Financial aid rule changes greet students as FAFSA applications open
A streamlined application process makes applying for aid easier, even as federal changes could affect students and families.
It’s fall, which means it’s time for falling leaves, football and, for millions of college students, filling out FAFSA forms. While the Free Application for Federal Student Aid process isn’t changing much this year, new federal rules could have a profound impact on financial aid awards.
Changes to the forms themselves, which debuted two years ago, remain. But delays in making the forms available, which accompanied those changes in previous years, have been eliminated this year.
Revisions to federal rules, however, affect how much assistance students and parents can expect to receive, and how they must repay those loans, said Jennifer Mary Helgeson, director of compliance in Metropolitan State University of Denver’s Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships.
Students who are not eligible for federal aid may be able to get assistance from the state by completing the Colorado Application for State Financial Aid, Helgeson said.
Notable changes to financial aid this year include:
- Reduction in loan amounts for part-time students. Loan amounts for undergraduate students taking fewer than 24 credit hours, and graduate students taking fewer than 12 credit hours, must be recalculated, which may result in lesser loan amounts. Undergraduate students must take at least 6 credit hours to be eligible for student loan aid.
- Lower limits on parent loans. Starting this year, parents cannot receive more than $20,000 per undergraduate student each year. In addition, loans to a parent cannot exceed $65,000 total for one dependent student, regardless of how long the student remains in college. There also are changes to how those loans must be repaid. There are, however, exceptions, called legacy exceptions, to the new rules for parents who began receiving aid before July 1.
- Limits on borrowing for graduate degrees. Graduate students can borrow up $100,000 in unsubsidized Direct Loans regardless of the amount borrowed as an undergraduate. Previously, a graduate student could borrow up to $138,500, which included all they had borrowed for their undergraduate degree. The Graduate PLUS loan is being phased out, and new graduate borrowers no longer have access to that loan.
As for the FAFSA, “There are no significant changes to the forms this year,” Helgeson said. “There have been some language changes, but nothing terribly impactful.”
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Starting with the 2024-25 school year, the FAFSA form has become significantly shorter. Students answer about 36 questions, down from as many as 100 in previous years.
Another major improvement, now in its third year, is the Direct Data Exchange, which allows families to securely transfer tax information directly from the Internal Revenue Service after giving consent.
The biggest change students applying to MSU Denver will notice results from the University using a new software system to process applications, Helgeson said.
That means students won’t be notified that their application has been received until November. “If information is missing, we’ll start asking for additional documents in February. And in March we will begin notifying them of the financial aid package they’ll receive.”
That doesn’t mean students should put off completing the FAFSA until the June 30, 2027, deadline. The earlier they apply, the earlier they will be notified of their financial aid package for the 2027-28 academic year, she said.
Helgeson’s advice to students and prospective students is, “Be prepared, file now, respond to emails and requests for additional information.” That way, she said, they should know what their award will be as early as March.
MSU Denver will host a workshop to assist students in completing FAFSA and CASFA applications on Oct. 19.