New and shorter FAFSA is now open

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) - A new and shorter Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now open and ready for families to begin filling it out, but you have less time than in past years to complete the task.

The 2024/25 FAFSA must be completed by March 1, 2024, for students to be eligible for the Idaho Opportunity Scholarship. The Opportunity Scholarship is renewable for up to four years.

Known now as the Better FAFSA, the U.S. Department of Education delayed the opening date (FAFSA usually opens on Oct. 1) to implement the changes to the form. The Better FAFSA is two-thirds shorter, just 36 questions compared to 108 in the old form.

It is possible that students and families may experience delays when trying to access the form because the Federal Student Aid has instituted a “Soft Launch” of the Better FAFSA.

The link to the Better FAFSA form is https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa.

In addition to a shortened list of questions, Better FAFSA includes other featured highlights including:

• Students will be able to list up to 20 colleges on the application, up from 10 on the old FAFSA.
• Both students and parents will need to create an FSA ID to input information into Better FAFSA.
• Better FAFSA also includes new policies that will streamline assistance for students in foster care or who are homeless.