FAFSA 2023-2024 email received for high school senior - can we ignore?
My daughter's been stressing over college apps all year and finally submitted her 2024-2025 FAFSA last month. StudentAid.gov shows it as 'processed' with a calculated SAI. But yesterday she got an email saying she needs to complete the 2023-2024 FAFSA? She's graduating high school THIS May (2024) and will start college in Fall 2024. Why would she need the 2023-2024 form when that's for the academic year ending this spring? Is this a scam email or some weird requirement I'm missing? Can we just ignore it since she won't be in college until the 2024-2025 academic year?
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AstroAdventurer
You're absolutely right to question this. Your daughter only needs to complete the 2024-2025 FAFSA for her freshman year starting Fall 2024. The 2023-2024 FAFSA would be for the current academic year (ending Spring 2024) when she's still in high school. Check if the email is legitimate before dismissing it completely. Some scammers send emails pretending to be from Federal Student Aid. A legitimate email would come from a .gov domain. You can always log into studentaid.gov directly (not through email links) to see what forms are actually required.
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Jamal Carter
•Thank you! I checked and it did come from a .gov email, noreply@studentaid.gov, which seems legitimate. Could it be an automated thing because she created her FSA ID recently? Maybe the system doesn't know she's not in college yet?
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Mei Liu
The same thing happened to my son!!! He got that email and we were SO CONFUSED. We just ignored it becuz he's not even in college til next fall. It's probably just a mistake in their system.
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Jamal Carter
•Glad to hear we're not the only ones! Did ignoring it cause any problems with his 2024-2025 application?
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Liam O'Sullivan
This is actually a common confusion. The email is legitimate, but it's an automated message that goes out to everyone with an FSA ID who hasn't completed the current year's FAFSA. The system doesn't know your daughter is still in high school. Since she'll be starting college in Fall 2024, she only needs the 2024-2025 FAFSA (which you've already completed). You can safely ignore the email about the 2023-2024 form. However, if she's planning to take any summer courses in 2024 (before fall semester), some schools might use the 2023-2024 FAFSA for summer financial aid. Worth checking with her college's financial aid office if summer classes are in her plans.
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Jamal Carter
•That makes so much sense now! She's not planning on summer courses, so we'll ignore the email. Thanks for explaining the automation issue - I was worried we'd missed something important.
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Amara Chukwu
WAIT did u check which school the email was from?? My cousin got a similar email but it was actually from the COLLEGE not from FAFSA itself! Some colleges want both years for their own financial aid even for incoming freshmen!!
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Jamal Carter
•Oh! I didn't think about that. The email definitely came from studentaid.gov, not her college. But now I'm wondering if I should check with her college to make sure they don't need both years' forms. Good point!
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Giovanni Conti
The whole FAFSA system is such a mess this year with all the changes!!! We've been getting random emails too. I spent 3 HOURS on hold trying to talk to someone at FSA about a similar issue. Never got through.
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Fatima Al-Hashimi
•I had the same problem trying to reach FSA about verification issues! After days of trying, I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to a real person at Federal Student Aid. Saved me literally hours of waiting. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent confirmed that high school seniors only need 2024-2025 FAFSA unless they're taking summer college courses before fall. The 2023-2024 emails are automated and can be ignored for incoming freshmen.
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NeonNova
You should definitely log into your daughter's studentaid.gov account and check her To-Do list. That's more reliable than emails. The dashboard will show exactly what forms are still needed. If 2023-2024 isn't listed as incomplete there, you're good to ignore the email.
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Jamal Carter
•That's good advice - I just checked her dashboard and there's nothing about the 2023-2024 form being required or incomplete. Just shows the 2024-2025 as processed. Seems like the email really was just automated!
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AstroAdventurer
One more thing to consider: if your daughter is applying for any private scholarships, some of them might ask for information from both years' FAFSAs, especially if they're for the summer transition period. But for federal aid and most college-based aid for fall 2024, only the 2024-2025 FAFSA matters.
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Jamal Carter
•She has applied for a few scholarships. I'll have her double-check their requirements just to be safe. Thanks for mentioning this - there are so many little details in this process!
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Dylan Campbell
my sister ignored that email last year and everything was fine for her freshman year. the fafsa system just sends those out to everyone i think. as long as u did the 24-25 one ur daughter should be good
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Jamal Carter
•Thanks for sharing your sister's experience! That's reassuring to hear.
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Liam O'Sullivan
Just to clarify a common misunderstanding - the 2023-2024 FAFSA covers Summer 2023, Fall 2023, and Spring 2024. The 2024-2025 FAFSA covers Summer 2024, Fall 2024, and Spring 2025. Since your daughter is starting in Fall 2024, she only needs the 2024-2025 form unless she takes summer courses before fall semester. If you're still concerned, you can always call your daughter's college financial aid office directly. They can confirm exactly which forms they need for incoming freshmen.
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Jamal Carter
•Thanks for breaking down the coverage periods so clearly! I think we're good with just the 2024-2025 form since she's starting in Fall 2024. Her college's financial aid office already sent an award letter based on the 2024-2025 FAFSA, so I guess that confirms they have what they need.
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