FAFSA Information

The new 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) was soft-launched on December 31, 2023. The new FAFSA is easier to complete and will result in more students being eligible for more funding than ever before! The Financial Aid Office will host 20 FAFSA Days & Nights (listed below) on campus in February and March to assist students with completing the new FAFSA.

With the release of the 2024-2025 FAFSA application being delayed until December 2023, this significantly impacts the overall timeline for Financial Aid offices to process FAFSA applications and offer aid packages to students. Once your FAFSA is submitted, it will be held by the Department of Education until the middle of March for processing. Once processed, it will be sent to Jax State! 

  • January 2024:
  • February 2024:
    • Jax State Financial Aid is hosting FAFSA Days & Nights every week!
  • March 2024:
    • Jax State Financial Aid is hosting FAFSA Days & Nights every week!
    • FAFSAs will be sent to Jax State middle-late March
  • April 2024:
    • Jax State will begin sending aid offers for 2024-2025

2024-2025 FAFSA Filing Incentives

Due to the delay of the 2024-2025 FAFSA and changes to aid eligibility, we highly encourage students to complete their FAFSA as soon as possible! Students can send their FAFSA to JSU by listing our school code, 001020. To motivate students to complete the FAFSA, the following incentives are being offered! 

First Time Freshman

  • First Time Freshman who submit their FAFSA to Jax State by April 1, 2024 will automatically receive a $500 FAFSA Completion Grant 

Continuing/Transfer Students

  • Continuing/Transfer students who submit their FAFSA to Jax State by April 1, 2024 will be entered to win:
    • (3) Full Tuition Scholarship
    • (10) $1,000 Scholarship
    • (40) $20 gift card to the JSU Bookstore
    • Faculty/Staff parking decal
    • Jax State swag bag

2024-2025 FAFSA FAQs

As a result of the FAFSA Simplification Act, significant changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the need analysis formula are being implemented for the 2024-2025 school year. With these changes, the Department of Education (ED) delayed the FAFSA release until January 2024, and completed FAFSAs will not be sent to schools until mid-March.

For the 2024-2025 FAFSA, the application is reduced from 108 to just 36 questions! The FAFSA Simplification Act will also change multiple core components of the current FAFSA Form, which will include:

  • The parent(s) that will be listed on the FAFSA form will be changed to the term Contributor as well as which parent(s) is eligible to be listed.
    • There will be a new ‘parent wizard’ on the FAFSA to help you determine which parent(s) should be listed!
  • You may be required to have more than one parent sign your FAFSA, depending on your parent(s) tax filing status.
  • You and/or your parent(s) will be required to provide consent to the IRS to transfer tax information to the FAFSA, regardless of tax filing status.
    • If you and your parent(s) do not provide consent, your FAFSA will not be processed by the Department of Education.
    • By providing consent, your tax information will be transferred from the IRS to your FAFSA after your FAFSA is submitted. Since this is federal tax information, it will not be viewable on your FAFSA.

Submitting your FAFSA means you’ve done everything you can to do to apply for federal aid at this time, congratulations!

Your FAFSA is currently being held by the Department of Education for processing and will be sent to Jax State in mid-March/early-April. Once sent to Jax State, you will see that your FAFSA has been received through your MyJaxState account, under “Financial Aid Requirements” for 2024-2025 in Self-Service Banner. Additionally, you can log back into your FAFSA at any time to see the processing status. Once sent to Jax State, your FAFSA dashboard will update to indicate it has been processed and sent!

Once the Department of Education begins sending FAFSAs to Jax State in mid-March/early-April, the Jax State Financial Aid Office will begin sending out aid offers! Your aid offer will be sent to your JSU student email address and will be viewable through your MyJaxState account.

Once the Department of Education begins processing FAFSAs already submitted (mid-March), you will be able to log back into your FAFSA and make any corrections/updates that are needed. Your updated FAFSA will then be processed and sent to Jax State!

We understand your concerns and are here to help you! We are committed to doing everything we can to provide aid offers as soon as possible. In the meantime, you may want to utilize the Federal Student Aid Estimator to get an early idea of what federal aid you may qualify for once Jax State receives your FAFSA.

Keep in mind, this federal aid would be in addition to scholarships and grants offered by Jax State! First Time Freshman and First Time Transfer students may view their 2425 Merit Scholarship through their MyJaxState account, under “Financial Aid Self Service” by selecting the 2024-2025 Award Year. Merit Scholarships for continuing students will be renewed after the Spring 2024 semester!

FAFSA Completion Assistance

The Financial Aid Office will host FAFSA Days and FAFSA Nights during Spring 2024 to help students with completing the updated FAFSA form! 

FAFSA Days

Ayers Hall 361, 10am - 4pm
  • Thursday, February 1st
  • Tuesday, February 6th
  • Thursday, Feburary 8th
  • Tuesday, February 13th
  • Thursday. February 15th
  • Tuesday, February 20th
  • Thursday, February 22nd
  • Tuesday. February 27th
  • Thursday. February 29th
  • Tuesday, March 5th
  • Thursday, March 7th
  • Tuesday, March 12th
  • Thursday, March 14th
  • Tuesday, March 26th
  • Thursday, March 28th

FAFSA Nights

HCL Main Lab, 4pm - 7pm

  • Monday, February 5th
  • Wednesday, February 21st
  • Monday, March 4th
  • Thursday, March 14th
  • Wednesday, March 27th

Need Some Help?

Cocky Chats

Join a "Cocky Chat" to engage in on-demand virtual conversations with our staff! You will be asked to provide an email address to book the meeting. We will send additional meeting details and access information to that address. We can't wait to chat with you virtually!

FAFSA Help Session

Need help filling out the FAFSA? Schedule a FAFSA Help Session to get one-on-one help completing your Free Application for Federal Student Aid with a trained Financial Aid Staff member in 103 Angle Hall. 

Call Us

Have a question regarding your financial aid? Call us at 256-782-5006 and a staff member from our office will be happy to assist you.

Email Us

Have a question regarding your financial aid? Email us at finaid@jsu.edu and a staff member from our office will be happy to assist you.

Visit Us

No appointment needed! Visit our office in 107 Angle Hall. Our office hours are Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm.

Learn More

You could be surprised to find out how affordable college may be – the only way to know is to file the FAFSA. Check out studentaid.gov to get started now, learn more about how financial aid works and explore options for paying for college.

The FAFSA also now has its own YouTube channel!