(Updated 4/19/24)
Attention Pennsylvania Residents
Pennsylvania students will have an extra month to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the 2024-2025 academic year. On April 18, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) voted to push back the deadline to June 1. However, we still encourage students to submit their FAFSAs ASAP. Learn more about the extension.
In December 2020, Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act. This act will offer a major redesign of the processes and systems used to award federal financial aid. Due to the implementation of the FAFSA Simplification Act, the application will be delayed this year. Usually, the FAFSA is available to complete on Oct. 1; the 2024-2025 FAFSA became available on Dec. 31, 2023. This is only temporary. After the 2024-2025 aid year, the FAFSA will return to its usual availability. The U.S. Department of Education also recently released a new Federal Student Aid estimator based on the new Student Aid Index (SAI) which will also provide an estimate of Pell Grant eligibility under the new needs analysis system.
This page features a roundup of changes beginning with the 2024-2025 academic year, frequently asked questions, resources and timelines to assist you. Bookmark this page and studentaid.gov for updates.
National FAFSA Week of Action
The week of April 15 is national FAFSA Week of Action. Highlights include:
- A podcast from PHEAA’s Higher Education Access Corner, Spring Into Action: Are You Ready?, discusses factors to consider when picking the perfect school.
- Additional resources are available at PA FAFSA Go!, the National College Attainment Network's FAFSA Toolkit, PHEAA, and Federal Student Aid.