The form, which usually opens on Oct. 1, was delayed by almost three months due to changes made to the application. It was not available for students until Dec. 31.
How we got here
In 2022, U.S. Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act. The revamped application came with fewer questions, a new way of calculating how much aid students qualify for, and a direct exchange of data between the Internal Revenue Service and FAFSA, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
However, the delayed application process likely caused a decrease in the number of FAFSA applications, and this will have lasting effects on graduating seniors, said Bryan Ashton, managing director at Trellis Strategies, a research and consulting firm focused on postsecondary education.
“The abbreviated timeline, when you already are an under-resourced school, may have disproportionate harm on college-going rates that we might see in the fall,” Ashton said.By the numbers
As of the end of June, 54.5% of Texas' class of 2024 had completed a FAFSA form. There have been 215,722 FAFSA applications completed in Texas, an 11.6% drop from last year’s 243,932, according to the NCAN.
Despite the decrease in total applications completed nationwide and statewide, Texas is ranked sixth in overall applications completed. This is in part due to a state law, House Bill 3, which was passed by the Texas Legislature in 2019, requiring all graduating seniors to either complete a financial aid application or formally opt out of the process, Ashton said.
“States that had mandatory FAFSA laws were showing smaller drops in filing percentages than those that didn't have those laws,” Ashton said. “Having the law in place really was a mitigating factor for [application] completion, and that infrastructure was incredibly important.”
The law went into effect for high school seniors graduating during the 2021-22 school year after the State Board of Education adopted the changes.
After the law went into effect, nearly 65% of the class of 2022 in Texas filled out the FAFSA.
Also of note
The delayed roll out of the form in 2023 is likely to impact students from low-income families because affordability comes into question, said Carla Fletcher, a research consultant at Trellis Strategies.
“I think we are going to see some impacts on who is completing the FAFSA and then who is moving on to make decisions about their education because their financial aid packages have been delayed,” Fletcher said. “And so that can really impact their decision making. They might not know which school they can truly afford because they don't know what kind of aid they're getting.”
The revamped FAFSA also impacts students whose parents do not have a Social Security number, Ashton said.
“One community that we know that was really impacted and remains impacted is those [whose] parents ... do not have a Social Security number. And so, in Texas, we do have the [Texas Application for State Financial Aid] form, which helps with some of this, but that is a population that we know has been really adversely impacted by some of the changes in the programming.”
Eligible Texans who do not qualify for FAFSA can apply for the TASFA. In 2001, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 1528, which allowed students who are not U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents or eligible noncitizens, who are not eligible for federal aid, to apply for state aid at participating higher education institutions.
To help determine which application to submit, students can use this decision tool.
What’s next
While the 2024-25 financial aid application forms were delayed, the U.S. Department of Education has said next year’s FAFSA form is set to open on time on Oct. 1.
