FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) recently opened for the 2025-2026 school year, with it, providing a much more streamlined straightforward

process for applying for aid, potentially providing thousands of dollars in aid for students that may need that boost going into their freshman year of college.

College and Careers counselor Michelle Gerringer is pleased to inform students that the new FAFSA changes are more user friendly for students and parents.

“The FAFSA Simplification Act was a new law passed for last year’s FAFSA. The new form is more streamlined, takes less time, and attempts to make more families eligible for financial assistance,” Gerringer said.

The novel changes to the FAFSA may also see an increase in aid for some families.

“The new form does take into account how many people live in the household,” Gerringer said. “So, families with several dependents may now be eligible for more financial aid.” 

It seems however, that not all changes are for the better though.

“Previously, for divorced families, the parent that the child lived with the majority of the time was the one whose income/assets were included on the FAFSA,” Gerringer said. “Now, the form requires the parent that provides the most financial support to be the one whose income/assets are considered. So, it’s possible that a student living with a parent who makes less money would get less financial aid by having to report the income of the other parent.”

This new change is unfortunately one that may lead to students in divorced households receiving less aid than they need, showing the complexity of the FAFSA, and some of its potential pitfalls.

With all the benefits and drawbacks of the newly repackaged FAFSA, it seems like the process of filling out the form itself has been streamlined to be a much more convenient process for students as a whole. 

 Zachary Jose (12) details his personal experience with filling out the FAFSA.

“It’s mostly pretty easy stuff, just stuff to identify yourself like name, date of birth and residence,” Jose said.

This is seemingly a departure from the FAFSA forms of years past, which would often contain many questions that may require hours of filing through various pieces of paperwork just to find your own information. With the newly improved FAFSA, however, most information you have to fill out is information you will likely know off the top of your head, with more obscure information being found by the government after submitting your form. 

Even with the new and improved FAFSA form, one thing has and always will remain the same about the form, and that is to fill it out as soon as possible. Some of the aid you may receive from the FAFSA is first come, first serve, and so filling it out quickly may aid you in your quest to going to your dream college.

If you need any help at all filling out the form, there will be an event at the auditorium on Dec. 11, from 6-7  p.m. where you and your family can get assistance  for filling out your FAFSA.