As well, with so many millions of students needing to submit the application in the same time period, FSA used waiting rooms to limit the number of individuals working within the application at one time. That soft launch period has now ended.
• Anyone who submited the FAFSA during this soft launch period should be assured that FSA received the FAFSA data, and the FAFSA does not need to be re-submitted at a later date.
• Colleges, universities, and state agencies will not receive completed FAFSA data until early to mid-March, however it's still important to meet financial aid deadlines, even if the deadline is prior to March, as colleges will  be able to view the date that the FAFSA was completed. Students will receive an email once their FAFSA data has been sent to their schools.
• Almost every individual who needs to report information on the FAFSA (called a "contributor") will need an FSA ID to do so. The FSA ID is simply a username and password that allows access to Federal Student Aid systems. An individual can't set up an FSA ID and start the FAFSA in the same day, as it takes a few days for the FSA ID to be verified before it's ready for use. MEFA therefore advises families to prioritize setting up the FSA ID now.
• After submitting a FAFSA, students will receive a confirmation email with an estimated Student Aid Index (SAI) and estimated Pell Grant eligibility. Students will begin receiving emails in early to mid-March letting them know that their FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS) is on studentaid.gov and ready for review.

Anyone needing help with the FAFSA should be aware of several virtual events providing one-on-one expert assistance. FAFSA Day Massachusetts provides monthly virtual events where students and families can drop in to receive assistance from a financial aid professional. View the dates and times of those sessions here.

And finally, anyone with FAFSA questions is also welcome to contact MEFA anytime during this financial aid season at (800) 449-MEFA (6332) and collegeplanning@mefa.org.

Learn more about financial aid