The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is your annual application for financial aid and determines whether you qualify for grants, work-study, loans, need-based scholarships, and other institutional/state grants. But, things are changing for the FAFSA for the upcoming 2024-2025 aid year! The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid (OSFA) will update this page as additional information is made available so we can continue to educate students, families, and our campus community on the new processes.
The FAFSA Simplification Act was enacted by Congress as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, and it is an initiative to make applying for federal student aid easier for students. This process is the first major redesign of the FAFSA process in over 40 years!
Instead of opening on October 1, the 2024-2025 FAFSA was made available December 30, 2023. You and your FAFSA contributors can access the form at studentaid.gov.
The new FAFSA features fewer questions, has fewer requirements, and retrieves tax information using a direct data exchange from the IRS instead of the previous IRS Data Retrieval Tool.
Pell Grant eligibility will be linked to family size and the federal poverty level. The expectation is more students will qualify for this need-based aid.
The following federal financial aid requirements, rights, and responsibilities have not changed or had only minor updates:
Anticipated FAFSA Timeline: Once all sections of the online FAFSA are completed and submitted by the student and contributor(s), the student will receive a confirmation email from the Department of Education (ED). ED will also email a student when their student FAFSA record has been sent to the schools listed on the FAFSA. ED has notified schools this will not begin occurring until the first half of March. If a FAFSA is submitted after that time (example late March or after), we anticipate that student FAFSA record should be sent to us in a more timely manner. Please refer to the graphic at the top of this page
Aid Awarding Expectations: Because of the delay in receiving student FAFSA records, there will also be a delay in packaging students with their eligible federal and/or need-based aid. The financial aid notifications for new incoming students will also be delayed. Please refer to the anticipated timeline at the top of this page.
FAFSA Submitted Status: A FAFSA cannot be considered “submitted” until all required contributors have completed, signed, and submitted their respective sections. When a student or other contributor completes their section of the online FAFSA, they will invite the other contributor(s) to log in and complete their own sections of the FAFSA. If a contributor does not complete their section within a 45-day window, and there is no other activity, the FAFSA will be deleted and all contributors (including the student) will have to start over.
Scholarships & Financial Aid
1000 E. University Ave, Dept. 3335
Knight Hall, Room 174
Laramie, WY 82071-3335
Phone: (307) 766-2116
Fax: (307) 766-3800
Email: finaid@uwyo.edu
Zoom: Virtual Office Hours
In-Person: Our Office Hours