Two major changes have been made to the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) that will take effect for the 2017-18 academic year. Students and their families will now be able to submit their FAFSA application sooner and will also be able to use their prior-prior year’s taxes, rather than current year information.

However, there is no change to the current academic year’s FAFSA. The earliest date for submission for the 2016-17 academic year is Jan. 15, the same date for all scholarship applications through UNI.

The 2017-18 FAFSA application will open on Oct. 1, 2016, rather than on Jan. 1, as in prior years. This date change will be permanent for subsequent academic years, as will be the ability to submit earlier tax information. For example, next year’s FAFSA application will require students to again use their tax information from the year 2015,  while the following academic year’s application will use 2016 tax information.

Tim Bakula, UNI associate director of financial aid, said UNI’s financial aid department has little worries about the changes to the FAFSA application.

“The application will prompt students and their families for the appropriate tax year’s information,” Bakula said. “A benefit to the prior-prior year information is that within the FAFSA there is a data retrieval tool for the IRS, and this makes it much easier for students to take that information and import it right into their FAFSA to give the most accurate information possible.”

Some students have not heard about these major changes to the FAFSA application. Lyric Tracy, senior English major, said she just recently found out about the changes.

“I just learned about the October 1 date change,” Tracey said. “I didn’t know it was a change, actually. I’m not sure if it’ll be a positive change or not yet because I think it might be too early to tell.”

An email was sent out by UNI to all students to address these changes. However, students still may not have received the information change due to a high volume of emails. This was the case with Paige Plaskitt, senior communication and public relations major.

“[I] didn’t know about the switch – that info was definitely lost in the shuffle of excessive emails,” Plaskitt said.

Michaela Squires, a junior finance management major, said she was also unaware of the changes, citing a high volume of e-mails.

“I didn’t know about these changes. I probably did get an email, but I probably deleted it,” Squires said. “The only concern I have is why aren’t they going to be using current tax information? […] I think they should get rid of putting your parents’ tax information on there because I haven’t lived with my parents for two years, and they don’t help me pay for school. So why should I have to put their information down?”

Bakula said the goal is not just for more accurate information, but also for an easier application process, as students and their families will now have more time to file their FAFSA information.

The financial aid department holds programs throughout the academic year to assist students and their families in filing the FAFSA application if needed. Bakula encouraged students and parents to visit the financial aid department if they have questions about the new changes to the FAFSA application process.

“We offer free assistance in completing the application,” Bakula said. “Never pay for any assistance in doing the application – the financial aid department can help you for free, and we offer different workshops and programs throughout the academic year available to students.”