The new FAFSA: Simplified

Posted on by

Out with the old, and in with the new.

This year the FAFSA is changing, and for the better. 

What is the FAFSA? 

To access federal student aid, including grants, work-study funds, and loans, complete the free FAFSA® form. States, colleges, and private aid providers may also use this information to assess your eligibility for additional assistance.

In short, the FAFSA is your gateway to funds to help pay for college. 

What is changing? 

Application Open Date: The FAFSA will not be available until December 2023. If you are applying for the Fall 2024, Spring 2025, or Summer 2025 term you will be submitting the new FAFSA. 

Priority Date for completion: March 15th, 2024 

Streamlined application process:

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

New Terminology and Information:

  • The FAFSA introduces a “contributor,” which includes the student, their spouse, parents, or a parent’s spouse. Contributors provide personal and financial info. For divorced parents, it’s the one who supported the student financially in the past year, not necessarily the one they lived with.
  • All contributors must consent to IRS data transfer; it’s now mandatory. 
  • The Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is now called the Student Aid Index (SAI) and can be negative. 
  • Small businesses and family farms are assets.
  • The family members in college won’t affect aid calculations anymore.
  •  The Student Aid Report (SAR) is now the FAFSA Submission Summary, received after completing the FAFSA.

Expanding Pell Grant Eligibility:

The adjustments are expanding pell grant eligibility (money to pay for college) to more students! 

What is staying the same? 

  • The FAFSA is still needed each year for federal aid, and it’s for U.S. citizens or eligible non-citizens.
  • New questions about your sex, race, and ethnicity in 2023-24 won’t affect your aid, just for stats. This information is not made available to Financial Aid offices. 
  • The questions about your parents’ info stay the same.
  • You still need tax info from the year before last on the FAFSA, but if your family’s income dropped a lot because of something unusual, you can ask for a special review.
  • Rules for federal education loans are the same.
  • Your rights and responsibilities for federal aid didn’t change.
  • If you leave school early or don’t meet certain requirements, you might have to give back some federal aid.
  • You still have to keep up your grades to get federal aid.
FAFSA TASFA Timeline

How should I prepare? 

While the 2024-2025 FAFSA won’t be available until December, you can still prepare by doing the following:

  • Create an FSA ID on the Federal Student Aid website and assist contributors, such as your parent(s) or spouse, in creating an FSA ID. If you already have an FSA ID, you do not need to create a new one.
    • An FSA ID is an account and password that gives you access to the Federal Student Aid’s online system and serves as your electronic signature.
    • With the FSA ID, you can fill out the FAFSA when it’s available, sign your Master Promissory Note (MPN), apply for repayment plans, complete loan counseling, and use the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Help Tool.
  • Complete the FAFSA as soon as it opens in December.