FAFSA CHANGES ARE HERE!
Updated March 20, 2024
FAFSA has changed big time for the 2024-25 academic year.
As of March 13, 2024, the 2024-2025 FAFSA is open and most issues have been fixed. This means that Federal Student Aid is still making a few updates to the FAFSA form. Check this page for updates as we learn more.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Parents or spouses who don’t have Social Security Numbers are now able to create an account and complete the FAFSA. There are still some issues to be aware of, whether you’re just starting your FAFSA or are already in progress. Click here for details.
As of March 18, FAFSAs are being processed and sent to your college(s). All FAFSAs submitted before March 18 should be processed by the end of March. If you submitted your FAFSA after March 18, you can expect processing to take 3-5 days.
Pay attention to emails from the U.S. Department of Education. They will tell you once your FAFSA Submission Summary is ready for you to review. They will also let you know once you can make corrections or changes to your FAFSA information, including adding any missing signatures or other information. Corrections should be available starting in early April.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the primary form that the federal government, states, and colleges use to award financial aid. You must submit it every year that you want to be considered for financial aid.
The FAFSA for the next school year typically becomes available on October 1, but for the upcoming 2024-25 school year, it opened with a soft launch on December 31, 2023. You should submit it as soon as you can once it’s available and no later than your college’s priority deadline for financial aid to be considered for the most possible aid. If you can’t find your college’s priority deadline, call your college’s financial aid office or visit their website. Some scholarships may have a deadline for completing your FAFSA, so plan ahead.
2024-25 FAFSA Information
If you’ve completed the FAFSA in the past and want to know more about what’s changing, watch this video to learn more.
Create a STUDENTAID.GOV ACCOUNT
This is also called your FSA ID. This username-password combination allows you to fill out and sign the FAFSA online and access information about your financial aid. If you’re a dependent student, your parent needs their own StudentAid.gov account as well, whether or not they have a Social Security Number. Take a picture of your username and password, write them down, and/or memorize them, since you’ll need it every year! Watch this video for more about this step.
Parent Accounts
Download this guide to help your parent (with or without a Social Security Number) create their StudentAid.gov account.
If a parent has a Social Security Number, they MUST use it to create their StudentAid.gov account. It’s ok if the SSN is for work authorization only or otherwise restricted.
If the parent doesn’t have an SSN and uses an ITIN to file taxes, they will select “I do not have a Social Security Number” when creating their StudentAid.gov account.
If the parent doesn’t have an SSN and uses an ITIN to file taxes, they will select “I do not have a Social Security Number” when creating their StudentAid.gov account.
- They will NOT use their ITIN to create their account.
- They WILL select “What if I don’t have a Social Security number?” and then check the box for “I do not have an SSN”.
IMPORTANT UPDATE as of 3/13/24: Parents and spouses without Social Security Numbers (SSNs) ARE ABLE to create accounts and complete the FAFSA now. Keep reading for more details.
Expand / Collapse Instructions
If your parent, stepparent, or spouse needs to create a StudentAid.gov account but doesn’t have a Social Security Number, they will follow these steps:
- They will provide a current mailing address (it doesn’t have to be in the U.S.);
- They may then be asked up to 4 questions to verify their identity. The questions will ask for information only they would know, like addresses where they lived at in the past;
- If they aren’t able to answer the identity verification questions, they should receive an automated email from the U.S. Department of Education. The email subject line will say: Se require la verificación de identidad / Identity Verification is Required.
- If they don’t receive the automated email, they will need to contact the Federal Student Aid (FSA) Help Desk via phone, Live Chat or email to request a MANVER Case Number and instructions for identity verification.
- Once they have the MANVER Case Number (from the automated email or from contacting FSA). They will need to submit a signed Attestation Form and copies of unexpired documents to verify their identity. Acceptable documents include:
- Driver’s License;
- State/City ID card;
- Foreign Passport;
- Municipal ID card + utility bill;
- Community ID card + utility bill;
- Consular ID card (matricula consular) + utility bill
Here are instructions from Federal Student Aid for completing the identity verification process:
If a parent or spouse received the automated email with their MANVER number, they should forward that email along with their completed Attestation Form and identity documentation to IDVerification@ed.gov.
