Kathy Hastings, Director of Outreach and Communications for the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority, gave the State of the State Address at the 2025 Financial Aid Summit, including important state and federal updates.
She delivered some good news, including the fact that the FAFSA is expected to start on the traditional date of October 1 instead of the delayed openings from the past two years. Students will also be able to set up their Studentaid.gov account and complete their FAFSA on the same day for the first time.
In addition, there will be a simplified contributor process that will only require students to know their contributor’s email address.