New Changes in Financial Aid; And It’s GOOD News!
Rather than scrambling to complete your tax returns in January in order to file your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the feds just announced that they will accept the previous year’s tax returns.
You can also file in October, instead of January, which means that colleges receive the Student Aid Report (SAR) earlier during the college admissions process. The good news: you should get financial aid offers sooner!
In the past, parents had to wait until their 2015 tax returns were prepared before they could file their FAFSA. That could mean that they would have to wait until February to get their W2s from their employers and rush their CPAs to process their tax returns. Meanwhile, colleges couldn’t release financial aid packages to prospective students because they had to wait for the SARs to determine each student’s financial aid needs.
With this new plan, parents can file their FAFSA using their 2014 tax returns. Yup, the ones that were processed no later than April 15th of 2014. With no excuses like they’re waiting for their W2s or their accountants haven’t completed their returns, parents can easily file the FAFSA, and the SARs will go out to all of the colleges probably before applications are even due.
This new plan goes into effect for the 2017-2018 college year.