The Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) is a form that can be filed by both prospective and returning students. It is completed annually and determines a student’s eligibility for federal financial aid. Two major changes were made to the FAFSA this year: the filing date and federal income tax data input.
The Obama Administration executed the recent changes made to the FAFSA in an effort to allow the process to be more efficient and effective.
The earliest date students can file FAFSA has changed from Jan. 1 to Oct. 1. Additionally, students can fill out the form using the previous year’s income and tax information. These changes provide students with more time to file and add another layer of ease to the filing process. In years prior, students had to estimate their tax information and update it after taxes were filed. The process stretched over a lengthy period of time, and student estimates resulted in errors.
Director of Financial Aid Jane Kelsey explained that this year’s FAFSA would use the figures from the tax return that was filed this past April, even though it reflects the numbers from 2015. Essentially, returners will use the data retrieval tool. They will be asked to prove that they filled out the FAFSA last year, and their previously recorded information will be automatically entered into the form. Kelsey recommended that students know their Federal Student Aid user ID and password. She also said that students should double check the information they are using to authenticate themselves with the information from their tax return.
Kelsey did note that there were downsides to this process. “You’re filing the information that you entered in 2015, and now, it’s 2017, and your parents may have gotten a divorce or someone has lost their job. There’s a lot of changes that can happen over that period of time,” she said. “The way that you remedy that is you bring your information to the Financial Aid Director, and then, I might be able to make a professional judgement.”
Students that have questions regarding the FAFSA changes can contact the Office of Financial Aid by calling (217) 854-5511, or they can email Kelsey at jane.kelsey@blackburn.edu or Assistant to the Director of Financial Aid Karissa Seago at karissa.seago@blackburn.edu.