2024-25 FAFSA Simplification

Certain questions have been removed from the FAFSA, including but not limited to the following:

• The student's housing choice
• The student's, spouse's, and parents' untaxed income that does not appear on the IRS 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR tax return (such as untaxed payments to tax-deferred pension and retirement saving plans represented by IRS Form W-2 Box 12 codes D, E, F, G, H, and S; housing, food, and other living allowances paid to members of the military, clergy, and others; etc.)
• The student's interest in Federal Work-Study (FWS) employment
• Taxable earnings from need-based employment (such as need-based employment portions of fellowships and assistantships)
• Excluded income for the student, spouse, and parents. This includes other income items that have been reported under "Additional Financial Information" on the FAFSA and excluded from need analysis in prior years (such as taxable combat pay, or special combat pay and cooperative education program earnings). Child support received is still reported, but as assets rather than income.
• The student's driver's license number and state
• Highest school completed by the student's parents. This question now asks whether either parent attended college.
• The college degree or certificate a student will be working on when they begin the award year
• Whether the student or parent filed IRS Schedule 1
• The dislocated worker question

Parents who do not have a Social Security Number will now be required and able to create a FSA ID to provide consent and sign the FAFSA electronically. While the ability to do this is not available yet, when it is available this website will be updated.

A contributor is anyone who is asked to provide information on an applicant’s FAFSA including:

• The student
• The student's spouse (if applicable)
• A biological or adoptive parent; or
• The spouse of a remarried parent who is on the FAFSA — the stepparent

The new FAFSA is student driven, so that means the student's answers on their section will determine who will be a contributor (in addition to the student). Students will need the contributor’s name, date of birth, Social Security Number (SSN), and email address to invite them to complete the required portion of the FAFSA. Contributors will need to provide personal and financial information on their section of the FAFSA.

All contributors are required to have an FSA ID and to provide consent. This consent will allow the tax information to be used on the FAFSA and allow the Department of Education to share that tax information with schools. Consent is provided once for the award year and cannot be revoked in that award year. This consent is necessary even if the contributor does not have an SSN, did not file taxes, or filed taxes in another country.

If a contributor fails to provide consent then the student is ineligible for Federal Financial Aid.

Starting with the 2024-25 year, the parent that is listed on the FAFSA will be the parent who provides the most financial support to the student. This is true even if the student does not live with that parent.

1. Parents who live together
   Parental income and assets in the case of student whose parents are married and not separated, or who are unmarried but live together, shall include the income and assets of both parents.
2. Divorced or separated parents
   Parental income and assets for a student whose parents are divorced or separated, but not remarried, is determined by including only the income and assets of the parent who provides the greater portion of the student's financial support.
3. Death of a parent
   Parental income and assets in the case of the death of any parent is determined as follows:
   (A) If either of the parents has died, the surviving parent shall be considered a single parent, until that parent has remarried.
   (B) If both parents have died, the student shall not report any parental income or assets.
4. Remarried parents
   If a parent whose income and assets are taken into account under paragraph (2), or if a parent who is a widow or widower and whose income is taken into account under paragraph (3), has remarried, the income of that parent's spouse shall be included in determining the parent's assessment of adjusted available income if the student's parent and the stepparent are married as of the date of application for the award year concerned.
5. Single parent who is not divorced or separated
   Parental income and assets in the case of a student whose parent is not described in paragraph (1) and is a single parent who is not divorced, separated, or remarried, shall include the income and assets of such single parent.

Starting with the 2024-25 year, the Data Retrieval Tool or DRT will be replaced with the Direct Data Exchange or DDX. This will allow the Department of Education to have all of the IRS tax information seamlessly put onto the FAFSA. Here is important information about this process:

• EVERYONE (students, spouses (if applicable), and parents) will need to consent to have their Federal Tax Information (FTI) imported.
• To provide consent, the individual will need to access the FAFSA with an FSA ID that has been matched with the Social Security Administration (SSA).*
• Federal tax filers will have their tax information imported. No tax income will transfer into the FAFSA, but tax data will be sent to the colleges listed on the FAFSA.
• Non-tax filers must also check the box to consent. When IRS Data is accessed, the process will verify non-filing status.

If a contributor fails to provide consent then the student is ineligible for Federal Financial Aid.

*Please know that starting with the 2024-25 year, parents who do not have a Social Security Administration will be able to create a FSA ID. The ability to do this is not available yet but we will update the website when it is.

Currently a student can list up to 10 schools, on the 2024-25 FAFSA the student can list up to 20 schools.

Currently, the FAFSA is only available in English and Spanish. The 2024-25 FAFSA will be expanded to include the 11 most common languages spoken by English learner students and their parents.

Previously, the FAFSA divided the EFC proportionally based on the number of household members in college. Starting with the 2024-25, there will no longer be a benefit to having multiple students in college at the same time. The elimination of this "sibling discount" will be the biggest change in aid eligibility for some students. The SAI will not use the number in college as a factor in calculation of eligibility. If you currently are in a household where multiple people are in college, you will see a change to your award offer in the 2024-25 year.

Starting in 2024-25, the Expected Family Contribution or EFC will be replaced with the Student Aid Index or SAI. The SAI will still be a measure of the families' ability to pay for school but will be calculated differently.

The changes should allow more students access to the Federal Pell Grant.

Starting with the 2024-25 FAFSA, the way that Pell Grant is calculated will change.

Maximum Pell Grant – Applicants may qualify for a Maximum Pell Grant based on family size, adjusted gross income (AGI), and poverty guidelines. Students qualifying for a Maximum Pell Grant will have an SAI between negative $1,500 (-$,1500) and $0.

Student Aid Index (SAI) – Applicants who do not qualify for a Maximum Pell Grant may still qualify if their calculated SAI is less than the maximum Pell Grant award for the award year. The applicant’s Pell Grant award for full-time enrollment will be equal to the maximum Pell Grant for the award year minus SAI. The Pell Grant will be adjusted (prorated) if an applicant enrolls in less than full time, or if the applicant’s Cost of Attendance (COA) is less than the calculated Pell Grant award.

Minimum Pell Grant – Applicants whose SAI is greater than the maximum Pell Grant award for the award year may still qualify for a Pell Grant, based on family size, AGI, and poverty guidelines. The following groups can qualify for Minimum Pell Grant:

• Non- Filers – Independent student (and spouse, if applicable) tax non-filers and dependent children of non-filing parent (s)
• Children of certain deceased veterans and public safety officers- Students under age 33 whose parent died in the armed forces after September 11, 2001, and or students under age 33 whose parent (s) died in the line of duty as a public safety officer

Once the annual Federal Pell Grant is determined, half of the award will be offered in each semester of the award year and will be prorated by Enrollment Intensity instead of Enrollment Levels.

Enrollment Intensity Level Proration

Year-Round Pell

Previously, a Pell Grant-eligible student would only have been eligible for 100% of their Pell award for any given year. A student could then qualify for an additional 50% of their yearly Pell during summer if the student was enrolled in at least 6 credits or 1/2 time. Starting in the 2024-25 year the 6 credit requirement will no longer be needed. A student will be eligible with any credit load as long as they would otherwise be eligible for Pell.

When required, families will now report the value of their farms or businesses. While this inclusion continues to be debated in Congress, it will be required to be reported for appropriate families on the 2024-25 FAFSA and can influence the SAI.