Financial Aid and FAFSA Resources

February 2024

Greetings from PHEAA’s Pennsylvania School Services 

National School Counseling Week, sponsored by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), was celebrated in early February, highlighting the tremendous impact school counselors have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career. The 2024 theme is “School Counseling: Standards-Based, Student-Focused.” We appreciate the support school counselors provide to students and PHEAA’s PA School Services staff. Thank you for all that you do! 

 

 

PHEAA News:

 

 

PHEAA Update 

 

The U.S. Department of Education announced that it won’t process 24-25 FAFSAs until the first half of March. Post-secondary schools and PHEAA will not receive FAFSA data until after they begin processing FAFSAs. They indicated this delay is because they must update the tables used for calculation of the student aid index, to account for inflation. This delay means some students may receive their financial aid offers from their schools later than expected. This delay will also impact PA State Grant processing since PHEAA needs the student’s FAFSA to generate the PA State Grant application to students. PHEAA will notify students to complete the application once we receive their FAFSA file from the department. Students can refer to pheaa.org/StudentAid for more information on PA State Grant processing. Post-secondary schools will be able to guide students regarding how this delay may impact the timing of their financial aid offers.

 

If a student doesn’t have the financial offer information that they need to commit to attending a college or career school by the school’s deadline, they should be able to ask for an extension on their admission offer. Many colleges and career schools are extending deadlines or offering extensions based on student requests. Students need to reach out to college and career school staff with their questions and concerns.

 

Students who filed the FAFSA and now need to add other colleges and or career schools will be able to do that in March after their initial FAFSA is processed. Corrections can be made online at studentaid.gov by selecting the FAFSA submission from the My Activity section of the account Dashboard.  Students can learn about how to correct and review their FAFSA submission on StudentAid.gov.

 

 

 

PA Forward 

Right now, high school seniors are working on their financial aid applications for 2024- 25. Hopefully, they are also working on their scholarship searches. As they calculate their education costs and compare to available financial aid, they may identify a financing gap. For those situations, PHEAA’s PA Forward Private Student Loan may be the best solution. PA Forward offers affordable options with several benefits and a variety of repayment options for PA residents planning to attend school in and out of state. Reference pheaa.org/PAForward to help them with the planning process. 

Industry News:

 

 

The Making Cents Project-Pennsylvania’s New High School Personal Finance Mandate

Get the latest information on Act 35’s requirement that all Pennsylvania high school students complete a personal finance course starting with the 2026-27 school year. Find out what that means for schools and students and what resources are being proposed to help with implementation. This webinar is designed for grade 9-12 educators and administrators. 

 
Resources:

 

 

Understanding and Comparing Financial Aid Offers

PHEAA Access Partners Amy Sawdey and Wendy Dunlap will present information on the steps students should take after completing the FAFSA. They will discuss the financial aid process, strategies to review and understand financial aid offers from colleges, and how to compare different types of aid. This webinar will be held on March 20, 2024 from 6:00–7:00 PM. Register at pheaa.org/virtual. 

 

Financial Aid Awareness Month

Throughout the month of February, the higher education community, including NASFAA, celebrates Financial Aid Awareness Month and provides crucial information to students and families about access to federal, state, and institutional student aid. You can find additional resources for students at nasfaa.org/FinAidFeb. 

FUN FACT! 

The odds of being born on February 29 are about 1 in 1,461. Those born on Leap Day can be called a “leaper” or “leapling”.! Learn more fun facts at TheFactSite.com

The following is a link to a resource page that will help educate you on financial aid opportunities.  There are PHEAA's "how to" videos, access publications, and other financial aid information that might be helpful.  These resources are designed to provide information on the entire financial aid process, including FAFSA completion.  Visit the following:  https://www.pheaa.org/tools-resources/parents-students/index.shtml 

Please explore the PA Student Aid Guide 2024-25 for helpful information at https://online.flippingbook.com/view/80568904/

 

Visit https://studentaid.gov/ to create a Federal Student Aid Account.  PHEAA suggests to create FSA ID four days prior to the FAFSA being completed.