2024-25 FAFSA and FAFSA Simplification

The 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) introduces some of the biggest changes made to the aid application in generations.

The FAFSA Simplification Act, which Legislation passed in 2020, was aimed at simplifying the application process and brings about a number of changes in calculating aid eligibility beginning with the 2024-25 academic year.

The FAFSA application and delivery system is changing for 2024-25.  As a result, the application will not be available until December. To accommodate this later availability, we are extending our FAFSA/TASFA priority filing date to March 15, 2024. Please stay tuned for more details as they are released. 

These changes are aimed at making it easier for students and their families to apply for financial aid with a more streamlined application process.  

Click here to access the “FAFSA Changes: Are You Ready?” Webinar presentation!

FAFSA Changes

Key Changes:

  • Availability – the FAFSA will become available in December 2023. The exact date to come.
  • The FAFSA will reduce in maximum questions from 108 questions to 46.
  • Student Aid Index (SAI) replaces the term Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
  • New terminology – you will notice new terminology being used in the application and aid eligibility process.

New Terminology:

  • Contributor: anyone who is asked to provide information on the FAFSA – student, student spouse, parent(s), and stepparent(s) for example.
  • Consent: each contributor will now need to provide their consent to their Federal Tax Information (FTI) being included in the FAFSA, even if they did not file a U.S. tax return.
  • SAI: Student Index Aid (SAI) replaces the Expected Family Contribution (EFC).
  • FTI: Federal Tax Information (FTI) transferred directly from the IRS. 
  • DDX: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) will be IRS Direct Data Exchange (DDX)
  • FSS: The Student Aid Report (SAR) will be FAFSA® Submission Summary (FSS)

FAFSA Simplification FAQ’S

The new FAFSA will be completed the same way you have previously completed the FAFSA, which is at https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa

Students, spouses, parents, and preparers can complete an application online and send it directly to the FAFSA Processing System. If the student has applied the prior year, certain data will prefill in the FAFSA and will reduce the time it takes to fill out the new form. An FSA ID is necessary to log in to the online FAFSA form. The student, their spouse (if applicable), and their parents can electronically sign the FAFSA form but must do so with their own FSA ID. A verified email address or cell phone number can be used instead of the username. Users can create an FSA ID online quickly and securely.

Every contributor – anyone (student, the student’s spouse, a biological or adoptive parent, or the parent’s spouse) who’s required to provide information on the FAFSA form – will need an FSA ID to access and complete their section of the online form.

Due to the use of Federal Tax Information (FTI), applicants and other contributors (anyone providing income information such as parents, adoptive parents, stepparents, and spouses of independent students) must provide consent. Applicants will invite a contributor to complete their portion of the FAFSA by entering the contributor’s name, date of birth, SSN, and email address. An email will be sent using the email address provided to each contributor instructing them to complete their portion of the FAFSA form and give consent to use FTI. All contributors must create an FSA ID if they do not already have one. All contributors must provide consent before any federal financial aid eligibility can be determined. For each successive FAFSA cycle in which a student applies for federal student aid, consent will be required by any FAFSA contributors to use their FTI.

The Student Aid Index (SAI) is replacing the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The SAI will differ from the EFC in several ways:

  • Reduction in the number of income items and allowances against income.
  • Significant change to the assets that included and excluded.
  • Changes the family size definition and removes number in college from the equation (this question is still asked on the form).
  • Allows for a negative SAI up to -1500.
  • Implements separate Pell Grant eligibility determination.
  • Removal of alternate SAI’s for enrollment periods less than 9 months.

The following formula is used to help calculate your financial aid.

Need = Cost of Attendance (COA) – Student Aid Index (SAI) – Other Financial Assistance (OFA)

Federal Student Aid has released the Federal Student Aid Estimator to help students/families determine how much aid they may be eligible for using an estimate  of the SAI.

Students with a negative or 0 SAI will be eligible for the same (maximum) amount of Federal Pell Grant. The difference is that the negative -1500 SAI indicates the student has a higher need than the student with 0 SAI, which can be used for the priority awarding of other grants with limited funding, such as the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG).

