FAFSA Changes for 2017–18 and Beyond - Updated for the 2022-2023 Academic Year
Early FAFSA and Prior Prior Year
On Sept. 14, 2015, President Obama announced two significant changes to the process for filing your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), Early FAFSA and the use of Prior Prior Year income. This webpage is designed to help you understand what these changes mean, how they will impact your completion of the FAFSA, and how they will impact your application for financial aid at Messiah University for the 2017-18 academic year and beyond.
What are Early FAFSA and Prior Prior Year?
- Early FAFSA: You will be able to file your 2022–23 FAFSA beginning on Oct. 1, 2021, rather than January 1, 2022, as had been the traditional start date prior to the 2017-18 academic year. This change to an earlier submission date is permanent, meaning that, in each succeeding year, October 1 will continue to be the first date for completing the FAFSA for the academic year that starts the following year.
- Prior Prior Year: In the past, when completing a FAFSA, you would enter tax information from the most recently completed tax year (the Prior year). For example, for the 2016-17 academic year, students used 2015 tax information. The problem with this was that many people needed to complete their FAFSA soon after the start of the new year, meaning they had to rush to complete their taxes first. Many people could not complete their taxes in time to meet financial aid deadlines.
- For the 2022–23 FAFSA, you will be required to report income information from the tax year that is one year earlier (the Prior Prior year), which means that students (and parents, as appropriate) will report their 2020 income information, rather than their 2021 income information.
- For the 2021–22 FAFSA, you will be required to report income information from the tax year that is one year earlier (the Prior Prior year), which means that students (and parents, as appropriate) will report their 2019 income information, rather than their 2020 income information.
This chart illustrates the beginning FAFSA filing dates and appropriate tax years for the next few academic years.
|
IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND COLLEGE FROM |
YOU WILL SUBMIT THIS FAFSA |
YOU CAN SUBMIT THE FAFSA FROM |
USING INCOME AND TAX INFORMATION FROM |
|---|---|---|---|
|
JULY 1, 2022 – JUNE 30, 2023 |
2022–23 |
OCTOBER 1, 2021 – JUNE 30, 2023 |
2020 |
|
JULY 1, 2021 – JUNE 30, 2022 |
2021–22 |
OCTOBER 1, 2020 – JUNE 30, 2022 |
2019 |
What does this mean for Messiah University students?
While many of these changes will apply equally to all students, there are some differences depending on whether you are an incoming student for the fall of 2022 or a continuing student.
Incoming Students
- You may choose to file your FAFSA beginning October 1, 2021, but we won’t be able to send you a financial aid package that early. Those who are the earliest filers can expect to receive their financial aid package from Messiah University about nine months before they begin their enrollment for the Fall 2021 semester. We hope to begin sending financial aid packages to new students in early December, but this may happen earlier or later depending on the implementation process for the new academic year.
- In order to receive your aid package during the fall of 2021, you’ll want to make sure you have completed your FAFSA and completed any other required documents we ask you to submit. It is very important that you pay attention to your Messiah University email account, which is how we will inform you of any additional information we need from you in order to complete your financial aid package.
- Even though we will begin working on your financial aid package sometime during the fall, the Messiah University priority deadline for completing your financial aid applications will not change. For the 2022-23 year, that deadline will be April 1, 2022. Of course, the longer you wait to file, the longer it will be until we can send your aid package.
Continuing Students
- You can file your FAFSA beginning October 1, 2021, and we encourage you to do so as soon as possible, but be aware that these changes will not affect the timeline for continuing students to receive their financial aid packages. For the 2022-23 year, you should expect to receive your financial aid package in late June or early July. Please keep in mind that we can’t start financial aid packages for continuing students until late May, after grades for the spring semester have been entered.
- The main advantage to you in filing earlier will be to give you more time to complete any needed paperwork so that your applications will be ready for the completion of your financial aid package in July. The Messiah University priority deadline for completing your financial aid applications will not change. For the 2022-23 year, that deadline will be April 1, 2022.
- Filing earlier or later (as long as it is between October 1, 2021 and April 1, 2022) will not change the amount of aid you will receive.
- If you have been selected for verification in the past, you’ll be glad to hear that this new system makes verification simpler. If selected for verification for the 2022-2023 year, most applicants should be able to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT) right away because tax information from 2020 should now be processed and ready to use via the DRT. This streamlined process will cut down on the amount of additional information you have to submit to us and eliminate wait times for things like tax transcripts, allowing you to more easily receive your financial aid package on schedule.
Here are a few more questions and answers
What is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)?
The FAFSA is the application that students must complete to apply for federal student aid and need-based forms of institutional financial aid. Federal student aid includes Federal Pell Grants, Federal student loans, and work-study opportunities. At Messiah University, you must also complete a FAFSA in order to be considered for the need-based Messiah University Grant.
You must complete a FAFSA every year.
Will FAFSA applicants have an option of which tax year information to use?
No. Beginning with the 2017-2018 FAFSA, students and parents will be required to use income and tax information from two years prior (as described above under Prior Prior Year). For example, for the 2022-23 FAFSA, you must use your 2020 tax data. The advantage of Prior Prior Year is that most applicants should easily be able to roll their tax data into their FAFSA using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool.
How to access your Messiah University email account.
To activate your account, go to sso.messiah.edu/activate and enter your Messiah University student ID number and follow the instructions. You will also receive your Messiah University email address upon activation. You must be an accepted student in order to activate an account.
Start checking your Messiah University student email right away. We send important information to you through this account, so check it on a regular basis! To access your email, login to your Self-Service menu (prospective students can also use myMU), choose the 'Students' link and then the ‘Falcon Mail’ link in the upper left corner.
If you are having difficulty accessing your Self-Service menu/myMU , please contact: Berte Thompson, Director Technology Support Services bthompso@messiah.edu
If you have any questions about changes to the FAFSA, the application process, or financial aid in general, please contact us:
Financial Aid Office
Messiah University
One University Avenue Suite 3006
Mechanicsburg PA 17055
Phone: 717.691.6007
Fax: 717.691.2349
Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Please allow additional response time during high volume periods.