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2024-25 FAFSA Changes

How the FAFSA Simplification Act Affects You

Big changes are coming to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application for the 2024-2025 aid year!

The FAFSA Simplification Act was passed by Congress in 2020 and represents a significant overhaul of the processes and systems used to award federal student aid. This includes the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, the need analysis that determines federal aid eligibility, changes in terminology, and many policies and procedures for schools that participate in federal student aid programs.

 

2024-25 FAFSA Available December 2023

Historically, the FAFSA has been available beginning October 1st each year.  However, because of significant changes to the application and the rebuild of the FAFSA processing system, the 2024-25 FAFSA will not be available until sometime in December 2023.  Updates on an exact release date are forthcoming from Federal Student Aid.

  

What's changing with the FAFSA?

There are a number of benefits of the FAFSA Simplification Act, including a more streamlined application process and a better user experience for the FAFSA, expanded eligibility for federal student aid, and reduced barriers for certain student populations (e.g., homeless and unaccompanied youth, incarcerated students, English language learners, and students from low-income backgrounds).

Some fundamental changes include, but are not limited to:

  • The FAFSA will reduce the maximum number of questions from 108 to 49. And because the FAFSA on the Web is dynamic, some students won't even be presented with all 49 questions. This streamlined format will simplify the application process and make it less daunting for students and their families.

  • Previously, the FAFSA only allowed students to list up to 10 colleges and universities.

  • The Expected Family Contribution (EFC) will now be referred to as the Student Aid Index (SAI). The new formula removes the number of family members in college from the calculation, allows a minimum SAI of $-1500, and implements a separate eligibility determination criterion for Federal Pell Grants.

  • Previously, users had the option to enter their tax information manually or use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. Beginning with 2024-25, all persons on the FAFSA must provide consent for the Department of Education to receive tax information or confirmation of non-filing status directly from the IRS. In a very small number of cases, students and families will have to enter their tax data manually, but for the majority, that data will be automatically transferred into the application. This change makes it easier to complete the FAFSA and reduces the number of questions to be answered.

    • A contributor—a new term being introduced on the 2024-25 FAFSA—refers to anyone who is required to provide information on a student's form (such as a parent/stepparent or spouse). A student's or parent's answers on the FAFSA will determine which contributors (if any) will be required to provide information.
    • Contributors will receive an email informing them that they've been identified as such, and will need to log in using their own FSA ID (if they don't already have one) to provide the required information on the student's FAFSA.
    • Being a contributor does not mean they are financially responsible for the student's education costs, but it does mean the contributor must provide information on the FAFSA or the application will be incomplete and the student will not be eligible for federal student aid.

  • Previously, the FAFSA calculated the number of household members attending college into the EFC, dividing it proportionately to determine federal aid eligibility. Beginning with the 2024-25 FAFSA, the application will still ask how many household members are in college, but your answer will not be calculated into the SAI. Undergraduate students with siblings in college may see a change in their federal aid eligibility.

    If you and a sibling are both attending Eastern as full-time students, you may be eligible for a Sibling Scholarship of $1,000 per year.

  • Families making less than 175% and single parents making less than 225% of the 2022 federal poverty level will see their students receive a maximum Federal Pell Grant award. Pell awards between the maximum and minimum amounts will be determined by SAI.

  • For dependent students, financial information was previously needed from the parent(s) the student had lived with the most in the last 12 months. With the new FAFSA, financial information will be required from the parent(s) who provided the most financial support to the student.

  • When required, families must now report the value of their small business or family farm. If the family farm includes the principal place of residence, applicants should determine the total net value of all farm assets and subtract the net value of their principal residence to determine the final value of their farm assets.

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

 

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 Eastern 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 an appeal.
  • Eastern admission application deadlines will not change.
  • 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, Eastern won't even receive this data from the FAFSA.

 

When should I submit the 2024-25 FAFSA?

New students who plan to begin classes at Eastern in Fall 2024 should complete the FAFSA as soon as it becomes available in December.  Returning Eastern students should also complete the FAFSA as early as possible, as before the end of the Spring 2024 semester.

 

 

Disclaimer

Eastern's Office of Financial Aid is dedicated to providing timely updates to students, families, and our community. Due to the significant amount of changes that are occurring, portions of our website may not yet be 100% accurate for the 2024-2025 academic year. We'll continue to update this page as we receive more information from the Department of Education and Federal Student Aid, and appreciate your patience as we work to implement the changes brought by the FAFSA Simplification Act.