right now its just an application. The confirmation email says they'll contact you if they need more documents or something

We'll contact you if we need additional information

We may need additional information from you to process your application. If we do, we'll contact you by email with additional instructions. The following are examples of situations where we'll follow up with you:

• We need additional documentation from you to verify your income.

• If you were enrolled as a "dependent student" anytime between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022, we may need information about your parents' income.

• We cannot match you to our loan records based on the information provided in your application.

looks like it is actually happening though. You can apply from now till December of next year.