The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly known as the FAFSA, can be a time-consuming and tedious task for many students and families.
But once completed, the renewal process for subsequent years can be a much quicker process, as some information autopopulates in the form.
For the 2024-2025 FAFSA, however, significant changes were made to the form, which now opens by Dec. 31. Because of this, the renewal option isn’t available, so returning students will have to fill out the FAFSA as though it’s their first time, says Jill Desjean, senior policy analyst at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrator.
“They are just not able to carry forward that data,” she says. “So my understanding is that in future years, the renewal FAFSA will come back.”
How to File the FAFSA as a Returning Student
To file the FAFSA, returning applicants should follow the steps below.
Log Into FAFSA.gov Using Your FSA ID
If filing as a dependent, first-time applicants and other contributors — anyone required to provide information on the FAFSA form — need to create an FSA ID using a Social Security number, full name and date of birth.
[Read: FAFSA Deadlines You Should Know.]
However, for the 2024-2025 form, a contributor without a Social Security number can now create an account once the FAFSA opens in December. This ID is used for every year a student submits a FAFSA form.
To be considered independent, a student must meet at least one of numerous criteria, some of which are: at least 24 years of age by Jan. 1 of the school year for which you are applying for aid; working toward a master’s or doctorate degree; married; homeless or at risk of being homeless; a parent who provides more than half of the financial support; in foster care, an orphan, or ward or dependent of the court since turning the age of 13; a veteran or active-duty military member; or an emancipated minor.
If a returning student or parent does not remember their FSA ID, there’s an option to select either “forgot username” or “forgot password.” Additionally, instead of using a username, applicants can sign on with a verified mobile phone number or email address associated with the ID, or by correctly answering their pre-selected challenge questions.
“In the past, you didn’t have to have a verified email address to have an FSA ID, and now you need to,” Desjean says. “Most people probably did enter email addresses and had them verified. But if you didn’t in the past, then that’ll just be an extra step. You can still use your FSA ID, but when you go to enter it, the department will say, ‘You have to verify your email address before proceeding.’ But it doesn’t sound like it will delay the process at all.”
The FAFSA can be accessed on a computer, mobile phone or tablet.
Fill Out the Form’s Questions
Once logged in, students should select the application for the next academic year. Students and parents can then input their name, address, Social Security number — if applicable — and other demographic data that autopopulated in the past for renewals.
Beginning with the 2024-2025 form, every contributor must give consent to the IRS Direct Data Exchange, or DDX, the new name for the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. DDX automatically transfers tax information to the online application.
[READ: What’s New on the 2024-2025 FAFSA]
Up-to-date financial and tax information from the “prior prior year” is required. This means that applicants filling out the 2024-2025 form, for instance, will use the 2022 federal income tax return. DDX will populate income questions, Desjean says.
“It is better in that, that will shorten the FAFSA for them,” she says. “They won’t have to pull out their tax returns, look up different line items and manually enter or use what they used. … This is sort of a new and improved way to get data directly from the IRS without the student being an intermediary.”
Dependent filers report information from their own and their parents’ taxed and untaxed income records, bank statements and investment records, if applicable. Those filing independently report the same things as well as provide a spouse’s information, if married.
Sign and Submit the FAFSA
Before a FAFSA is considered complete, a signature is required by the student and any contributor. This can be done using the FSA ID.
Days or weeks after submission, applicants will receive a Student Aid Report, or SAR, that summarizes the information disclosed on the form. The report also includes the Student Aid Index, formerly known as the Expected Family Contribution, which determines a student’s estimated eligibility for federal Pell Grants and student loans.
The SAR also informs students if they were selected for verification by the Department of Education.
The 2024-2025 FAFSA “will be much simpler than previous versions of the FAFSA and involves changes to both the financial aid form and formula,” Angela Colatriano, chief marketing officer at College Ave Student Loans, wrote in an email. “These changes will bring many updates to the financial aid application, which will make it easier and quicker to apply for federal student aid. It will also reduce the likelihood that a student’s FAFSA is selected for verification, saving families time and hassle.”
[Read: What You Need to Know About College Tuition Costs.]
It typically takes up to five days after an online submission and between seven to 10 days for print forms to be processed by the Department of Education and forwarded to an applicant’s school. But due to the overhaul, processing delays are expected. For the earliest filers, schools likely won’t start receiving information until the end of January, according to the Education Department.
How Often Should the FAFSA Be Renewed?
Students should complete the FAFSA every year they want federal, state or even institutional financial aid.
“Make sure this is on your college to-do list every year. It’s a common misconception that families with high income won’t qualify for federal funds for college,” Colatriano wrote in an email. “The reality is that every family should fill out the FAFSA — regardless of their income. At a minimum, most students will qualify for unsubsidized student loans, which offer low fixed rates and unique benefits, such as income-based repayment plans and public service loan forgiveness, not typically available with private student loans.”
Students have until June 30, 2025 to submit the 2024-2025 FAFSA. State and institutional deadlines vary but are often well before the federal deadline.
Four-year colleges typically have deadlines earlier for first-year students than renewals, experts say.
“It would be a little bit of a different urgency (this aid year), if you were talking about new prospective students,” says Laurie Mackey, a financial aid adviser at the University of Richmond in Virginia. “But they are going to want to pay attention to the deadline of their specific institutions to make sure they don’t miss those.”
If a student or parent has questions about the FAFSA, the Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid Information Center, or FSAIC, provides support through phone, email or web chat. College financial aid offices also offer assistance.
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How to Renew the FAFSA originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 12/11/23: This story was previous published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
