FAFSA opening day has been moved up!

The US Department of Education is changing when families can begin filling out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). "Traditionally", it has begin January 1 of the year the student begins fall semester. With the changes, that opening date is moved to October 1 (starting in 2017).

(see below for the full announcement.)

What does that mean?

Factually speaking, a student can fill out the FAFSA, and possibly get information on their financial aid eligibility for a college, almost 1 full year before they begin fall classes.

On the positive, financial aid packages can be created earlier, so that students can get a better idea of if they will receive financial aid at a particular school, or if they should apply for a different one (before those deadlines passes). Another possible positive may be that other financial aid forms , such as the CSS(which some private colleges require) may not be necessary. So possibly less paperwork, and less money (CSS charges a fee; FAFSA is always free, with it being the FREE Application for Federal Student Aid).

On the negative, financial aid deadlines will also be moved up, meaning things such as Illinois' MAP grant (worth up to $4700) will run out of money even sooner.

What you can/should do about it?

Plan to have a FAFSA completion service the first week of January. Whether it is on the actual holiday of New Year's, or the first Sunday, or during the week, the next round of financial aid won't begin until January 1, 2016.

Then immediately plan TWO big financial aid pushes for the following year. The first should occur near the first week of October 2016. Another alternative is to hold a FAFSA completion session on Columbus Day. Both Students and many parents should have that day off. Churches could hold their session on the holiday, or following their service on Sunday.


The second big push should continue to be either the first Sunday of the new Year, or starting in 2016, in December, when your returning college students are back as well.

See Do-Gooder's previous blog on planning a FAFSA completion session.

Here is the official announcement from the US Department of Education. They also have a PDF with FAQ's (Frquently Asked Questions) about this change.

Today, Monday, September 14, 2015, President Obama announced significant changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) process that will impact millions of students. We want to inform you—our partners in the college access, planning, and funding process—about these changes and provide you with tools and information you can use.  Changes for the 2017–18 FAFSA® (1)   (1) The 2016–17 FAFSA® will be the final FAFSA to launch on January 1.  Beginning with the 2017–18 application, the FAFSA will be available to students and families October 1 of the previous year. This means students who need to complete the 2017–18 FAFSA will be able to access and submit the form anytime from October 1, 2016, through June 30, 2018. (2)    (2)   (2) In addition to changing the launch date for the application cycle, beginning with the 2017–18 FAFSA, we also will change the requirements for reporting income information. Currently, FAFSA applicants are required to provide income information from the “prior year.”  For example, 2016–17 applicants must report 2015 income information.  Beginning with the 2017–18 FAFSA, applicants will be required to provide “prior-prior” year income information. This means that the 2017–18 FAFSA will collect 2015 income information.  The following table provides a summary of key dates as we transition to using the early FAFSA submission time frame and earlier tax information. When a Student Is Attending College (School Year) When a Student Can Submit a FAFSA Which Year’s Income Information Is Required July 1, 2015–June 30, 2016 January 1, 2015–June 30, 2016 2014 July 1, 2016–June 30, 2017 January 1, 2016–June 30, 2017 2015 July 1, 2017–June 30, 2018 October 1, 2016–June 30, 2018 2015 July 1, 2018–June 30, 2019 October 1, 2017–June 30, 2019 2016                                                                                                                                Resources for You and Your Students To assist you and your students in learning about these changes, the U.S. Department of Education and the White House have prepared several informational pieces (a fact sheet, FAQ, etc.). You can access some of them at FinancialAidToolkit.ed.gov/fafsa-changes now; and others will be added later today. We will update the Financial Aid Toolkit and StudentAid.gov sites as the 2017–18 FAFSA launch approaches. Keep an eye out in spring 2016 for further resources such as talking points, suggested tweets and Facebook posts, etc.   Please know the President’s remarks which will be streamed live from Des Moines beginning at 4:40 p.m. ET at whitehouse.gov/live. As always, we thank you for everything you do to advance equity in access to higher education for the nation’s students.

Federal Student Aid Outreach Team
830 First Street, NE
Washington D.C. 20202


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Do-Gooder Consulting is a consulting firm for churches, nonprofits, and small businesses. We provide coaching and teaching on issues relevant to the field, and aim to "help you help others." Please contact us at 872-222-8008 or blog@do-gooder.us to see how we can help you and possibly other partners get your students to college -- and then graduate.

FAFSA PIN number will be phased out into a NEW system

The Department of Education (Ed) is phasing out the P.I.N. (personal identification number) for the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), which is used to access your FAFSA information.

