Major changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) have been rolled out by the United States Department of Education for the 2024-25 application year, directly impacting students applying for financial aid. Recognizing the magnitude of the updates coming from the FAFSA Simplification Act, the Office of Financial Aid at Cal State Fullerton has stepped up to support and serve students and their families.
Most recently, the Office of Financial Aid hosted its first-ever FAFSA and California Dream Act Application (CADAA) completion event for the community, welcoming over 300 students and their families in-person and hundreds more through a livestream. The department invited current CSUF students and prospective students from local community colleges, such as Rio Hondo and Fullerton College, to attend.
As part of the event, attendees enjoyed thorough presentations – which were provided in both English and Spanish – of how to complete FAFSA and CADAA. Following the presentations, the Office of Financial Aid team sat with students and their families to work on the applications, answer questions and offer guidance, and highlight the educational experience available through CSUF.
Reasons for hosting the event were straightforward. For instance, the timeline for the financial aid application process – an already relatively complex application – shifted, causing applications to be available for completion later than in previous years. Naturally, this movement has and could affect the completion process for students and their families. Additionally, the Office of Financial Aid team simply wanted to find a new and easy way to support Titans.
Hosting a combined 49 events with 11 more events to come before the end of the spring semester, the Office of Financial Aid has worked tirelessly to ensure Titans are able to apply for and receive the most amount of aid possible.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, the updates that have been made through the FAFSA Simplification Act have modified the “form, need analysis, and many policies and procedures for schools that participate in federal student aid programs.” The Department of Education continues on by noting that “the law will also affect every state that uses FAFSA data to award state grant aid and every school that participates in the federal student aid programs.”
The FAFSA/CADAA priority deadline is May 2, 2024. An additional deadline, relating to the financial aid document verification process, is May 31, 2024. For more information on financial aid at CSUF, visit fullerton.edu/financialaid.