The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) should be easier for college students to complete this year after the rollout of an updated form in 2024 was plagued by delays, technical glitches and processing issues.

Completing the FAFSA is a required step in securing financial aid for college and the U.S. Department of Education worked to address the problems with the 2024 form to improve the process when the filing period opened Dec. 1.

Applications are due May 1, and students completing the form for the first time can get help through various sources to maximize their chances of receiving financial aid for college expenses.

The Department of Education said it is not expecting the same issues it experienced during its initial rollout, giving Slippery Rock University’s financial aid director Alyssa Dobson reason to be cautiously optimistic.

“So far, families giving feedback have said it’s been much easier than last time, and they aren’t seeing the same errors for form completion they saw last year,” Dobson said. “And we’re getting stuff back from the education department that also seems to be error-free.”

Dobson and Juli Louttit, Butler County Community College’s financial aid director, recommend completing the FAFSA as quickly as possible so students get all the financial aid they’re eligible for. SRU and BC3 provide workshops for parents and students who need assistance with the form, regardless of whether they’re new to the process.

Dobson said the best advice she can offer students about the FAFSA is to make sure the information they provide matches the details on their college applications. Mistakes in entering the correct Social Security number are common and can throw off the entire application process, she said.

However, before students apply for a FAFSA identification, consisting of a username and password, they must first log in to the education department’s online system. To create an ID, an applicant needs to provide their Social Security number, full legal name, date of birth, email address and mobile phone number.

The ID serves as your legal signature for federal student aid purposes. Students applying for federal financial aid and parents of dependent students listed on the FAFSA must apply for an ID. Students who are married also will need one for their spouse if they file taxes jointly.

Every person who creates an ID needs to have a separate email and phone number. If you share numbers or emails, FAFSA won’t create a new ID because the system will detect that a number or email is already in the system, according to Dobson.

“Make sure you verify your email when FAFSA sends you that option because it’ll help you if you forget your information and need to retrieve it,” she said.

Dobson said it takes about three days from the time an ID is requested to be approved.

“It goes through the IRS for approval,” she said. “To prevent any delays, make sure your Social Security number is correct on the form.”

She advised requesting the ID well in advance of needing to complete the FAFSA form to provide ample time for any issues obtaining an ID.

Another common issue for first-time filers is not including parent financial information, Louttit said. Students up to 24 years old must include parental details, because the education department considers them legal dependents until that age. Some exceptions include documented situations like homelessness, parental incarceration, or if the student is adopted or a ward of the court.

“Failing to include it makes the application incomplete when it comes into the college financial aid office,” Louttit said. “We then have to follow up, which can slow down processing.”

Dobson said granting consent for the IRS to access tax records can speed up FAFSA processing and reduce the number of questions you must answer on the form. If the form asks questions about assets, Dobson said not to include retirement savings, because it isn’t considered an asset for financial aid purposes and including it can reduce the amount of aid a student receives.

“My office can fix it if you’ve made this error,” Dobson said, “but we rely on families to report the issue because my office can’t see their FAFSA forms, only the documentation sent to us by the education department.”

Dobson said SRU will host several FAFSA workshops on campus. Announcements of upcoming dates will be sent directly to students and advertised on the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency website.

“You don’t have to be a Slippery Rock student to seek help at one of our workshops,” Dobson said. “We want to help anyone who needs it.”

Louttit said BC3 also hosts FAFSA workshops on all its campuses. The college also helps local high schools host FAFSA workshops. The college hosted a workshop in December and one in January. All available workshops will be posted on BC3’s website.

“If those times don’t work, we can do them one-to-one in our offices or virtually,” Louttit said.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a news release about the 2025 FAFSA that the process should be easier to complete compared to last year.

“After months of hard work and lots of feedback from students, schools and other stakeholders, we can say with confidence that FAFSA is working and will serve as the gateway to college access and affordability to millions of students,” Cardona said.