After the Attestation Form & Identity Documents Are Submitted
Parents or spouses who submitted the Attestation Form and identity documents before March 8 should have received a follow-up email confirming that their account is now verified or that additional action is needed. Screenshots of a sample confirmation email are below for your reference.
If you submitted the Attestation Form and documents after March 8, you should expect a response within about 3 business days. If you haven’t received a follow-up email after that time, contact Federal Student Aid.
Tips on Completing the FAFSA for Parents or Spouses without Social Security Numbers
Be sure that everyone (student, parent(s), spouse) who is required to contribute information to the FAFSA has created their StudentAid.gov account before getting started.
Parents (or spouses) who don’t have SSNs will need to manually enter their income and tax information. They should enter their ITIN (if they have one) on the FAFSA.
Parents (or spouses) who don’t have SSNs may experience errors when trying to use the link from the email invitation to access the student’s FAFSA.
It’s very important to make sure that the Parent Information (including first name, last name, and address) entered by the student EXACTLY MATCHES the parent’s StudentAid.gov account. Even extra spaces can prevent a match.
What if the student already started their FAFSA and the parent without SSN is having problems accessing the student’s form?
The student should delete their FAFSA that is in “draft” or “in progress” status.
- The PARENT should start a new 2024-25 FAFSA for the student.
- The parent should send the invitation to the student to provide information, making sure that the student information entered by the parent exactly matches the student’s account.
- The parent will complete and sign the parent section.
- The student will accept the email invitation and log in to StudentAid.gov to provide their information, then sign and submit.
More details and instructions are available here.
What if a student whose parent doesn’t have an SSN already submitted a paper FAFSA?
If the student submitted the paper FAFSA to meet an earlier deadline for a college or scholarship, they should wait for the paper FAFSA to be processed to keep the original submission date.
Paper FAFSAs will be processed later in March after the backlog of online FAFSAs has been processed, but they will keep their original submission date (the date they were received by FSA).
If the student submitted a paper FAFSA but doesn’t need to keep the original submission date for a scholarship or college deadline, they should now complete the online FAFSA.
FSA highly recommends that all applicants apply via the online form whenever possible. Online forms submitted now will be processed BEFORE paper forms.
Gather the information you’ll need to complete the 2024-25 FAFSA form
- Your full legal name and Social Security Number (required for students) and, if applicable, your Permanent Resident Number, checking and savings account balances, and amount of wages earned in 2022
- All of the above information for your parent(s)/guardian(s), if applicable
- Parents are not required to have a Social Security Number to create an account and complete the FAFSA. Click here to learn more.
- 2022 Federal Tax Return (1040 and any Schedules) for both you and your parents, if applicable/filed; or other tax returns completed by you or your parents
- 2022 W-2 and other income statements for both you and your parents, if taxes were not filed
- 2022 untaxed income records (if applicable)
- Social Security benefits statement
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
- Veterans benefits records
- Disability benefits records
- Additional information (if applicable)
- Values of businesses or investment farms
- Net values of investment properties (not including your primary home)
- Net values of stocks, bonds, and other investments
- Child support paid or received
Watch this video to learn more about the information you’ll need to gather.
Can’t find this information or not sure where to look? Talk to your DSF College Advisor, high school counselor, DSF Campus Advisor, or your college’s financial aid office.
LOG INTO FAFSA.GOV USING YOUR STUDENTAID.GOV USERNAME AND PASSWORD (FSA ID) AND FILL OUT THE FAFSA FORM
NOTE: Make sure that your parent (or spouse) has created their StudentAid.gov account BEFORE you send the invitation to ask them to provide information on your FAFSA. This avoids issues with matching your parent’s (or spouse’s) account to your FAFSA form.
When the student enters their Parent (or Spouse) Information to invite their parent (or spouse) contributor(s) to the FAFSA, the information MUST EXACTLY MATCH the information used to create the parent or spouse’s StudentAid.gov account.
Whoever starts the FAFSA (student or parent) should fully complete their section and sign the FAFSA before the other person (parent or student) gets started, to avoid any issues with the form.
