What's Next?

If you are applying for a 2024 summer term PA State Grant award, please follow this guidance.

Students

Federal Student Aid (FSA) has changed the 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®). These changes will also impact the PA State Grant Program.

Next Steps to Apply for a PA State Grant

HOW DOES THE NEW FAFSA FORM IMPACT MY PA STATE GRANT APPLICATION PROCESS?

The biggest difference is that FSA won't immediately send your information to schools and state agencies. This year, we will not receive your FAFSA data until mid-March. The delay prevents us from knowing who completed their FAFSA until the transmission process begins.

It may take 5-10 business days for standard processing from the date you submit your FAFSA; in some cases, it may take longer than anticipated. We will notify you via email when we receive your student data from the FAFSA.

HOW CAN I COMPLETE THE PA STATE GRANT APPLICATION?

Good news! FSA will transmit your FAFSA data to our new GrantUs system, so we'll already have most of the information we need.

Once we have your FAFSA information:

  • GrantUs will automatically create your student profile. PA students that completed a FAFSA will receive an email from PHEAA with instructions to create your password and set up your GrantUs account. We will send this communication to the email address you provided on the FAFSA.
  • Once you create a GrantUs account, you will be able to complete the PA State Grant application process. Typically, only first-time applicants need to complete the PA State Grant application. Learn more about the eligibility requirements, program deadlines, and commonly asked questions for the PA State Grant.
    • If you have not completed the 2024-25 FAFSA or created a GrantUs account, you will not be able to apply for the PA State Grant.
  • We will communicate award updates for the 2024-25 academic year and all future years through your GrantUs account. If we need more information to assess your eligibility, we will send another email asking you to log in to GrantUs and review our request.

    NOTE: Keep your GrantUs email address current. This is critical to receive timely communications and updates about your eligibility before the deadline.

WHAT IF I NEED TO UPDATE MY FAFSA?

If you need to make changes to your 2024-25 FAFSA, log in to StudentAid.gov and make the corrections there. We will receive your updated FAFSA information from FSA in another data transfer.

Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate enrollment change requests from students until later this summer.

Parents & Contributors

If you contributed information to a student's FAFSA, you may need to provide additional information for us to evaluate the student's eligibility for the 2024-25 PA State Grant Program.

We will notify your student through GrantUs if we need additional information from you.

You will only have access to view and adjust the information we specifically requested in GrantUs. You will not have access to view or adjust any other information on behalf of the student.

In the 2024-25 award year, we are transitioning to GrantUs—a new platform developed to support the administration of the PA State Grant and Special Programs.

Students and organizations will use GrantUs to apply and manage eligibility for PHEAA-administered aid programs, such as:

We are working to add each of these programs into the new platform and expect to have each program launched in GrantUs by the end of 2024. The initial program we are adding is the PA State Grant Program. As we launch programs in GrantUs, we will update the corresponding program webpages to announce what you should do to apply for the 2024-25 award year.