Leadership Notes > FAFSA simplification: Financial aid award process underway

FAFSA simplification: Financial aid award process underway

By Karen LeVeque-Szawara / August 7, 2024 / Twitter / Facebook

​Dear Faculty and Staff, 
 
I hope your summer is going well and that you are finding time to relax. In a continued effort to keep the DePaul community updated on the rollout of the recent FAFSA Simplification process, I would like to share some developments since my April 24 email.  
 
As noted previously the Free Application for Federal Student Aid has undergone a major simplification effort starting in the 2024-25 academic year. The stated goal of the simplification is to make it easier for students to apply for financial aid. For more details about this change, you can read my April update here. 

Some progress has been made in the last three months and I am happy to report the following: 

  • ​We began awarding financial aid to incoming freshmen around April 30. 
  • We sent out financial aid awards to all new law, graduate, freshmen and transfer students with valid FAFSAs. 
  • We began awarding financial aid to continuing law, graduate and undergraduate students the week of June 28. 
Unfortunately, technology updates and associated delays with FAFSA Simplification continue and because of this, universities will not be able to make mass corrections to student FAFSA records for the 2024-25 year. This means that financial aid officers will have to submit corrections for hundreds of individual students manually, and this could delay the following: 

  • ​Financial aid awards to some students 
  • The ability to modify students’ awards that require corrections 
  • The ability to determine additional eligibility for aid for students experiencing special financial circumstances 
We understand that these further delays are incredibly frustrating for incoming and continuing students and their families. The Office of Financial Aid continues to review submitted documents and will prepare for the manual work around process that has been presented to us by the Department of Education as swifty as possible to continue awarding and disbursing financial aid to our students. Please understand that these manual corrections and edits will cause further delays in our processing.   

I am extremely proud of the entire Office of Financial Aid team for their dedication and tireless efforts to overcome obstacles and ensure we deliver aid offers to our eligible students. I also want to thank Information Services, Admissions and other institutional partners for their support during this time.  

We strongly encourage all students to remain proactive and informed throughout the financial aid planning process. Students should also complete the 2024-25 FAFSA as soon as possible, if they have not already, and stay updated on announcements or changes​ from the Federal Department of Education. This will help students navigate through any further delays more effectively. 
 
Thank you for your attention to this important update. Your support in spreading awareness about the simplified FAFSA application process is greatly appreciated. 
 
Sincerely, 
 
Karen LeVeque-Szawara 
Assistant Vice President of Financial Aid​​