FAFSA UPDATES

The FAFSA for 2023-2024 financial aid award year will become available on October 1st, 2022. The deadline for this financial aid award year is June 30th, 2024. It’s generally not recommended you wait that long to complete it, however. Many schools and states have much earlier deadlines for financial aid packages, and the longer you wait, the less likely you are to receive institutional grant aid from colleges. Find the FAFSA deadline 2022 by state at FAFSA® Application | Federal Student Aid.

Ready to File the FAFSA?

There are some significant changes coming to the FAFSA this October, and it’s important to understand how those impact you and your ability to get financial aid. To properly prepare for your application, you should also have a few documents and information on hand, including

• Your Social Security number or Alien Registration number if you are not a United States citizen
• Yours and/or your parents’ federal income tax returns, W-2s, and other income details
• Records of any untaxed income
• Your FSA ID
• Bank statements
• Records of investments

It’s important to complete your FAFSA to the best of your ability and be truthful – lying on this application or making errors can have serious consequences.

The FAFSA usually has some updates year to year, but the 2023-2024 financial aid award year will definitely see some major changes for applicants. Most of them are designed to make the FAFSA easier to complete. Remember to keep up on updates, too, if you fill out your application in later years!

If you would like to research the information you can do so yourself.  Please visit https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/announcements/fafsa-changes .

An individual may contact the Bureau for Private Post-secondary Education for review of a complaint.  The Bureau may be contacted at 2535 Capitol Oaks Drive, Suite 400 Sacramento, CA 95833, http://www.bppe.ca.gov, Telephone (916) 431-6924 Fax (916) 263-1897.

Computer Budget Increase

Computer budget increases are meant to allow a student to increase their financial aid budget in the event they have a need to purchase a new computer for the current academic year.  This increase will only be approved within the first 30 days of each semester.  Students will need to provide an itemized statement listing the planned computer equipment to be purchased, and/or a receipt that details the type and specifications of the computer already purchased.  The student must submit the budget increase request along with the supporting documentation to the Chief Information Officer for approval before submitting to Financial Aid.

In the event a computer budget increase is needed after the 30 days, in addition to the itemized statement and receipt, a written statement from your instructor must be submitted.  The Instructor letter must indicate that a new computer is necessary for the student to successfully complete the semester.   

In all cases, a copy of the actual receipt showing that the student purchased computer equipment is required to be submitted to the financial aid office. 

On December 29, 2022, the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, which included a $500 increase to the maximum Pell Grant. The maximum Pell Grant award for the 2023-2024 award year is $7,395, and the corresponding maximum Pell Grant eligible expected family contribution (EFC) is 6656.