Watch this video for an overview of what to expect. You’ll know you’ve submitted once you get a confirmation email from Federal Student Aid. This video provides more details about how to fill out the FAFSA.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help from a DSF College Advisor, DSF Campus Advisor, counselor, your college’s financial aid office, or the Educational Opportunity Center, which offers FAFSA support to residents of the Denver metro area.
PROVIDE CONSENT & APPROVAL TO SHARE FEDERAL TAX INFORMATION
Students (and their spouse or parent(s), if applicable) must agree to allow the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to share their tax information with Federal Student Aid, even if they did not file taxes.
If a student, spouse, or parent is required to contribute information on the FAFSA but does not consent for their IRS information to be shared, the student will not be eligible to receive any federal student aid, such as the Pell grant. Watch this video to learn more about who is required to contribute information on the FAFSA.
You're off to a great start!
However, there are more steps you must complete before you can receive financial aid!
Watch these videos to learn about what happens after you submit your FAFSA, and use this worksheet or scroll down to learn about next steps after submitting your FAFSA.
Pay attention to emails from the U.S. Department of Education and from your college’s Financial Aid Office. The Department of Education will tell you once your FAFSA Submission Summary is ready for you to review. They will also let you know once you can make corrections or changes to your FAFSA information, including adding any missing signatures or other information. Corrections should be available starting in early April.
Next Steps After FAFSA
After submitting your FAFSA, there are important steps you must follow to receive your financial aid award. Don’t wait – taking care of these items right away is extremely important so that you receive your financial aid before classes start.
Set up your college email
Set up your student email account(s) at each college included on your FAFSA. Check your email frequently!
Your college may have a portal where you can see important messages from the college, check on the status of your financial aid, see a To Do List, and more. Check the Financial Aid tab to see if you need to provide any documents or forms to Financial Aid.
REVIEW YOUR FAFSA SUBMISSION SUMMARY
Once you submit your FAFSA, it will be processed and a FAFSA Submission Summary (previously called Student Aid Report (SAR)) will be created for you and each college you listed. Review your Submission Summary carefully to check for accuracy. Starting in late January 2024, you will receive instructions to view your Submission Summary in an email a few days after your FAFSA is submitted. If you complete the 2024-25 FAFSA before late January 2024, you will receive an email in late January when your Submission Summary is ready to review.
IF NEEDED, CHANGE OR CORRECT YOUR FAFSA
If your Submission Summary includes any inaccurate information, log back into your FAFSA account to make corrections. This includes adding colleges to receive your FAFSA information.
CHECK YOUR COLLEGE EMAIL FREQUENTLY
The Office of Financial Aid (OFA) at each college included on your FAFSA will review your information and determine if any additional documentation is required to verify the information on your FAFSA. This is sometimes called “verification.”
If additional information is needed, you must provide it before the OFA can determine your eligibility for need-based financial aid. If additional information is required, the OFA will notify you by email.
These are examples of items you MAY be required to submit for verification – Don’t send any of these things unless the financial aid office has asked you to!
- Proof of identity with either a Driver’s License or State issued ID
- Proof of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, formerly called food stamps, you or your parent(s) receive
- Proof of date of graduation, via a High School Transcript
- Proof of child support paid
- Proof of income and tax information
- Added directly to FAFSA using the IRS Direct Data Exchange; or
- Following instructions from your college if IRS information was not added directly to your FAFSA.
Follow Up Quickly
If the Financial Aid Office requests additional information, follow the instructions in the email or portal right away. Be sure to make copies of everything before you submit information to Financial Aid.
Have questions or not sure what they’re asking for? Ask for help! The Financial Aid Office is there to help you.
CALL OR VISIT THE OFFICE OF FINANCIAL AID
You should also call or visit the Financial Aid Office if needed – they are there to help. We strongly encourage you to contact Financial Aid by phone, email, or in person for help providing additional information and to make sure they receive the information you submit!
REVIEW AND ACCEPT AWARDS
Once Financial Aid has received and processed all of your information, review your notice of offered financial aid awards carefully and follow the instructions to accept your awards. Ask your DSF College Advisor or high school counselor to help you compare award letters from different colleges so you understand how much you will pay at each college.
If you accept student loans, you will need to complete entrance loan counseling and sign a Master Promissory Note.
