This time next year, students will be reaping the benefits of a revamped federal financial aid process.

Under the current system, students must wait until Jan. 1 to even begin to submit their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). For the millions of students that rely on FAFSA to help fund their college education, this makes little sense considering any news of aid comes several months later.

Fortunately, just 48 hours after President Obama introduced a revamped College Scorecard in September, he announced a major facelift to the FAFSA process. The new structure streamlines the application timeline, which will reduce stress for both prospective and currently enrolled students by giving students more time to navigate the financial aid application period.

For currently enrolled Syracuse University students, the new system should make it so that the form will be almost entirely completed for them, via the IRS. The expanded IRS Retrieval Tool will gather students’ financial information from the tax databases in a more effective manner.

According to the College Board, 67 percent of SU undergraduates applied for need-based aid in 2014. Of those, 85 percent were offered aid and 42 percent had their full need met. It’s clear that the new FAFSA will make the renewal process a bit easier for the over 10,000 SU undergraduates that it will affect.

“It’s really a win-win for everybody,” said Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, in an interview with NPR. “Ultimately, this is going to mean less work for [students] and less work for schools.”

Students will be able to submit their FAFSA as early as Oct. 1 under the new system. This is three months — or 90 days — earlier than students are able to now.

Although it’s unlikely, the extra time may allow students to receive their financial aid award letters from universities sooner, provided they submit their FAFSA and CSS Financial Aid Profiles on time.

Students will also report income information from the so-called “prior-prior” year. For example, a student applying for aid in the fall of 2016 will submit his or her family’s income information from the 2015 tax year. This means families can avoid estimating the numbers on their FAFSA and then updating them later.

According to the University of California, a common mistake among students is forgetting to update their forms on the FAFSA website, which can delay application processing and limit the aid students are eligible to receive.

But for the new FAFSA to be effective, colleges need to do their part and release financial aid award letters earlier, which could be possible if institutions like SU moved up financial aid deadlines for students. This will align both the FAFSA and CSS Profile and create a more efficient process.

Matthew Gutierrez is a freshman journalism and entrepreneurial management dual major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at mguti100@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @MatthewGut21.

Published on October 11, 2015 at 11:35 pm