Starting with the 24-25 FAFSA, the parent who provided the most financial support for the applicant must complete the application. If that parent remarried as of the date the FAFSA is filed, the stepparent’s income, assets, and dependents must also be reported on the FAFSA.

Yes, the following data will be imported from the IRS and considered FTI:

  • Tax Filing Status
  • Adjust Gross Income (AGI)
  • Number of Exemptions and Number of Dependents
  • Income Earned from Work
  • Taxes Paid
  • Educational Credits
  • Untaxed IRA distributions
  • IRA deductible and payments
  • Tax-exempt interest
  • Untaxed pension amounts
  • Schedule C net profit/loss
  • Indicators for Schedules A, B, D, E, F, H
  • IRS Response Codes

**It is recommended that you import your data directly from the IRS to reduce error and the need for the Office of Financial Aid to ask you for additional documentation**

Yes, non-tax filers must still provide consent.

If your parents do not provide their information or are unwilling to give consent to use FTI, you can still complete the FAFSA, but you will not receive a Student Aid Index (SAI) amount. You (the student) can request to have the school determine your eligibility for a Direct Unsubsidized Loan only. If you indicate this was due to unusual circumstances, you may be eligible for a provisional independent status. Please speak with a Financial Aid Advisor to discuss your situation.

According to the IRS tax year 2022, these are the thresholds by filing status. If an independent student (and spouse, if married), or a parent of a dependent student, were not required to file a federal income tax return for 2022, then the student will automatically receive a Student Aid Index (SAI) equal to –1500. They still need to provide consent when submitting the FAFSA so the IRS can confirm to Federal Student Aid (FSA) that the student, parents, and spouse did not file taxes.

Yes. Starting 2024-25, when the student, spouse, parent, and/or stepparent provide consent, the IRS’s Federal Tax Information (FTI) will include the information from an amended tax return.

After you provide consent on the FAFSA, if the IRS cannot transfer your Federal Tax Information (FTI) to your FAFSA application, the application will allow you to self-report it. Self-reporting your tax information on the FAFSA does not override the requirement for each required contributor to provide consent on the FAFSA form. They will need to both 1) provide consent and 2) have their tax information submitted, either directly from the IRS or self-reported manually, on the FAFSA form.

Identity theft or fraud are the most likely reasons for the IRS not providing tax information for the applicant or the contributor. If the contributor has been flagged by the IRS, possibly due to identity theft or a breach of some sort to their information, then the IRS will notify the FAFSA processors via an electronic code indicating they are unable to provide the data. The FAFSA processors will notify you if this occurs.

There is no longer a separate signature page, and there will not be a consent signature option on paper. There are two alternative options for contributors to provide consent who will not or cannot create an FSA ID. One option is to submit a paper FAFSA form completed by all contributors and mailed to Federal Student Aid. This method is not recommended due to its complexity and resulting increased processing time.

 

What Isn’t Changing?

While the FAFSA is receiving an update and the aid eligibility calculation has been revised, there are a number of aid-related matters that will not change.

  • The general types of aid available to PVAMU students and federal student loan limits will not change.
  • The FAFSA will still be required for consideration of federal and state financial aid every year.
  • Dependency status questions that determine if your parent(s) must complete the FAFSA will remain the same.
  • The FAFSA will still request tax information from the prior-prior year, which means you’ll report 2022 income and assets on your 2024-25 application. Families with significant reductions in income can consider submitting a special circumstance application.
  • The questions regarding an applicant’s gender, race, and ethnicity will have no effect on federal student aid eligibility and are included for statistical purposes and data collection only. In fact, PVAMU won’t even receive this data from the FAFSA.

Additional information can be found at studentaid.gov

****NOTE: 2024-25 FAFSA CHANGES ARE BEING IMPLEMENTED BY THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. INFORMATION ON THIS WEBPAGE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AS NEW INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.