Wayne State College students should notice a major change in the FAFSA process this year.

Usually, the FAFSA application for the upcoming school year opens around January, but this year it opened Oct. 1.

“In the past, it opened in January, and it used the prior year’s income information,” said Annette Kaus, director of Financial Aid.

“This year it opened on Oct. 1, three months earlier than usual. It’s always going to be like that from now on. The application will use earlier tax years. This time around, the application will require 2015 tax information.”

The only change that happened to FAFSA is the information from which tax year the student reports on and how early the student can apply for the FAFSA. The form is still the same.

The application will still have the data retrieval tool. Students should be aware that they’ll have to fill out the whole form for this year, since the information won’t be transferred from the 2016/2017 FAFSA form.

President Obama signed this change into law in September of 2015 to make the process simpler for both students and colleges alike.

“With the changes, we’re trying to help make the process easier for the students filling out the FAFSA,” Kaus said. “And students will also have information about their awards earlier so they can have more time to plan on how to pay for school.”

Returning students will get their award notifications at the start of March instead of April. The amount of money students receive depends on how early they fill out the FAFSA.

“Some of our money is on a first-come first-serve basis,” Kaus said. “You’ll also know about your award earlier, which gives you more time to plan so you can come up with additional funds for the coming school year.”

Another important date students should keep in mind is April 1, which is Wayne State College’s deadline for the FAFSA.

If students have more questions about the FAFSA application or if their finacial situation has changed at all, they should call the Financial Aid office at 402-375-7229.