KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is now open, giving students in higher education and trade schools the chance to collect financial aid so they can pursue degrees, licenses and certificates for their careers.
Usually, the FAFSA form opens in October. In 2023, the form opened in December after the U.S. Department of Education saw delays in revamping the application. The revamps were meant to make the form faster for students to fill out, pulling information from the Internal Revenue Service and asking fewer questions about family support students may expect to receive.
"They would find that the site was closed, and so they could not access it, or they were put into what is called a 'waiting room,'" Jeff Gerkin, said the executive director of the University of Tennessee's Enrollment Management Operations and Financial Initiatives. "A more simplified FAFSA enables more students and greater access to the application."
The FAFSA is ubiquitous across financial aid programs and colleges. For most programs, students must fill it out to be eligible. Those programs include the Tennessee Promise last-dollar scholarship, and the financial aid available through UT.
"I would argue that FAFSA is the gateway," said Krissy DeAlejandro, President of TnAchieves. "Completing the FAFSA is the right step."
According to a release from the state, an average of around 350,000 Tennesseans complete the FAFSA every year. The changes cut some questions and eliminated the sibling discount. However, the U.S. Department of Education also estimated that an additional 610,000 students from low-income families will be eligible for federal Pell Grants this year.
Gerkin said UT expects to see around 28,000 of its students complete the FAFSA this year.
"For institutions, it is a slight change for us behind the scenes," said Gerkin.
The Tennessee Promise program said it extended its FAFSA deadline to May 15, to help accommodate for the delays in the form's release. UT's priority deadline to file is Feb. 15. The date changes per school and program, and applicants should check with their school and program to see when the FAFSA is due there.
"There are some slight delays in actually receiving the information back from the federal government, in terms of who has or has not completed the FAFSA," said DeAlejandro.