The redesigned Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is expected to launch in December of this year.
For years, October 1 was the first day US citizens or eligible non-citizens could apply for need-based financial aid by submitting the FAFSA. Because of the significant changes to the FAFSA needs-analysis formula, the release of the new FAFSA is being postponed until December of this year. You can apply for the 2024-2025 FAFSA sometime in December. The Department of Education is expected to announce the release date soon (fingers crossed!).
What are the upcoming changes to the FAFSA?
- The new application is shorter.
- Transition from the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) to the Student Aid Index (SAI). The SAI is a number that determines a student’s eligibility for federal student aid.
- The eligibility calculation will no longer take into account the number of family members who are in college. This is the biggest change to the needs analysis formula.
- Students may list up to 20 colleges (previously only 10).
- Entering tax information is changing. Previously, users could enter their tax information manually or using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. The new FAFSA will use the IRS Direct Data Exchange to share tax information or confirm non-filing status. This change makes it easier, but be sure your 2022 taxes have been filed! Note: The FAFSA uses the tax return from two years before the academic year the student will be attending, referred to as Prior-Prior Year (PPY).
- A new term, “contributor,” refers to individuals (like a parent/stepparent or spouse) who must provide information on a student’s form. The information provided by the student or parent on the FAFSA will determine which contributors, if any, must provide information. Contributors identified as such will receive an email requesting them to log in using their own FSA ID* to provide the required information on the student’s FAFSA.
- Significant changes to the formula determine a student’s Pell Grant disbursement. The Pell Grant is a federal need-based award to undergraduate students with exceptional financial need.
- In the case of a divorce or separation, it is essential to know that the parent responsible for submitting the FAFSA has changed. BEFORE the financial information was needed from the parent(s) the student had lived with the most in
- the last 12 months. THE NEW FAFSA requires financial information from the parent(s) who provided the most financial support to the student. Note: If the legal parent is married to a stepparent, you must include the stepparent’s information.
- Families are now obligated to disclose the value of the family farm, excluding the family’s primary residence and debt against assets.
- The net worth of a business is no longer limited to those with more than 100 employees.