FAFSA Simplification

Instead of opening on October 1, the 2024-2025 FAFSA will be available by December 31, 2023.  This is the only year that we anticipate such a delay.  We suggest that students and their FAFSA contributors check studentaid.gov frequently, between now and the end of the year, so you can complete the 2024-2025 FAFSA as soon as it is available!

The new FAFSA will feature fewer questions, have fewer requirements, and retrieve tax information using a direct data exchange from the IRS instead of the previous IRS Data Retrieval Tool.

• The FAFSA is introducing the new term “contributor”, which refers to anyone who is required to provide information on a student’s FAFSA form, including the student, the student’s spouse, a biological or adopted parent, or the parent’s spouse. Being a contributor does not imply responsibility for the student’s college costs.
  • Students will need the contributor’s name, date of birth, Social Security Number (SSN), and email address to invite them to apply for a Federal Student Aid ID (FSA ID), if they don’t have one already, and to complete the required portions of the FAFSA.
  • Contributors will need to provide personal and financial information on their section of the FAFSA.
• All Contributors must provide consent to have tax data transferred directly from the IRS to the FAFSA. If consent is not provided by all parties, the student will not be eligible for federal financial aid.  In previous years, transferring IRS data was optional; it is now required.
• The Parent of Record for divorced or separated parents will be now be determined as the parent who provides the most financial support, even if the student does not live with that parent or lives with another parent.
• The need analysis formula to determine financial aid, formerly knows as Expected Family Contribution (EFC), will now be referred to as the Student Aid Index (SAI). Unlike the EFC, the SAI may be a negative number.
• The net worth of a business and/or family farm will no longer be excluded for families with fewer than 100 full-time employees. Child support received will now count as an asset instead of income.
• The number of family members in college will still be asked on the FAFSA, but the new SAI will no longer use the number in the eligibility formula. This may reduce need-based aid eligibility for current students with siblings in college.
• The Student Aid Report (SAR) will now be referred to as the FAFSA Submission Summary. This is the summary document you receive after completing and submitting the FAFSA.

Pell Grant eligibility will be linked to family size and the federal poverty level. The expectation is more students will qualify for this need-based aid.