(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The free application for federal student aid — widely known as a FAFSA form — is the key to unlocking federal financial aid for prospective college students. Come December 2023, families will have to fill out a revamped and simplified FAFSA form.
“This form has been updated, which will affect all students entering the 2024 – 2025 school year,” said Ed Gjertsen, the founder of the Engage Wealth Group in Chicago.
Gjertsen told the Noon Business Hour that the form was simplified so more families can fill it out. The aid formula is changing in order to benefit more people.
“Households with incomes below $60,000 — this new law basically expanded the pell grant program — so those households are going to benefit,” he said.
The simplified FAFSA form, though, will do away with some benefits, such as the aid formula that essentially served as a discount for siblings who attend college at the same time.
“Parents who have multiple kids or will have multiple kids in school really have to do some financial forecasting and planning because, ultimately, that benefit … of having multiple students in school at once is going away,” Gjertsen said.
Analysts have estimated that families leave billions of dollars in grants, loans, and other forms of financial aid on the table when they don't fill out the form.
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