The good news for high school seniors planning to go to college next year is that the Free Application for Federal Student Aid was revamped to be shorter and easier to read. The bad news, however, is the 2024-2025 FAFSA will open in December, two months later than usual.

“It is going to be released in December 2023, but they have not released a specified date just yet,” said Whitney Stevens, director of financial aid for Meridian Community College. “This year there will be a delay; however, next year it is supposed to go back to Oct. 1.”

Each year, college students are required to file the FAFSA to get financial aid from the federal government, such as federal grants, work study and loans. Many colleges base their own aid on the federal form, and state aid allows a student’s FAFSA to be used as a residency document.

Historically, FAFSA is released each year on Oct. 1, and parents and students rush to complete the lengthy online form so they can apply for scholarships and grants. But Congress directed Federal Student Aid to create a simplified FAFSA in 2020, and it will be the first major redesign of the form in four decades.

According to emails sent out to those currently signed up at the U.S. Department of Education’s office of Federal Student Aid, the changes to FAFSA will create a more streamlined process for applying for federal student aid, expand eligibility to students and create a more user friendly experience.

But releasing the form in December right before colleges shut down for the Christmas break is creating a little pressure on college financial aid departments. Not to mention, the holiday is already busy and jam-packed for many families, so finding time to sit down and fill out the form may be challenging.

“Financial aid administrators all over the United States are literally saying the exact same thing — why December,” Stevens said. “Also, with schools closing for Christmas break, what do we do about those students who may need assistance from us in completing the form?”

Financial aid offices will have to complete student financial aid work in a compressed time frame in the spring, but Stevens said her department is prepared for the rollout.

“It will make spring a little different at financial aid offices everywhere than it has been traditionally in the past,” she said.

There are many scholarships and grants that encourage a completed FAFSA before they are awarded, but they may not require it to be completed in order to submit an application, she said.

Stevens suggested current students and prospective students go ahead and begin completing scholarship applications and any Mississippi student aid applications, especially the Mississippi Tuition Assistance Grant form. Then, they can complete the FAFSA when it opens in December.

“For some scholarship and grant awards, FAFSA may be required for the awarding, but to actually complete the application, you can go ahead and do those without having your FAFSA on file,” Stevens said. “You will just need to be sure to follow up and complete the FAFSA when it becomes available.”

Students who may have sat out the current semester this fall but are planning to enroll this coming spring should use the current year 2023-2024 FAFSA, which is currently available on the studentaid.gov website.

Stevens suggested parents and college students register their email with the website in order to receive updated email about when this year’s FAFSA becomes available. She also said anyone needing help in completing scholarship and financial aid forms can reach out to MCC’s Office of Financial Aid for assistance.