The last few years of FAFSA have been “rocky” at best. Memories of 2023’s troubled FAFSA launch and 2024’s more stable but still delayed rollout have left many enrollment teams feeling anxious over this year’s rollout. To help eliminate some of that stress, we asked MARKETview’s Jason Good, Financial Aid Services Principal, to share what he’s seeing with FAFSA this year. We’ll also outline strategies you can use to stay ahead of the curve with your aid awarding no matter the circumstances.
A Surprise Early Launch
In terms of timing and execution, this year’s FAFSA has been successful compared to previous years. The form deployed a week earlier than its October 1 deadline, making it the earliest in history. Several MARKETview partners have already seen a strong volume of Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) come in. This year’s early launch came as a surprise, but Good explained how the MARKETview Financial Aid team was able to stay prepared and mobilize quickly.
“A big priority was leveraging what we know from the market data and working ahead. We did our financial aid model and policy work over the summer for many partners,” Good said. “There’s a lot of excitement with our partners, many of whom have made strategic investments in aid and where awarding early is an important component of their strategy.”
MARKETview is uniquely equipped to monitor the performance of your financial aid awarding strategy in real time. This gives you the flexibility to quickly pivot if your model isn’t performing. Good shared how their preparation alongside this year’s early launch extends the monitoring window for even greater vision into how your class is taking shape.
“For partners who start admitting students in the early fall, it’s essential to have an established Financial Aid policy and early confirmation,” Good said. “As soon as they’re able to bring in the ISIRs, they can hit the ground running with awards, and we can start our monitoring process throughout the year.”
Shifts in Federal Policy
While the FAFSA is already successfully in the field, there are still some remaining questions surrounding federal changes to the Department of Education (DoEd) and Pell eligibility. The large-scale cuts to the DoEd last year have raised concerns about its continued ability to successfully process student data, especially concerning IPEDS data. Thankfully, it seems these cuts have not affected FAFSA filing or ISIR delivery in any way so far.
There were also several changes to Pell eligibility included in the recent “One Big Beautiful Bill” that don’t directly affect FAFSA calculations but still need to be considered by schools when awarding aid packages. Most notably, the capping of Parent Plus Loans could mean that schools who previously relied on students having these loans to afford college will need to compensate with more institutional aid.
Overall, the key components of federal aid that could be negatively impacted by these policy disruptions have remained unchanged. Good revealed how the MARKETview Financial Aid team is even seeing positive signs with Pell eligibility for students with greater financial need.
“For some schools, we’ve seen a larger percentage of their students whose need level now falls within Pell eligibility,” Good said. “There are clearly some also impacted in a negative way, but for many families it means now having access to a Pell Grant to support their educational goals.”
The Simplified Form Three Years in the Making
Three years ago, the DoEd set out to make the FAFSA more streamlined for students and families. We’ve already discussed the troubled two years that followed. But this year, it’ll be important to monitor filer behavior in real time to see how the simplified form performs on a normal schedule. Good emphasized how much of a difference this year’s timely launch will make.
“It’s the first true year with the new FAFSA where families and schools have a full timeline to work through the financial aid process,” Good said. “Having another year of data with the new form and having more time to really drive filing rate is so critical for schools to have the volume of filers they need in their student pool.”
With all the disruptions to federal aid over the past three years, it’s more important than ever to inform your financial aid decisions with reliable, real-time student data. That’s what makes the MARKETview Financial Aid team so adaptable to the ebbs and flows of the student aid landscape — they’re supported by MARKETview’s unparalleled insight into the students who matter most to their partners’ enrollment and revenue goals.
If you’d like to learn more about how MARKETview’s financial aid data can help your institution make more informed investments, sign up to chat with our team.