Complete Guide To A Hassle-Free FAFSA Renewal

Reyna Gobel, M.B.A. and M.J., is a financial and physical fitness journalist, author, and course instructor who’s published on reuters.com, weightwatchers.com, and theatlantic.com. Her CliffsNotes books on repaying student loans and paying for colleg.

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Updated: Oct 10, 2022, 2:51pm

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Complete Guide To A Hassle-Free FAFSA Renewal

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Filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the first step you’ll take to qualify for federal and state financial aid, as well as college scholarships and grants at most schools. It is also the only way to qualify for and receive federal student loans.

Each year you remain in school after the first year you file the FAFSA, you will need to fill out a form called the renewal FAFSA. If you don’t, you will not receive financial aid tied to the FAFSA in the next academic year.

How Often Is FAFSA Renewal Required?

The renewal FAFSA is required every academic year you plan on attending a higher education institution and want to apply for financial aid. The form is required for students enrolled in undergraduate, graduate and professional education, as well as other post secondary programs where students can potentially receive federal financial aid.

How FAFSA Renewal Differs From Your Original Application

The renewal FAFSA isn’t much different from the original FAFSA. The key difference is that some information is auto-populated from the original form, such as date of birth, name, address and dependency status. Income and tax information will not be pre-filled, but it can be downloaded directly onto the form with the IRS retrieval tool within FAFSA.

If you’ve experienced a life event such as changing your permanent address, getting married or joining the military, you’ll want to go over the pre-populated data to make necessary corrections.

FAFSA Renewal Deadline

The renewal FAFSA for students planning to attend college in 2023-24 opened for application on Oct. 1, along with the FAFSA for students applying for the first time. The final deadline for submitting the renewal FAFSA is June 30, 2024 for the 2023-24 academic year.

Submitting the FAFSA as early as possible is vital. Federal student aid doesn’t run out. However, university and state grants for paying for college can. The date you file the FAFSA can change your financial aid package by hundreds or thousands of dollars.

7 Steps to Successfully Renew Your FAFSA

Follow these steps to ensure you renew your FAFSA without making errors:

Make sure everyone provides information who’s required to do so. The FAFSA always requires information from students. Parents of dependent students also are required to submit their income information.
Have the necessary information at the ready. Each person filling out the FAFSA will need to provide Social Security numbers (or Alien registration numbers if they are not citizens), bank and investment account statements, driver’s license numbers if applicable and records of untaxed income. Income tax returns are only needed if you don’t use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool.
Use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. With a few clicks, families can add information from prior tax returns directly onto their FAFSA application with the IRS Data Retrieval Tool located within the FAFSA renewal form.
Add potential transfer schools if needed. The renewal FAFSA may automatically show your original school, but it won’t have school names you are considering for next year.
Click submit after filling in all information. Do so for each FSA ID required.
Wait to close the final screen. First, make sure you haven’t been asked to fill out additional forms such as for state grants or scholarships.
Fill out a new CSS Profile. This is an additional form for collecting financial information at nearly 400 undergraduate colleges. You’ll have to fill this out only if you are attending a school that requires one. If you filled the initial one out for your school, check with the financial aid office to see if you need to file one for the upcoming academic year.

10 FAFSA Renewal Mistakes To Avoid

There are some important pitfalls to avoid, as well, when filing your FAFSA renewal. Dean Bentley, The College Board executive director of financial aid engagement, recommends avoiding these common FAFSA renewal mistakes:

Waiting too long to file FAFSA renewal. Some scholarships and grants are first come, first served. Every day you wait to file could cause you to miss out on limited financial aid dollars. File your form as soon as possible.
Not checking for state and college financial aid deadlines. You’ll find these on the final page after submitting your form. Each state or college scholarship or grant can have its own deadline or requirements. In addition to the final screen, check the college’s and state’s websites for all deadlines when filling out the FAFSA.
Not filling out additional forms. The renewal FAFSA is often the first step in asking for money to pay for college. Don’t forget to file other forms requested by the state or college. For instance, the state may have its own form for scholarships that you will have to fill out as well.
Failing to submit information on the renewal FAFSA from all required FSA IDs. If filing electronically, everyone in the family required to submit their income and asset information needs to also fill it in on the new FAFSA.
Opting out of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool transfer process. Having income information directly transferred from the IRS limits the possibility of a renewal FAFSA error, which can slow down renewal FAFSA process or cause the wrong amount of financial aid to be awarded.
Mixing up parent information with student information. “Be sure to read the questions carefully and input parent financial information into parent fields,” Bentley says. “Many parents help their children complete the FAFSA and may confuse ‘you’ or ‘your’ which is actually referring to the student’s information.”
Note: Parent and student assets are evaluated differently in calculations of what a family can afford to pay for college without financial aid. For instance, the expected family contribution (EFC) formula calculation expects up to 20% of a student’s assets to help pay for college. Parents are expected to use up to 5.64% of their assets, according to CollegeData.com.
Failing to sign the renewal FAFSA and submit it. “This mistake is common when student and parent information are required, but only one person is completing the form or the FSA ID is forgotten,” Bentley says. “The parent and the student should both sign the application with their FSA IDs.”
Not changing school names of your renewal FAFSA when needed. Remember this especially if the student is transferring from a community college to a four-year school to complete their degree. They may forget to list the new potential schools or to list state schools first. Always review your list of schools before clicking the submit button.
Not checking the status of their renewal FAFSA submission to ensure all steps are complete. Go to FAFSA.gov anytime and log in after submitting the form. Your application can be found on the My FAFSA page.
Not filling out the special circumstances form. If income has changed in the past year, prior tax returns may not reflect your family’s current financial situation. Fill out the special circumstances form available on your college’s financial aid website to explain how your financial situation has changed.

Bottom Line

Filling out the FAFSA isn’t a one-time deal. You have to fill it out each year or you could lose out on financial aid from your school, the federal government or the state government. While information does auto-populate from last year’s form, the Department of Education doesn’t know if you got married, joined the military or moved.

Check over all the information that was auto-populated. Have anyone else required to provide information do the same. Also, remember, this is just the first step toward applying for financial aid. Find out what other scholarships and grants may be available from your state, school and department office in your major.