What's new with the 2024-25 FAFSA?
Source: U.S. Department of Education
April 3, 2024:
The Department of Education has announced the timeline for when corrections will be turned on. The ability for students to make updates and corrections to their FAFSA forms will be available in the first half of April. In advance of that implementation, the Department will provide detailed information to students and families on how to correct the most common FAFSA form errors, one being where the form was submitted without signatures.
February 1, 2024:
On January 30th, the U.S. Department of Education announced a timeline update for the 2024-25 FAFSA. Due to the Department of Education failing to update some numbers in the FAFSA formula and making corrections late, all FAFSAs that have been submitted are in a holding period until this correction is made. Unfortunately, this particular fix will take time.
How does that affect you, the families? This means that the government will not be releasing any FAFSA data to higher education institutions until the middle of March, at the earliest. Additionally, we are aware of the other hiccups many families are experiencing daily with the updated form. You can visit the Issued Alerts page to stay on top off all reported bugs, and to see if they have been resolved. Additionally, Federal Student Aid has created a webpage with 'Pro Tips' that will help guide you through completing the 2024-25 FAFSA form.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is used by colleges to determine eligibility for need-based grants, loans, and Federal Work-Study. The FAFSA Simplification Act introduces several changes and enhancements to the FAFSA, which take effect with the 2024-25 FAFSA. Below is helpful information to explain the changes.
Source: U.S. Department of Education
The FAFSA is being redesigned starting for the 2024-25 academic year.
Business/Farm Value: Families must now report the value of their business and/or farm on the 2024-25 FAFSA.
Divorced/Separated Parents: The parent on the FAFSA is now based on the amount of financial support. Previously it was based who the student lived with most.
New Term | Previous Term | Definition |
---|---|---|
Student Aid Index (SAI) | Expected Family Contribution (EFC) | Calculated from the FAFSA data and used to determine student aid eligibility. |
Direct Data Exchange (DDX) | IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) | Process of using IRS data to complete the FAFSA. |
FAFSA Submission Summary | Student Aid Report (SAR) | Results of the FAFSA; a document that provides a summary of the data reported on the FAFSA. |
Consent | Required from each contributor in order for IRS tax data to be used when completing the FAFSA. | |
Contributor | Anyone who is required to provide information on the FAFSA (e.g. student, parent, step-parent) | |
Federal Tax Information (FTI) | Contributor's federal tax data on the FAFSA that comes directly from the IRS. |
Students and Contributors create your FSA ID(s) on the Federal Student Aid site.