By Bria Overs
Originally appeared in Word in Black
Over 1 million students applied for financial aid through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in the first week of its opening. However, this year was different. On December 30, the Department of Education released the updated and redesigned application.
“With the Better FAFSA now live 24/7, we are moving the federal financial aid application into the 21st century and, in the process, putting affordable higher education within the reach of 610,000 students from families with low incomes who will now be eligible for Pell Grants for the very first time,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement in January.
According to the Department, nearly 1.5 million more students will receive $7,395, the maximum award of the Federal Pell Grant, bringing the total to more than 5.2 million students. The new form should take around an hour to complete, and students and their families can skip “as many as 26 questions, depending on their individual circumstances.”
More questions are skippable because the Department previously acknowledged that not all students are “in touch with their parents” and “approximately 300,000 students are experiencing homelessness.” The new form allows users to securely and directly import tax information from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) instead of manually entering it.
“We have heard from students and families that the new FAFSA form is a better experience that’s easier to complete,” said Federal Student Aid Chief Richard Cordray in a statement.
Congress passed the Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education (FUTURE) Act in 2019 and the FAFSA Simplification Act in 2022, allowing changes to the form. According to the 2024-2025 Better FAFSA Better Future Roadmap, more features will come in the near future.
“Financial aid is a critical part of the college planning process, but many families are unaware of the necessary steps to take or don’t think they qualify for support when they actually do,” said Autumn Caviness, Director of Real Talk. Real Talk is a “career and college exploration initiative” for Black students and their families as part of BigFuture, a free online college planning guide.
A 2018 National Center for Education Statistics report found that 72% of Black undergraduate students received a Federal Pell Grant with an average annual amount of $4,900, more than any other racial group. Caviness said there has been a lot of interest from Black students and families in their offerings, specifically their event about FAFSA with financial aid experts from colleges and universities.
“We believe that all young people, especially our underrepresented students, deserve access to the necessary information that opens all doors,” she said.