FAFSA Simplification
Federal Student Aid (FSA) has released a list of issues they are working to resolve with the 2024-2025 FAFSA. We recommend monitoring this site for issues reported, status, and their workarounds. Please revisit our website for the latest updates, which will be published as they become available.
The FAFSA Simplification Act introduces significant changes and overhaul to the processes and systems to award federal student aid. This includes the FAFSA form, need analysis, and the many policies and procedures.
The goal of these changes is to make it easier for students and families to apply for federal student aid and to help streamline the process.
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Key Changes
- The 2024-2025 FAFSA will be available to students and families by December 31, 2023.
- Streamline the application process by reducing the number of questions on the FAFSA and making it easier to transfer tax information directly from the IRS.
- List up to 20 colleges on your FAFSA.
- 2024-2025 FAFSA will be available in 11 languages.
- Replacing Expected Family Contribution (EFC) with the Student Aid Index (SAI). The SAI is calculated and used to determine your ability to pay for college and aid eligibility. There will be changes in the methodology used to determine aid.
- Child support received will count as asset.
- Family farms and businesses will count as asset.
- The number of family members in college will no longer be considered in the need analysis formula.
- Allows a minimum SAI of -1500.
- New terminology being used in the financial aid eligibility process.
New Terminology on the FAFSA Form
Each contributor will be required to provide consent and approval to have their federal tax information transferred from the IRS, have their tax data used to determine the student's eligibility for aid, and allow the U.S. Department of Education to share their tax information with institutions to administer Title IV aid. The consent is necessary even if the contributor does not have an SSN, did not file taxes, or filed taxes in a foreign country.
Anyone who is asked to provide information on the student's FAFSA. This includes the student, student's spouse (if applicable), biological or adoptive parent, or the spouse of the remarried parent who is on the FAFSA.
Rather than importing tax information from the IRS to FAFSA using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT), application will provide consent to provide their FTI via a direct data share with the IRS.
The SAI replaces what is formerly known as the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The SAI is calculated from the information on your FAFSA to determine your family's ability to pay for college and is used to determine aid eligibility.
When a student is unable to contact a parent or contact with the parent poses physical or emotional harm to the student. Students with unusual circumstances will be given a provisional independent status and complete the FAFSA without providing parent information.
Resources
How You Can Prepare
- Watch for emails from the U.S. Department of Education to ensure you don't miss any important updates.
- Opt in to SMS (text) messages by logging in to your StudentAid.gov account to receive up-to-date notifications and information.
- Follow Federal Student Aid on X (Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook for announcement and resources.
- Ensuring you and your contributor(s) have a Federal Student Aid ID (FSA ID). If you previously completed a FAFSA, you already have an FSA ID and do not need to create a new one. That is the same for your parent if they signed your FAFSA. If you are a new student completing the FAFSA for the first time for 2024-2025 or if your contributor(s) does not have an FSA ID, you may create an account on StudentAid.gov.