Financial Aid Resources
Updated: January 5, 2024
2024-2025 FAFSA Release
With the release of the 2024-2025 FAFSA application delayed until December 2023, this significantly impacts the overall timeline for Financial Aid offices to process FAFSA applications and offer aid packages to students.
What You Need To Know Now
The 2024–25 FAFSA form will expand eligibility for federal student aid.
610,000 new students from low-income backgrounds will be eligible to receive Federal Pell Grants due to updates to student aid calculations.
Use the Federal Student Aid Estimator to get an early estimate of what your federal student aid could be after submitting the new form.
The 2024–25 FAFSA form will offer a new, streamlined user experience for students and their families.
Applicants will be able to skip as many as 26 FAFSA questions, depending on their individual circumstances. Some applicants will need to complete as few as 18 questions, taking less than 10 minutes.
Watch our “2024–25 FAFSA FAQs” playlist to better understand what’s changed on the new form.
What You Can Do Now
Didn’t submit a 2023–24 FAFSA form? Make sure to create your StudentAid.gov account—and remember your username and password so you can access and submit the 2024–25 FAFSA form when it’s available.
Find out if your parent(s) or spouse will need to be contributors (contribute their info on your FAFSA form).
A Contributor is any individual that is required to provide their consent and approval for their federal tax information to be included on the FAFSA form along with their signature.
Contributors include the student, the student’s spouse, the student’s biological or adoptive parent, and the parent’s spouse (stepparent).
All contributors will be required to create an FSA ID. It is recommended that all contributors create their FSA ID beginning in October to avoid delays.
The FAFSA application will not be fully submitted and processed until all contributors have given their consent and signed the FAFSA using their FSA ID.
Students will be prompted to list the email addresses of other required contributors such as parents on the FAFSA application.
For the 2024-2025 aid year, contributors will now be required to give their consent and approval for their federal tax information to be included on the 2024-2025 FAFSA.
Once consent is given, it cannot be revoked for that aid year.
If a contributor refuses to give consent for their federal tax information to be included on the FAFSA, the student will only be eligible for a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan.
An FSA ID will be required to give consent. Again, it is recommended that all contributors create their FSA ID beginning in October.
If your parent(s) or spouse will need to contribute to your form, make sure each contributor creates their own StudentAid.gov account. Even if a contributor doesn’t have a Social Security number, they will be able to create an account when the 2024–25 form goes live.
Watch our “Preparing for the FAFSA Form” playlist to understand what information and documents you’ll need to fill out the FAFSA form.
Stay Informed
Stay informed about 2024–25 FAFSA changes and receive up-to-date notifications and information:
Did you fill out a FAFSA form for 2023–24? We’re emailing students (and parents of dependent students) who applied on the 2023–24 form, reminding them to apply for 2024–25.
To ensure you receive future updates, log in to your StudentAid.gov account and confirm we’ve got your current email address.
What is the Student Aid Index (SAI)?
Beginning in the 2024-2025 aid year, the Student Aid Index (SAI) will replace the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The SAI is a number calculated by the information on the 2024-2025 FAFSA provided by the student and other contributors. It determines a student’s eligibility for certain types of federal aid such as student loans and Pell grants.
The SAI is used in the below formula to determine a student’s financial need.
Cost of Attendance (COA) – Student Aid Index (SAI) – Other Financial Assistance (OFA) = Need
What is the difference between the EFC and SAI?
The SAI can be a negative number as low as -1500 to give financial aid administrators more insight into a student’s financial need.
The number of family members in college has been removed in the calculation for SAI.
Child support received is now counted as assets in the formula calculation for the SAI. Previously, child support received was counted as untaxed income in the calculation for the EFC.
Family farms and small businesses will now count as assets in the SAI formula.
FADDX replaces IRS DRT
Beginning with the 2024-2025 FAFSA, the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT) will be replaced by the Future Act Direct Data Exchange (FADDX).
Previously, the IRS DRT gave both students and parents the option to import tax return data to their FAFSA instead of manually entering the information on the FAFSA.
In 2024-2025, the FADDX authorizes the IRS to provide federal tax information directly to the FAFSA application upon receiving consent from the contributor.
Students and Parents will no longer be given the option to manually enter their tax information on the FAFSA.
Additional Financial Aid Resources:
What's Changed for the 2024-2025 FAFSA Form?
Creating a FSA ID - *** NEW
FAFSA Tip Sheet - *** NEW
types of financial aid