Ed is replacing it with username/password setup in April of 2015. This is a major change in how students will be able to access their FAFSA...almost as big as the changeover form the paper FAFSA to FAFSA on the Web. Ed has stated that they are switching systems in order to provide more security for users.

The PIN will be used exclusively from now until March. 2015. This phase-out of PIN to Username/password for FAFSA applies to new (1st time filing out FAFSA in 2015) AND current.returning students.  So students who are currently in college, and will renew their FAFSA next year, will do so in the same way as they have before.

Students who will be filling out the FAFSA for the first time (such as current high school seniors who will enter college in August or September of 2015) will also use the PIN login system, but have to change over to the system.

Current high school juniors and others who will fill out the FAFSA after August 2015 (in most cases, starting January 1, 2016) will not use the PIN system at all, but rather the new username/password system. 

This new login system will not only affect your FAFSA login, but also other information regarding federal student aid, such as the NLDS (National Student Loan Data System) system for Student Loans. Note that this will not affect access to information on private scholarships, or private loans, which are not run by the federal government. Loans through Sallie Mae, Discover and other organizations will have their own login information.

If you are NOT currently a student, but have used the PIN for using FAFSA on the Web in the past, it is also recommended that you create a username and password as well, as you may still need to access information, such as on student loans.

More details on this transition are expected by February 2015.

Other information from their recent announcement included a change on parental information - FAFSA will focus on parents relationship with children.  So  it doesn’t matter if parents are married or not, same sex couple or not; all of this information will be used for FAFSA.

For more information on these and other changes, visit the Department of Education website for National Training for Counselors and Mentors (NT4CM) at www.Financialaidtoolkit.ed.gov/nt4cm

NT4CM is a comprehensive training program that delivers up-to-date information regarding federal and state student aid programs, scholarship searches, and financial aid fraud. Participants also learn how to access free resources such as fact sheets, brochures, and PowerPoint presentations that can be used in outreach to students. After the training, participants will receive ongoing information and support.

Do-Gooder Consulting provides an affordable year-long consulting service that includes 3 seminars (The Financial Aid Process – for families; The College Going Process – for youth workers; FAFSA workshop – for families), as well as coordinating professional help to your soon-to-be college students with a FAFSA completion session (recommended during the 1st week of January).

Contact us at college@do-gooder.us or call us at 872-222-8008 for details on the free and paid services. We look forward to hearing from you. Find out more about us at www.do-gooder.us

2014-2015 Direct Student Loan rates announced

The Department of Education has officially released the borrowing rates for Federal Student Loans. The official announcement can be found at this link.

See our infographic below for details on the changes. (Please feel free to share it)

Please note, that there are several type of loans students can use for borrowing money for college. While it's always best to avoid loans whenever possible,  loans are necessary if they make the difference between you completing your degree, and you dropping out.

Of all the loans possible,  Federal Student Loans are best types of loans to get. They offer protections, repayment plans (if one is not able to make the standard payment), have a grace period and require entrance and exit counseling, so borrowers have an understanding of how student loans can affect their lives.
The above rates are for Federal loans. If the loans you are offered (for the school year starting August/September 2014) do not match the rates above, please re-consider or even turn down those loans. They may become hazardous to your financial health!

Other types of loans include the following:

• Institutional Loans - these are provided by the college, through their own resources. They are not necessarily the best loans, but depending on the college, might be helpful. They may also not have the protections Federal Student loans provide.
• Private Loans - These may come from banks or other sources. They do not have the protections and rules that Federal Student Loans have, and interest rates will vary.  Note that banks used to provide federal student loans, and parents paying back federal student loans may be paying them back to a bank. But ALL current student loans are issued through the United States Government's Department of Education (also known as dept. of Ed. or most simply "Ed")
• Payday Loans - People may be desperate if they find out they don't have money to pay for the semester. We suggest you avoid these at all costs. Interest rates are enormous, and the overall cost is general not worth it. Consider alternatives: deferred admission (where you can wait 1 year before actually going to the college), payment plans (where you can pay off your tuition in monthly installments)

We hope this helps as you or your student begins this tough-but-helpful process. Please leave a comment if you have a question about student loans, the FAFSA or the financial aid process.
JP Paulus of Do-Gooder Consulting works with churches and nonprofits, and even businesses to help them integrate college access training into their programs. We can do personal consulting as well as coaching for your staff.  More information is available at www.do-gooder.us or call us at 872-222-8008 or by e-mail at web@do-gooder.us for more information.