Starting next Fall (around October 2016) it will get easier to apply for student financial aid! Beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, students and families will be able to submit a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) starting October 2016, instead of having to wait until after January 2017.
“Under the current aid rules, students planning to attend college next September can’t file a FAFSA until January. They will probably apply later, since the FAFSA requires information from their family’s 2015 tax return, which is due in April. When the new rules go into effect next fall, students planning to attend college in September 2017 will be able to file the FAFSA as early as October 2016. They will do so using data from (already filed) 2015 tax returns. This means they have information about their federal aid eligibility as they consider where to apply to college. By filing the FAFSA earlier, they also maximize their chances of getting money from state aid programs that ration aid by giving grants only to those who apply early”(Dynarski, 2015). The change occurred by not having to use the prior year’s tax return information, instead using income from two years earlier.
*While the change is still a way off, if you have any questions or concerns regarding this or current FAFSA procedures, don’t hesitate to contact our Financial Aid Office in Building S, Room 107, or call them at 708-974-5726.
To read more about this, check out “Applying for Financial Aid Is About to Get Easier” from The New York Times, and “FAFSA Reform” from Inside Higher Ed. You can also check out the resources MVCC Library has by searching “Student aid” at our website.