Updates

March 20, 2024

The U.S. Department of Education has begun sending FAFSA application data (ISIR data) to universities and colleges.  MSU plans to process these files by the end of March and begin sending award notifications early April.  Please check your university email account periodically for updates and information regarding your 2024-25 FAFSA and awards. 

 

February 6, 2024

The latest guidance from the U.S. Department of Education is that all universities will start receiving Institutional Student Information Records (ISIR) from the federal government in March, which is needed to calculate a student’s federal aid package. At this time, we expect the Department of Education to transmit the ISIR data in batches. Once we receive each batch of data, MSU Texas will begin sending customized award notifications to students.

 If you have not already completed the 2024-2025 FAFSA, please do so. We do expect additional students to be eligible for the federal Pell Grant through the recalculated Student Aid Index. The Department of Education is occasionally pausing access to the form in order to perform maintenance; if you can’t log in, please be persistent and continue trying.

2024-25 FAFSA Known Issues

 These are the known issues regarding submission and processing of the 2024-25 FAFSA. 

How the FAFSA Simplification Act Affects You


The FAFSA Simplification Act represents a significant overhaul of the processes and systems used to offer federal student aid starting with the 2024-25 academic year. This includes the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®), needs analysis (means of determining aid eligibility), and many policies and procedures for schools that participate in federal student aid programs. The law will affect every school that offers assistance from the federal student aid programs. 

Additionally, the law has the potential to affect eligibility for state financial aid programs that use FAFSA® data to determine whether certain criteria are met. 

**2024-25 FAFSA® Available on December 31, 2023** 

MSU Texas will begin processing 2024-25 FAFSA records when we receive the results in early March 2024. 

Historically, the FAFSA® has been available beginning October 1 each year. For the 2024-25 academic year, the FAFSA® will be delayed until December 2023. Updates on an exact date will be posted here when announced. 

 

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) Changes

The benefits of the FAFSA Simplification Act include:

  • Streamlined application process
  • Better user experience for the FAFSA®
  • Expanded eligibility for federal student aid
  • Reduced barriers for certain student population (e.g., homeless and unaccompanied youth, incarcerated students, English language learners, and students from low-income backgrounds)
What is NOT changing?
  • The general types of aid available to students and federal student loan limits.
  • The FAFSA® will still be required for consideration of federal financial aid every year as well as for certain state and institutional aid programs.
    • NOTE: Though the release of the FAFSA® is delayed for 2024-25, the Department of Education will continue to make it available on October 1 starting again with the 2025-26 FAFSA®. 
  • Dependency status questions that determine if your parent(s) must complete the FAFSA® remain the same.
  • The FAFSA® will still request tax information from the prior-prior year, which means students will report 2022 income and assets on the 2024-25 application. Families with significant reductions in income levels can review the special circumstance process. 
  • The questions regarding a student's gender, race, and ethnicity will continue to have no effect on federal student aid eligibility and are included for statistical purposes and data collection only. This information is collected by the Department of Education and is not shared with Midwestern State University.