Sep 21, 2016 By Emily Bennett for The Yellow Jacket 3 min read

With changes to the 2017-18 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), students will be able to complete the application three months earlier than previous years.  Applications will now be available to all students on Oct. 1, 2016, though the deadline is still May 1. 

While these changes have an effect on current college students, the biggest impact will be on high school seniors. The Federal Government decided to bump up the FAFSA deadline to help high school students make more informed decisions for college.

Shari Payne, vice president of enrollment at Waynesburg University, is very supportive of these changes.

“This allows students to take their time to really see what the financial aid package is going to be and to consider that into their college decision process,” said Payne. 

High school seniors can complete their FAFSA in October before even being accepted into college. If they completed the form by the time they are accepted into college in November or December, they will receive an award letter informing them of the amount of money they will receive from the government. This gives families ample amount of time to figure out what school is financially best for their situation.  

“The hope is to put the financial aid process more in line with the admissions process, so that ideally students and families can make informed decisions,” said Matthew Stokan, director of Financial Aid at Waynesburg University.

In previous years when the FAFSA application opened Jan. 1, students could not fill out the application until they completed their federal tax returns.  This process would not allow students to complete their FAFSA’s until February or March.  

The Federal Government has introduced Prior-Prior to eliminate the wait. Prior-Prior is referring to a student’s tax returns, as students will use their federal tax returns from two years earlier. This means for students filling out the FAFSA for the 2017-18 school year, they will use their tax returns from 2015. This allows students to file their FAFSA in October, and universities will be able to award money earlier. 

“Our hope here is to start awarding students early December, maybe November but I think more like early December,” said Stokan. 

Some colleges and universities, such as Pennsylvania State University, are not going to take advantage of being able to award money months earlier.  Many colleges plan to start rewarding money to students only one month earlier than previous years. 

The Admissions and Financial Aid offices are encouraging students to take advantage of the early opening and complete the form before the year ends, so students do not forget about it or push it off until the last minute. Payne hopes students will take the initiative to complete it before the end of the year. 

“In some ways I think it will be easier, and in some ways, I wonder if folks who had always filed later in the cycle will still file a FAFSA later in the cycle,” said Payne.

Admissions is making sure incoming students are aware of the changes.  They are also adjusting their net price calculator because of the modifications. Payne says it will be a significant shift in her department and Stokan agreed.

“This is by far, and I’ve been doing this for twenty-five years now, is probably one of the biggest changes in the history of financial aid,” Stokan said.