Good Afternoon,
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education along with uAspire have partnered to provide FREE FAFSA support. uAspire is here to help you and your students navigate the FAFSA changes happening this year. We are reaching out to share a few updates and resources related to the Better FAFSA and timeline implications that will impact our students. We thought it was important to acknowledge all the changes and challenges, to share what we are learning, and to continue to work together in support and advocacy for students and families.
The environment we are in is changing daily and the lack of information and shifting timeline are frustrating for all of us. Thank you for supporting each other and supporting the uAspire team as we do what we can to support our students and communities. I am also including resources for students and counselors as we navigate the FAFSA changes that can also be found on our website: uAspire.org/DESE
For Students:
uAspire will present virtual webinars on the 2024 - 25 FAFSA process. We will also have a webinar targeting what steps students will need to take place after submitting their FAFSA. Please share and for students and families to register at our links below.
FAFSA Walkthrough
February 27th
5:30pm - 6:30pm ET
Next Steps After submitting FAFSA
April 2nd
4 - 5pm ET
For School Counselors and Staff:
Our counselor trainings will be targeting the next steps after students submit their FAFSA. We will also train counselors on students' financial aid offers. Take a look below for registration.
FAFSA Follow Up + Verification
February 15th, 2024
9:00-10:30am ET
Financial Aid Offer Review
March 6th, 2024
9:00-10:30am ET
Below are some updates and resources on the Better FAFSA:
FAFSA will not be processed until the “first half of March”:
On Tuesday, FSA announced some more changes to FAFSA application processing timelines to adjust for inflation, increasing access to about $1.8 billion more in potential financial aid.
Unfortunately, implementing the inflation adjustment now means it will delay FAFSA processing and extend the soft launch period further. While we have been expecting FAFSA applications to begin processing and colleges to begin receiving them at the end of January, none of that will happen until mid-March now, as shown on the FAFSA 2024-25 Roadmap. This also means that students will not have access to make any corrections (ex: add colleges, make any edits) to a FAFSA that has already been submitted until the “first half of March” according to Federal Student Aid.
The delays in FAFSA processing are going to be challenging for college financial aid offices who will have less time to generate financial aid offers for students. NASFAA membership organizations are pushing for an extension on the May 1st deadline. It may also be challenging for students who have already submitted the FAFSA but need to make some kind of correction.
In the meantime of these further delays, encourage students to be aware of their state and institutional financial aid deadlines. We will continue to watch out for more news, and share what we are hearing from the field.
Federal Student Aid Website glitches and technical challenges:
There continues to be some glitches and technical challenges with the Federal Student Aid website for both FSA ID’s and FAFSA completion. uAspire’s suggestion is to be aware of institutional deadlines if a student/parent runs into issues, communicate with colleges to ask what they recommend. We are starting to see colleges be more flexible with deadlines with the request to complete the FAFSA as soon as they can.
If a student is facing significant barriers (long call wait times, FSA ID wait times) or a parent is undocumented (and unable to create an FSA ID at this time) with upcoming college deadlines, uAspire recommends they complete a paper FAFSA to meet these deadlines. Paper FAFSAs should be completed and mailed to the P.O. Box address listed on the first page of the form, and students will receive a paper FAFSA Submission Summary once it is processed in late March.
Additional resources:
FAFSA Issue Alerts- we recommend bookmarking this page to learn more about reported issues, workarounds, and resolutions.
If time permits, have the student/parent File a complaint with FSA to help inform FSA and track issues that students are experiencing
uAspire will also be participating in an upcoming NCAN webinar on 2/14 on learnings so far about the Better FAFSA if you’d like to learn more.
One additional option for students to get support from uAspire are the upcoming Capital One Cafe FAFSA completion events. You can find out more here. We also have a variety of virtual webinars for students and parents that you can find here.
MA Tuition Equity Law and MASFA:
uAspire will be hosting an overview of the changes to MA policies that will ultimately unlock in-state tuition and MA state financial aid for thousands of students in MA who would otherwise be ineligible. This is exciting but with these changes also comes uncertainty and questions.
Here is a short slide deck that uAspire’s Knowledge team created to inform uAspire’s College Affordability Advisors about these policies. Feel free to review for your own personal learning but we ask that you do not share these with students and families. Also note that policies will continue to evolve and the info presented here is current as of (2/1/24). Reach out to uAspire if you have additional questions.
Register here for uAspire’s webinar on Tuesday, 2/27 at 8:30am on what we have learned so far, questions that have surfaced from partners and recommendation, with time for Q&A.
Thank you for your patience and partnership, and for supporting one another and students during this critical time. Please consider uAspire a resource for any questions or guidance and we will do our best to support.
All the best,
Leticia Reyes
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Leticia Reyes (She/her)
Project Director of Customized Support
uAspire
leticiar@uaspire.org | uaspire.org