Recent modifications of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid—also known as FAFSA—took place at the end of last year with the soft launch of a new system and a revamped application that may cause delays for some students to receive aid. Members of NKU’s administration are urging students not to wait to fill out their FAFSA for the 2024-2025 school year.
In December of 2020, the U.S. Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act, which overhauled four major components of the application—replacing the Expected Family Contribution, new modifications methods to family definitions, expanding Federal Pell Grants and streamlining the FAFSA form.
Starting in the 2024-25 school year, FAFSA will be replacing the former Expected Family Contribution (EFC) with the Student Aid Index (SAI), which removes the number of family members also in college from the application.
Rather than going off of family size like in the past, FAFSA will now largely go off of students’/parents’ tax returns in determining the amount of aid awarded.
In addition to the new formulas, FAFSA is also expanding access to the Pell Grant, which provides assistance and aid to low-income students. The provision would allow increased aid based on a student’s family size and federal poverty level. The provision would also allow incarcerated individuals and students whose schools have closed or shut down to receive aid.
The provisions would also simplify questions on the application, lowering the amount of questions from 108 to 46.
Bonita Brown, NKU’s vice president and chief strategy officer, explained the importance of not waiting to fill out the FAFSA application given the new changes. Brown explained that students need to have two parents or two contributors send in financial information for the application.
“They’ve narrowed questions down to 46. Sounds simple, right? Not so much,” said Brown. “It’s simply less questions, but there are different requirements. Contributors have to have a federal ID number, which is just another step that could hang up a lot of students.”
Brown mentioned how the application—which opened in December of last year—has had some glitches with the recent application overhaul. Brown is encouraging students to go online and apply as soon as they can because of the new system, along with her desire for students to receive the money they need to be NKU students.
“It could be glitchy, the system could be there or the system could not and it could be sketchy, because again, it’s a new process. We encourage people to keep trying to get in and apply,” Brown said. “We desperately want our students to get this and we want them to be as early as possible.”
Students weigh in
Nearly half of NKU students rely on federal loans every year, according to the U.S. Department of Education, including senior nursing student Anna O’Connor, who has filled out her FAFSA every year and has been aware of what FAFSA is even before coming to college.
“My mom was the college prep coordinator at my high school, so I’ve heard about FAFSA before I was even ready to go off to college just due to the nature of my mom’s job,” O’Connor said. “I filled out the FAFSA for the first time in 2021, and I recently filled out my FAFSA this past weekend for my last year of school.”
O’Connor mentioned how filling out the FAFSA helps her to receive aid to cover costs in her family where she is the second oldest child of eight other siblings.
“I have eight siblings, so for me FAFSA is the way that I pay for college,” O’Connor said. “FAFSA was something that I had to provide with every outside scholarship application. It also enabled me to gain outside scholarships as well to help pay for college.”
Other students, like James Renton, a fourth-year music education major, emphasized FAFSA as a “lifeline” for pursuing higher education.
“FAFSA is my lifeline for my college career. If I don’t fill out the FAFSA, I won’t get my scholarship,” Renton said. “If you fill out the FAFSA, a lot of doors will open up for you in terms of scholarships that you may not have seen before.”
Where to receive help with your FAFSA/federal loans
Leah Stewart, assistant vice president of Enrollment Management, mentioned the many new and existing resources to help students apply and receive aid, such as visiting NKU’s financial aid website and visiting the Norse OneStop Center.
“There are resources from the Department of Education that students can go into to look at videos and see the process,” Stewart said. “The OneStop Center if they want to come in and complete that application, we’re here to assist. You’ll also see us tabling in the Student Union.”
*Editor’s note—NKU’s deadline for incoming freshmen to accept merit scholarship awards has been changed from May 1 to June 1.